posted 13 years ago
Maackia amurensis is a fairly common street tree in the Portland, OR metro area, and widely available at local nurseries. Both of those facts would tend to suggest easy culture. Sounds like a good one to play with.
As to your comment that the cold temperate region of North America is limited for large, long-lived N+ species, some of the following are native or proven in cold temperate N. America, and some of the others are sure worth trying:
Trees:
Several Robinias including R. neomexicana, R. pseudoacacia, and R. viscosa.
A bunch of alders, including A. incana, A. cordata, A. rugosa, and A. tenuifolia.
Large Shrubs:
Multiple species of the genera Elaeagnus, Hippophae, and Shepherdia that are pretty popular in Pc circles, notably E. umbellata, H. Rhamnoides, and S. canadensis, all hard to at least -40ยบ F.
Equally hardy species of Myrica.
And then there are some pretty hardy (Z4-5) species in Cercocarpus and Ceanothus.
Really quite a smorgasboard!