A late hanger-on, fringe tree wraps this autumn in gold leaf

Sunday afternoon, a day after the storm, I sat on the porch watching the light leave the garden. A mourning dove perched on a pine branch became recognizable only by its profile as the surrounding needles and branches faded to gray. On the edge of the garden below the deck, however, leaves that spent the summer turning sunlight into sugar were reluctant to let go of the day, appeared intent on returning a small portion of that borrowed light. Our fringe tree glowed in the gloaming, neon yellow deepening as darkness crept closer.

Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) is the last plant in the garden to acknowledge spring, waiting until you have given it up for dead, a victim of winter, before suddenly breaking dormancy, the terminal buds at the tips of the stems producing leaves skirted by white fleecy flowers. And so it seems appropriate that it would be among the last to shut down, to become leafless. Even storm winds could not bring a premature end to its season.

Fringe tree is native to moist woodlands from eastern Texas and southern Missouri eastward to the Atlantic Coast and north to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Throughout this region, common names for this tree, white fringe tree and old man’s beard, testify to the uniqueness of its flower display. From a distance the tree appears bearded with bright white fleecy cotton. Up close, each of the sweetly fragrant flowers displays four very thin, drooping petals about a half inch in length.

Fringe tree is dioecious, meaning it has male and female flowers on separate plants. If growing a single fringe tree in your garden, select a male plant, if possible, as they have longer, showier petals. Female plants, on the other hand, if pollinated by a nearby male, will produce olive-shaped, dark blue berries that are relished by wildlife. Of course, the challenge will be finding a nursery that knows the sex of each of their fringe trees.

Perhaps the greater challenge will be finding a nursery that sells fringe trees. When I first came to Orono, I was delighted to find a fringe tree growing in Littlefield Garden. I immediately went shopping for my own, only to be discouraged by emphatic declarations that fringe tree would not grow in the Orono area. I finally found one at Windswept Gardens in Bangor. The tree thrived in my Orono garden for three years and now graces the bird corner of Marjorie’s garden.

In an earlier column I described the fall color of fringe tree as a dull yellow in late autumn, suggesting that the tree should be grown primarily for its two or three weeks of flowering in June. But this has been an exceptional autumn for yellow in Marjorie’s garden. Leaves of redvein enkianthus (Enkianthus campanulatus) and northern bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera), normally rich blends of reds, oranges, and yellows, were only yellow this fall. And the shrubs that are typically yellow in fall, witch hazel and clethra, seemed brighter.

I have often suggested that as gardens become smaller we can ill afford granting space to single-season plants. I would make an exception, however, for fringe tree. We should grow it for what it gives us during three weeks in June and, occasionally, a few days in late autumn.

Send queries to Gardening Questions, P.O. Box 418, Ellsworth 04605, or to rmanley@ptc-me.net. Include name, address and telephone number.