Dappled Willow (Hakuro Nishiki) Tree Form - Planted 2019

Another day, another tree that we planted in the yard.  This one, while isn't technically in the "dwarf" category, is another purposely-small tree:  A Hakuro Nishiki Dappled Willow Tree.  Welp....this is actually - according to the tag - a "Deciduous Shrub", but in Tree Form.  So, I'm calling it a tree.  I'm pretty sure that this is a grafted tree, but I can't really tell where it was grafted.  I'll post some closer photos if I can find the graft spot/line in the tree.  

But, since this is a tree, this is #35 in terms of planting since we bought the property in 2017.  This is a tree that we had (and I bought it on a whim) back at our old house in Elmhurst.  We planted it on the northside of our backwalk, adjacent to the garage.  It was a stunner.   I loved how it looked.  Nat loved it, too.  It shoots out these beautiful - and almost celebratory - willow limbs that are full of color. Pinks, greens, whites.    

 I don't have a post about our original tree in Elmhurst, but I feel like the shape of this one is slightly different than that original one - with the branching on this new tree pointing upward versus what I recall to be some more horizontal branching in our first one.  As long as this one shows off like our old one, I'm not picky.  

I mean....it was a real show-stopper of a tree.  Just go look at this photo from Monrovia.  Pretty great, right?   In fact, that experience back in Elmhurst was one that I think be both wanted to replicate in our new yard.  In fact, I posted about this very tree just a little bit over a year ago, when I ran into the tree at Home Depot.  I was tempted to buying one then, but passed because I wasn't sure where to put it.  But, in that post, I did mention that I thought it could go somewhere:

One place it *could* go is in the hydrangea bed along the south fence line. With the hydrangeas filling up the ground space, this could sit on top of them - in the back - and get what it wants: part sun. Then we'd get to enjoy it from the patio/kitchen and it would add some interest above the fence.

Welp, guess where I ended up planting it?  In basically this spot that I called out last year.  (Although...I changed out some of the hydrangeas for lilacs per Nat's request.  More on that in a different post.)

This is planted east of the Kwanzan Cherry flowering tree and a little closer to the fence.  You can see the thin trunk of the flowering Cherry on the very right hand side in the photo at the top of this post.

This is another of our trees that is Japanese - which I am finding quite interesting.  My trips to Japan have had some influence on me as a gardener, it seems.  My list of Japanese trees starts with that Kwanzan Flowering Cherry (that I don't think flowered this year!  More on that in a separate post) and the various bonsais that I've started.  Now this Hakuro Nishiki Willow is added....and I've been pining over a Japanese Maple, too!)

Back to the tree label:  you can see it below from Menards.  Note the top.  But, it *is* a tree in my book.

This is the first decidious tree I've planted this season, which is the total opposite of what I've done every other year.  But...that pesky #8 on the to-do list, right?

Here's the full list of trees that we've put into the yard since we bought the property in 2016 and moved in during the Summer of 2017.  35 trees planted.  30 trees currently alive and adding to our landscape.  I mentioned a few days ago that the Weeping Cherry Tree from 2018 is not doing well.  The "LOST" column is likely to grow this season, unfortunately.   35 trees over three seasons.  11.66 trees per season average.  Right now, we're *under* the average, but close to what we put in the first season.  

2017 (9 planted. 3 Died. 6 of the original annual total alive now):
1. Flowering Pear in backyard on north side.
2. Flowering Pear in front yard by garage. (LOST and replaced)
3. Japanese flowering cherry
4 and 5: 2 Lindens that I espalier'd and placed by the south fence line near our kitchen windows.
6. A Dawn Redwood from Earth Day 2017 (LOST and replaced)
7. Nat's Saucer Magnolia in our front yard
8. A Corkscrew Willow all the way in the back (LOST)
9. A Crimson King Norway Maple near the trampoline

2018 (17 planted. 2 Died and weren't replaced yet. 2 were replacement from 2017. 15 of the original annual total alive now):
10. Another flowering pear from Earth Day 2018
11. Red Maple Sun Valley tree from Earth Day 2018.
12. Weeping Cedar tree - our first evergreen.
13. The weeping flowering cherry tree that the Babe planted for Earth Day 2018.
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. These Frans Fontaine Hornbeams. 
22. A replacement Chanticleer Pear tree (3" caliper) out front by our garage
23. Our second evergreen - a short Fraser Fir Christmas Tree out by the trampoline. (LOST)
24. This Canadian Hemlock that is the first of nine that our landscape plan calls for in the backyard. (LOST)
25. Our replanted/replacement Dawn Redwood. Same spot as the first.
26. This teeny-tiny Bald Cypress that I planted in the front yard, in between our driveway and our neighbor to the north.

2019 (So Far):

27, 28, 29.  A set of three small Canadian Hemlock Trees in our far backyard. 

30, 31, 32.  This second set of three small Canadian Hemlocks along the north fence line.
33.  My new Weeping White Spruce that will only grow about 4' wide placed near the fence line alongside the espalier'd Lindens.
34.  A NEW Dwarf Alberta Spruce planted near the south fence line.  Our first "dwarf" tree.
35.  This new Hakuro Nishiki Willow (Dappled Willow) tree planted close to the flowering cherry on the southside.