Why I Oughta...

Back in May, I posted the details of a new (to me) Korean Maple tree that I planted in our backyard:  Alpenglow Korean Maple from Iseli Nursery and their Jack Frost Collection .   Previously, I have planted a pair of Korean Maples in the garden:  A Northern Glow Korean Maple in the Island Bed up front .  And an Arctic Jade Korean Maple in the backyard along the southside border . Despite having a great first season ( and fall show ), that tree suffered something and didn't come back this year .  Good to their Warranty, the fine folks at The Growing Place in Naperville honored their one-year guarantee and let me bring back the Arctic Jade carcass.  More on that tree in a future post. They didn't have any Arctic Jade trees in their inventory, so I decided to try something else as a replacement:  North Wind Korean Maple. That name sounds familiar, right?  (at least it did to me.) And that's because last November, I wrote a "Getting to Know" post...

Yesterday, I posted a 'Getting to Know' post about a new (to me) Korean Maple:  Alpenglow Korean Maple .  This is an Iseli Nursery introduction that is part of their Jack Frost Collection that is cold-hardy down below most Japanese Maples.   #21 on my 2026 to-do list was to add another ornamental tree, so adding this Alpenglow Korean Maple checks that box.   This Alpenglow (with "merlot" foliage) is the first tree that have planted this year.   In 2024, I posted about adding a third Emperor 1 and included a drawing that highlighted the back-and-forth (and across the lawn) pattern for planting red-foliage ornamental maples in the backyard .  One of those spots that I called out in 2024 is where this tree is set to be planted. On the northside and sort-of tucked in *behind* the Tree Swing Northern Red Oak tree is a bed that was part of a previous "Garden Edit".  It is where this tree is going.  See below for the spot: A little bit fu...

Imagine my surprise when I came across an upright tree amongst a bunch of other shade trees in the parking lot nursery recently that was leaf'ing out ahead of the others.  And, it was leaf'ing out with thin, vertical-heading branches all the way down to the ground.  See below for a photo showing the tree(s) in question mixed in amongst other taller, traditional shade tree trunks: What is that?   I walked closer and noticed the foliage.   Wait a second....I know those leaves.   That's a Hornbeam.  A columnar hornbeam.   There's no tag, but I know what I'm looking at and it is an upright, narrow, columnar Hornbeam.   I have those.  And I love them .  Off I went to grab a cart to load one of these trees on-to.  It is sitting in a 15-gallon pot and appears to be pot-grown because the roots are peeking out of the bottom holes.  Not ball-and-burlap stuck in a pot.  It rang up at a price that is too-good-...