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Gardening ladies - flowering trees?
I am in search of a pretty flowering tree that does well in our climate and is easy to take care of. (We don't have green thumbs, but now that we have a nice house we are going to TRY to have a nice yard...I'm excited to start planting!)
Anyway, our anniversary is coming up next week, and I'd like to get H a flowering tree. (A long, long time ago he mentioned he wanted one when we moved into a nicer house with a nicer yard...) And 4th anniversary is Traditional - Fruit/Flowers and Modern - Appliances. So I will take care of the traditional gift (flowers = flowering tree) and he can get me a new dishwasher. 
That's fair, right? 
I found a Dogwood, but do you have any other suggestions? I'm not sold on the Dogwood yet, unless that's my only option.
Thanks!
Re: Gardening ladies - flowering trees?
We have a flowering plumb tree in our yard. It's really pretty when it flowers in the spring.
It seems to be pretty hearty (read: we haven't managed to kill it yet, which is saying a lot). That said, it has taken a lot of abuse from deer and Japanese beetles (not sure if either of those are a problem in your area).
So funny that you say that. When we were walking to Cheers in Boston, we passed someone's front "yard" and it was filled with Lilacs. We fell in love immediately. The smell was overwhelmingly delicious and they were pretty to boot. Duh - Lilacs would be a great gift too! Thanks.
We have lots of deer! I don't know what Japanese beetles are - they sound gross so I hope they aren't a problem in my area.
And thanks for giving me something else to think about - I need to remember to choose something that doesn't attrack unwanted visitors.
Someboday gave me this: http://www.arborday.org/shopping/trees/treewizard/Intro.cfm and now I want this:
Saucer Magnolia
Weeping Cherry (gorg!) or just a cherry tree in general.
Tulip tree
I am not a gardening lady. I can offer you no advice. But I love those trees. I see quite a few of them in this area - so they must do well. Again. Love them. Have you been to a nursery yet? I think that is where you would go.
Not yet. I've only checked out Lowe's and Home Depot. I will definitely be hitting up a nursery this weekend!
Kerco - I didn't know there was a lilac tree, but I googled it and they are pretty! Maybe I will get him two trees. Or three. Dang it.
Or ten. Wow that one is so pretty!
Saucer Magnolia's are beautiful, but all it takes is one rain and then you have a bunch of petals in the yard to clean up.
I agree with the weeping cherry or lilac. We have 2 lilacs in our yard that are 40+ years old. Can't wait for bloom time!
We have a plum tree that is going to bloom any day now. Any fruit tree would be pretty nice.
I love dogwoods, but I think they like a little shade.
Also check out serviceberry.
We have lots of trees in our yard so I could find a shady spot for it, I think.
Thanks for all the suggestions - now I know what to look out for at the nursery!
Red Buds are gorgeous and are a native MI species. While I love weeping cherries & some of the others mentioned, I'm trying to consicously choose native plants. They're better for our environtment, are already adapted to our climate, and can survive our weather better than plants developed in a lab or greenhouse.
http://www.mnppa.org/members.html