MAD for Trees
  • Home
  • Madison's Trees
  • Tree Giveaway
  • Donate
  • Resources
  • Partners
  • About Us / Past Events
  • Online Registration
  • More
    • Home
    • Madison's Trees
    • Tree Giveaway
    • Donate
    • Resources
    • Partners
    • About Us / Past Events
    • Online Registration
MAD for Trees
  • Home
  • Madison's Trees
  • Tree Giveaway
  • Donate
  • Resources
  • Partners
  • About Us / Past Events
  • Online Registration

Welcome

Thank you for your interest in planting native trees. 

Please consider donating to help us reach our 200 tree goal.


Please note: To provide you with the best value and to help ensure that your tree establishes itself for a long healthy life, we are giving away small container trees, most ranging from 2 to 7 gallons. 

DONATE

Current Tree Availability

TO BE FINALIZED SOON FOR SPRING 2023


Below are examples of what we expect to offer at our next Give Away. These are subject to change. 

 This season, we will be offering native shrubs.


We are generally limiting trees to one per household. If you have a special circumstance, we are willing to try and accomodate.

Step 1 - Find the right tree for your space

#

Understory Trees

#

Native Shrubs

Step 2 - Preregister by filling in your Tree Pledge

Thank you for your interest in planting native trees in Madison CT. 

  • This form contains important preparation and care information for your tree. 
  • Complete and return to MAD for Trees (mad4trees@gmail.com). 
  • We will contact you as soon as possible to discuss your tree and pick-up. 

Please note: To provide you with the best value and to help ensure that your tree establishes itself for a long healthy life, we are giving away small container trees, most ranging from 2 to 7 gallons. 

Tree Pledge (pdf)

Download

Understory Trees

Cornus florida - Flowering Dogwood: Available in the Spring

 

Habitat

  • native to the eastern and central United States
  • zone 5 with selection of proper genetic material
  • grows naturally as an understory tree

Habit and Form

  • a small deciduous tree
  • grows to about 30' tall with an equal or greater spread
  • shape is rounded to somewhat flat-topped
  • branching is approaching horizontal
  • branches low to the ground with a short trunk

Summer Foliage

  • opposite, simple leaves
  • oval to ovate shape
  • leaves 3" to 6" long
  • leaves 1.5' to 3" wide
  • leaf color is medium green

Autumn Foliage

  • red or reddish purple
  • generally quite showy
  • colors early and color holds for an extended period

Flowers

  • flowers are small and yellowish green
  • the showy part of the bloom the four white bracts
  • each bract is nearly 2" long
  • the diameter of the bracts combined is about 4" across
  • bloom time is mid-May
  • bloom is effective for 2 weeks
  • flowering occurs before leaf out

Fruit

  • bright, shiny red fruits
  • held in tight clusters of 3 to 4
  • each fruit is 0.33" to 0.5" long and elongated
  • some trees retain fruit into the winter
  • birds often eat the fruit

Bark

  • quite attractive
  • develops small square or rectangular blocks
  • resembles alligator skin
  • color is dark gray, brown or black

Culture

  • prefers a cool, moist, acidic soil that contains organic matter
  • full sun promotes greatest flowering but tolerates partial shade well
  • not tolerant of stresses such as heat, drought, pollution, road salt
  • best transplanted at a small size
  • can be slow to reestablish following transplanting

Landscape Uses

  • small groupings
  • lawn tree
  • specimen
  • border
  • naturalistic areas
  • edge of woods
  • patio tree
  • has four season appeal in flowers, fruits, fall, color, bark and branching character

Liabilities

  • flower buds can be killed or injured by cold in zone 5
  • dogwood borer
  • dogwood anthracnose
  • powdery mildew
  • crown rot and canker
  • almost overused

Cornus florida - Flowering Dogwood

Franklinia alatamaha - Franklin Tree: Available in the Spring

 

 

Habitat

  • native to southeastern United States
  • zone 5

Habit and Form

  • a small deciduous tree
  • 15' to 25' tall
  • almost as wide
  • rounded to conical dense crown
  • upright
  • medium texture
  • slow growth rate

Summer Foliage

  • alternate leaf arrangement
  • simple, deciduous leaves
  • oblong leaf shape
  • 4" to 8" long
  • serrate leaf margin
  • bright green leaf color

Autumn Foliage

  • orange-red fall color
  • showy

Flowers

  • white flowers
  • blooms in summer
  • fragrant
  • showy
  • 3" in diameter

Fruit

  • dry rounded fruit
  • up to 1" in diameter
  • not ornamentally important

Bark

  • branches low on trunk
  • white stripes along bark
  • greenish brown twigs
  • older bark is gray
  • winter interest

Culture

  • prefers well-drained, rich, acidic soil
  • needs moisture
  • partial sun to full

Landscape Use

  • specimen
  • patio tree
  • for fragrant flowers
  • good four season plant

Liabilities

  • root rot
  • needs extra watering

Franklinia alatamaha - Franklin Tree

Magnolia virginiana - Sweetbay Magnolia: Available in the Spring

 

 

 

Habitat

  • native to eastern United States; more common in southeast
  • hardy to zone 5
  • often found in swampy locations

Habit and Form

  • a semi-evergreen small tree
  • 10' to 30' tall in the northeast
  • 40' to 60' tall in the southeast
  • multi-stemmed, loose and open
  • rounded to pyramidal or irregular outline
  • upright, spreading branching

Summer Foliage

  • leaves are evergreen in the southeastern United States
  • leaves are semi-evergreen to deciduous in the northeastern United States (zone 5 and 6)
  • leaves are 5" long; alternate arrangement
  • smooth, almost wary, bright green upper surface
  • undersides of leaves are white and look frosted
  • young twigs are green and smooth

Autumn Foliage

  • typically not showy
  • a mix of yellow, brown and green
  • non-uniform color due to semi-evergreen nature

Flowers

  • blooms in mid-June; sporadically during the summer
  • 2" to 3" diameter creamy white flowers
  • 9 to 12 petals
  • lemon-scented
  • generally not strongly showy in bloom because the foliage hides many blossoms and flowers are not very abundant

Fruit

  • 2' long aggregate fruit
  • changes from green to red when mature
  • orang-red seeds are visible through slits in mature fruits

Bark

  • smooth, dark gray on older branches and trunk
  • young branches smooth and green

Culture

  • tolerant of wet soils
  • soil must be acidic
  • full sun is best, but tolerant of partial shade
  • avoid sites that are cold and windswept in winter

Landscape Use

  • as a specimen tree or large shrub
  • useful for flower fragrance
  • patio plant
  • naturalistic areas
  • wet soils

Liabilities

  • chlorosis on high pH soils
  • subject to winter injury in zone 5
  • does not always perform well in colder parts of its recommended use range
  • does not bloom as heavily as other common-magnolias

Magnolia virginiana - Sweetbay Magnolia

Jump back to Pre-registration page

Go back

Native Shrubs

Kalmia latifolia - Mountain-laurel: AVAILABLE in the SPRING

 

 

Habitat

  • native in eastern North America
  • hardy in zone 5 and protected locations in zone 4
  • typically found at the woods edge, edge of water or where light filters through the forest canopy

Habit and Form

  • generally has a rounded shape
  • can be dense-compact or loose-open depending on how much light the plant receives
  • mature size is typically 5 to 12' tall, with a similar spread
  • can be significantly larger, especially in the southern Appalachian Mountains
  • branching is irregular
  • a broadleaf evergreen

Summer Foliage

  • leaves arranged alternately
  • leaves clustered toward the shoot tip
  • leaves are elliptical, 2" to 5" long, 0.75" to 1.5" wide
  • leaf tip is pointed
  • margins are entire and smooth
  • color is dark green and glossy above
  • in full sun foliage can be yellow-green

Autumn Foliage

  • evergreen; no fall color

Flowers

  • showy, lasting 2 weeks or more
  • blooms in late May and mostly in early June
  • 4" to 6" diameter clusters of small individual blooms at branch tips
  • individual flowers are 0.75" to 1" across
  • normal color is pink that fades to nearly white
  • selections and breeding have produced red budded, cinnamon banded, pure white and deep pink/red flowered forms (see cultivar section)

Fruit

  • non-ornamental, small dehiscent capsules
  • brown-tan color

Bark

  • lightly ridged and furrowed
  • trunks gnarled and twisted
  • brown-tan color

Culture

  • partial shade to full sun
  • often touted as tolerant of heavy shade, but plants under those conditions are very thin and open and bloom sparsely
  • requires a cool, moist, acidic, organic soil for best performance
  • avoid windswept sites

Landscape Use

  • for evergreen foliage
  • for showy blooms
  • foundation plantings
  • excellent in partially shaded sites
  • works well with other broadleaf evergreens
  • for naturalizing

Liabilities

  • foliar burn in exposed sites
  • will languish in heavy, high pH soils
  • lacebug
  • leaf spot can be especially troublesome on non-resistant cultivars in moist, heavy shade.

Kalmia latifolia - Mountain-laurel

Ilex verticillata - Winterberry: AVAILABLE in the SPRING

  

Habitat

  • native to the eastern and central United States; parts of Canada
  • zone 3 to 4
  • often found at the edge of the woods or in swamps

Habit and Form

  • a deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub
  • generally 6' to 10' tall, but can get larger
  • oval to rounded form
  • upright and spreading
  • tends to sucker and form large clumps

Summer Foliage

  • deciduous with alternate leaf arrangement
  • leaves are 1.5" to 3" long and 0.75" to 1.25" wide
  • elliptical with an acute base and acute/acuminate apex
  • color is green to dark green
  • leaves vary from flat to shiny on the upper surface
  • underside of leaf somewhat pubescent
  • serrate leaf margins

Autumn Foliage

  • not especially showy
  • typically yellow-green with some purple tinges

Flowers

  • dioecious, with male and female plants
  • male flowers in clusters
  • female flowers solitary or in 2's or 3's
  • small white flowers in early June
  • not especially showy

Fruit

  • only present on female plant
  • bright red and glossy, held will into winter
  • held close to the stem, singly or in pairs
  • green during the growing season, changing in October
  • birds will eat fruit

Bark

  • dark gray to brown
  • generally smooth with some lenticels

Culture

  • full sun to partial shade; more sun means more fruit on females
  • easily transplanted from containers or B&B
  • tolerant of poorly-drained soils
  • prefers moist, acidic soils

Landscape Use

  • in native plantings
  • for fruit display in fall and winter
  • useful in wet soils
  • in mass planting
  • along water
  • shrub border

Liabilities

  • fruit set only on pollinated female plants
  • need a male pollinator nearby
  • chlorosis on high pH soils
  • leaf spot and powdery mildew, but they are rarely disfiguring

Ilex verticillata - Winterberry

Jump back to Pre-registration page

Go back
  • Home
  • Madison's Trees
  • Tree Giveaway
  • Donate
  • Resources
  • Partners
  • About Us / Past Events
  • Online Registration

MAD for Trees

Copyright © 2021 MAD for Trees - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by GoDaddy