I got a 5 gallon American hophornbeam from Forestfarm in 2013 and planted it in the meadow behind the berm.I had seen a mature one in 2011 in flower at the reservoir in West Hartford, and the pale tan flowers look a lot like hops.
It's a big, leafy, green forest tree, with these pretty little hop-like flowers in late June.
It will one day fill the gap between the last two spruces on the left of the berm, offering some screening from the road in back, filling the visual space between the spruces there.
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| 2011 - a hophornbeam in flower at the reservoir |
In 2014 I watered it a lot during the very dry summer, and it grew well. Here's a close up of the flowers (mine is still too young to flower):
My little hophornbeam is still a stick out in the meadow, but how it lights up at times!
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| 5/10/15 |
In early August I found a beautiful spider web hanging from the hophornbeam's little branches.
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| 8/9/15 |
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| 6/2/16 |
