Halesia carolina 'Savannah River'

Carolina Silverbells. One of our more exquisite small native trees, this species produces a rounded head and is an ideal understory tree. It does not have the disease and insect problems that are ubiquitous with our native dogwood. It produces copious quantities of hanging white 1" flowers in late March to early April here in zone 8. Plantsmen George Barrett and Chuck Weeks found this selection on an island in the Savannah River just north of Augusta but below the I-20 bridge. They selected it because of its vigor and beauty. It is a precocious bloomer and will cover in flowers in its first year with its white bell-like flowers lining its stems as they hang gracefully downward. The original plant has been washed away, but thankfully we have it in cultivation. I would expect a 15-20' medium tree for all practical purposes, but in the wild one will encounter much larger specimens. Initially they grow off rather well with 1-2' of growth in a season under ideal conditions. Fall color is not intense but pleasing soft yellow. Dirr comments in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, "One of my favorite small native trees; often neglected in this country but definitely with a place in shrub and woodland borders; handsome lawn tree..."

Zones 4-9a