Growing for Success | Underrated trees you’ll love

Even with that sudden burst of colder weather, we still had customers interested in what we were talking about last time, such as the hidden gems and ugly ducklings to be found on the back benches and out-of-the-way corners of garden centres, so in keeping with that theme I have chased up a few more.

The Golden Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos ‘Sunburst’) is a beautiful deciduous tree with a broad, spreading canopy and a soft, weeping, pendulous habit.

The young outer foliage starts off a bright golden yellow, contrasting nicely against the lime-green colour of the mature inner leaves.

Growing to around 10m high and wide, they can make a lovely specimen or even an avenue tree.

However, in the garden centre and for about the first two years in the ground, they tend to be gangly, sparse and often oddly shaped — but they are well worth persevering with.

Eucalyptus caesia, the Silver Princess gum (sometimes known as Gungarru gum), is a small mallee tree from south-western Australia that is often difficult to sell for two reasons.

Firstly, the young immature foliage is regularly marked with harmless small red spots from cold, frosty weather, which makes customers question whether the trees are diseased.

Secondly, the immature, heart-shaped green foliage looks nothing like the long, attractive silver leaves of the mature tree — the very feature that prompted customers to come in and inquire about them in the first place.

These multi-trunked, 8m-high weeping trees make beautiful feature trees with their standout long silver gum leaves and stunning large pink-red blossoms with contrasting yellow stamens.

Believe me, you will just have to trust the nursery person that they are selling you exactly what you inquired about.

Many Cercis trees, including the popular Forest Pansy Tree, appear quite ordinary when young.

This is even more pronounced during hot summer spells when people are looking for a small shade tree.

Cercis trees certainly don’t help sell themselves when they fold up their lovely heart-shaped leaves — much like a butterfly folds its wings — making them look sparse and in need of a drink.

This is a natural survival mechanism of the plant, and they will only do this in extreme weather once they have established themselves in the ground.

However, it does make them hard to sell when they appear wilted and struggling.

Parrotia persica, the Persian Witch Hazel, is a stately, medium-sized deciduous tree that makes an excellent specimen with great autumn colour.

Its rounded canopy lends itself to underplanting or use as a lawn feature tree.

The autumn foliage ranges from yellow to burgundy, and the tree is quite heat-tolerant.

Additionally, it has attractive flaking bark that gives the trunk a lovely mottled appearance, making these trees a decorative feature year-round.

Sapium sebiferum, the Chinese Tallow Tree, is a lesser-known species with slightly heart-shaped, mid-green leaves.

It is one of my favourite trees for autumn colour, as its foliage turns a striking bright red and can hold its colour for weeks, creating one of the best autumn displays.

We have two mature Chinese Tallow Trees planted on either side of the gazebo on our wedding lawns in our golf gardens, and they put on a stunning display every year.

Growing to about 8m by 8m in a rounded shape, they are an excellent choice as a feature tree for small gardens.