One of the most dependable trees for rooftops because they withstand wind. Quick growing, they require sporadic replacement, however young plants are reasonably priced. The Golden Weeping Willow features vivid yellow twigs in wintertime and chartreuse catkins in early spring.

This is just a sample listing of hardy trees for the container garden. Just about any variety may be grown if in scale and afforded the essential care. Don't leave out upright forms - upright lindens, oaks, sugar and Norway maples since these consume almost no space.

Tender Trees

Tender trees are typically grown in warmer areas, where they remain out of doors all year. In colder regions, as container subjects, they necessitate protection in wintertime. As a group, they're popular with both southern and northern gardeners.

Acacias

Many varieties of acacias are prized for their featherlike yellow blooms in wintertime and early spring. Quick growing, they call for a cool greenhouse or plant room with northerly exposure in wintertime.

Bullbay Magnolia.

A highly ornamental evergreen magnolia, often grown in the South, with broad dark green leaves and immense sweet-smelling white flowers. Though not rugged, a most worthwhile container plant.

California Pepper Tree

A semi-pendulous modest tree, with ferny, olive-green leaves and dangling bunches of durable, rose-colored berries. Indigenous to Peru, it withstands high temperature and waterlessness, as well as nutrient-deficient soil, even intense pruning. Often planted as a street tree in southern Europe.

Citrus

Glossy-leaved trees, with modest, perfumed blooms and ornamental, enduring fruits. Orange, lemon, kumquat, tangerine, lime, and others do well in tubs and boxes. The dwarf Otaheite or Tahiti orange and the Ponderosa lemon are small types.

Crape Myrtle. The "lilac of the South," a shrub or small tree, with great braids of crinkly blossoms in pink, red, purple, and white all summer long. Container-grown in the North, it must be wintered in a cool frost-free space. It holds up to severe pruning.

Eucalyptus

Rapid-growing, drought-resistant trees with leatherlike fragrant leaves and peeling bark. Substitutions of container specimens are easily made.

Fig

The edible fig of southern Europe is suitable for containers in the North. Large, coarse-grained leaves are light green; the bark is a pleasant gray.

Japanese Privet

A fine-looking tall shrub or small tree, with shiny, dark green leaves and panicles of white blossoms, followed by black berries. It's frequently mixed up with the less good-looking shiny privet (Ligustrum lucidum).

Loquat

A Japanese tree with elongated, leatherlike, strong-veined leaves and tasteful orange-yellow fruits. An excellent tub specimen for patios or terraces, as frequently seen in southern Europe.

Norfolk Island Pine

A pyramidic, horizontal evergreen with sharp-pointed leaves. Often developed as a pot or tub plant in greenhouses in the North.

Olive

Picturesque tree with contorted, gnarly trunk and branches as it ages. Leaves are small, thick and ever-green, olive-green on top and silvery underneath. Slow-growing plants turn out black fruits that fall when ripe.

Pacific Madrone {Arbutus menziesi)

An enchanting broad-leafed evergreen, with aromatic, heathlike, white flowers in six-inch panicles surmounting generous, lustrous leaves. Chocolate-brown bark drops like that of the plane tree. Challenging to displace, plants are securest transplanted as seedlings when they are below eighteen inches.

Palms.

Oftentimes found in the North in public parks and botanical gardens in tubs. Elegant with slim trunks, frequently arching, and curving leaves. A few are small, as the lady palm (Raphis excelsa) which reaches 6 to 10 feet. All grow easily and withstand neglect.

Sweet Bay or Grecian Laurel

The true laurel of the ancient Greeks, common as a clipped tubbed specimen, frequently with a single trunk and pungent, dark green leaves. Rugged and easy-to-grow, suited for stately doorways, hotels, or public buildings. Calls for a cool location in wintertime with Northerly exposure.

Rubber Plant

A common house plant in the North with big shiny leaves. Include several variegated varieties for colorful highlights.

HARDY SHRUBS

With trees, shrubs are necessary for backdrop, volume effects, and shade. Each container garden also needs a few hardy needle and broadleaf evergreens for year-round color. In summertime in the North, these may be supplemented with camellias, pittosporums, podocarpus, oleanders, sweet bays, and citrus plants. Include deciduous types for bloom and for the interest of the branches in wintertime.

Here is a suggested however far from thorough list of possibilities:

Arborvitae. Versatile evergreen for the movable garden. Affordable, sturdy, and quick-growing, it's perfect for hedges or screen background or for blocking off sections. Little Gem, a variety of American arborvitae, is low-set and close-packed, a foot high, but fanning out several feet.

Azaleas

Splendid flowering shrubs needing an acidic soil. They also constitute effective container plants in alkalescent areas because soil can be custom-mixed for them. Plants accept shade, however bloom better in sunlight. Always sustain moisture, as sinewy roots are unhappy drying out.

Brooms or Cytisus

Green curving stems, with abundant blossoms in springtime. Need full sunlight and a light, granular soil. Both the fancy Warminster broom, with yellow blossoms, and the well-known golden Scotch broom are tried and true.

Cotoneasters

Fascinating with a world of possibilities. Blossoms are unnoticeable but shiny leaves and colored berries are appealing. Rock spray cotoneaster has flat, horizontally bowed branches. The small-leaved evergreen cotoneaster can be placed around trees in planters and prominent boxes to deflect starkness.

Enkianthus

Fine-looking with miniature, bell-shaped blooms in drooping clusters, suitable to view close at hand. Glistening leaves turn flaming red in fall. An acrid soil plant, calling for the same culture as azaleas.

Fothergillas or Bottlebrushes

Small shrubs with white blossoms in springtime and heavy, coarse-grained leaves that colorize in fall. Dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardeni) achieves three feet of height, but the large fothergilla (F. major) grows larger.

Hollies

Handsome plants, with lustrous foliage and shiny berries. Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) has dark green leaves; the convex-leaved Japanese holly has modest, rounded, extremely shiny leaves; Haller's Japanese holly is a modest, close-packed form; and Kingsville is a true dwarf. Inkberry, another shrub holly, has glossy evergreen leaves, an open habit, and black berries in autumn. Leaves become bronzy-purple in wintertime.

Japanese Flowering Quinces

Numerous varieties, including dwarfs with vermilion, scarlet, pink, rose, red, apricot, and white blossoms. These simple shrubs are mainly coveted for early springtime brilliant color.

Japanese Yews

Amongst the most dependable evergreens for robustness, ease of culture and tolerance of sunlight or shade. There are upright, columnlike, spreading, and low varieties; all have got dark green needles and are excellent for contrast with flowers. These are hardy in the North, but make sure to water all container plants in wintertime whenever soil isn't frozen. The upright, rounded Hatfield and the columnar Hicks yews create effective hedges.

Pieris

The upright Japanese has dangling white blossom clusters and bronzy-red fresh spring growth. The mountain pieris is lower and rounded, with upright white flower heads. Both bear beautiful foliage and are dependable the year-round.

Beverly Clarke manages a network of green living websites including GreenWindsofChange, TheGreenhousePrimer and GreenOutsideIn

Dove Tree or Davidia - Wherever dependably hardy (a specimen at Arnold Arboretum, Boston, blooms periodically), an exotic tree, with big white bracts amidst heart-shaped leaves in springtime. Involves specialized attention, but is worthy of the effort.

Franklinia or Gordonia - Like the dove tree, also necessitating special care. Single, camellia-like, cream-white flowers bloom in late summertime and keep going until frost. Foliage is colorful in autumn. Barely holding up through winters around Boston, this is dependably hardy from New York City southwards.

Fringe Tree - Large shrub or small tree, with downlike, white blooms coming out with unfolding foliage in later springtime. Displays strikingly against evergreens.

Ginkgo - Among the finest, very sturdy and slow growing displaying an intriguing form. Also known as maidenhair tree, it transplants well. An upright variant, the Sentry Gingko, will impart accent.

Golden-Chain Tree or Laburnum - Small ornamental tree with pendulous, wisteria-like, golden flowers in springtime. It will draw in a great deal of attention in a large-scale plant box.

Golden-Rain Tree or Koelreuteria - One of few yellow-flowering trees for the North. Compound leaves are highlighted by erect panicles in midsummer, succeeded by pods that modify through many colors. Golden rain stands firm against drought.

Hawthorns - Numerous varieties, with splashy red, pink, or white flowers in springtime. Spectacular is the English hawthorn, including the red Paul's Scarlet and Arnold hawthorn displaying white flower bundles. Washington thorn features gleaming red berries in autumn.

Hollies - Pyramidal broad-leaved evergreens with bountiful foliage and bright red berries. American holly is hardier than English, however both have varieties with varicolored leaves and yellow or orange berries.

Japanese Maple - All stand firm with ceremonial pruning. Japanese Red Maple. Delicate, with sectioned dark leaves and a crosswise habit. Varieties feature deep-cut green leaves (Acer palmatum dissectum) or purple foliage (A. p. atropurpureum). Often grown in containers along the West Coast.

Japanese Snowbell or Styrax - Small-scale and fanning out, with myriads of elegant white bells in early summertime dangling from below the horizontal limbs.

Japanese Tree Lilac - The last of the lilacs to blossom, with prominent, aromatic, cream-white tresses in early summertime. Really hardy and slow growing, it can be cultivated with a single or numerous trunks.

Magnolias - Numerous varieties displaying splashy flowers. Soonest to blossom is the star magnolia in white or pink. If springtime freeze threatens, relocate to protection during nighttime. Next to bloom is the standard saucer magnolia in white, pink, rose, or purple. These have an intriguing habit and soft gray bark. Sweet bay magnolia brings forth perfumed, cream-white flowers during a time period of weeks during the summertime. Attractive dark green leaves are whitish beneath.

Moraine Locust - Newly presented variety, with thin compound leaves and an exposed, elegant habit. Fast growing, and pest-free displaying neither thorns nor untidy seed pods. Sunburst locust, a different form, is notable because of its golden-yellow points.

Mountain Ash - Splashiest is the European displaying a relaxed habit and white blossoms in springtime succeeded by full-bodied bunches of orange-red fruits. Fast-growing plants provide filtered shade.

Oriental Flowering Cherries - Small trees, with single or double, pink, rose, or white flowers in spring. Unusual is the weeping cherry, displaying really early pink blossoms. Variety Kwanzan, a slender, upright grower, features prominent double blooms resembling roses.

Pines - Choice hinges on climate and individual preference. The red, pitch, Scotch, Austrian, and Japanese black pines are seacoast specimens, however all pines adapt comfortably to container culture if maintained damp and not unattended in wintertime. They behave best in sunlight and can be clipped or shorn.

Poplars - Fast-growing, weak-wooded trees, easy to be replaced since they're readily available at moderate prices. The lithesome Lombardy poplar can be planted for accent or a hedge. All well-fixed for the container garden.

Redbud or Judas Tree - Small, with rose-pink blossoms in close bundles and heart-shaped leaves. The eastern common redbud is the sturdiest, however in more moderate climates the Chinese redbud is every bit as lovely.

Russian Olive - Admired for silvery leaves and the malposed trunk and limbs it grows. Extremely hardy and robust, suitable for the seashore as it withstands wind and salty spray.

Silverbell or Halesia - Erect tree displaying petite bells in white or pink at dogwood and tulip time. Situate wherever it can be viewed closely.

Scholar Tree or Sophora - A member of the pea family, with compound leaves and cream-white blossoms in midsummer. Endures dust and soot of metropolises.

Sourwood or Oxydendrum - Small summer-flowering tree, with pendulous clusters of modest, aromatic flowers and glossy leaves that become scarlet in fall. In containers, specimens may well be furnished with the acrid soil they require.

Beverly Clarke manages a network of green living websites including GreenWindsofChange, TheGreenhousePrimer and GreenOutsideIn