When you see the Carolina silver bell ( Halesia carolina) this spring, look upward through the loose branches at the little white bell-shaped flowers peeping from among the pale green leaves.
The most important home-ground value of the silver bell is that its blooms can best be seen from below. This is a rare characteristic for any flowering tree or shrub.
From a distance, the blooms are much less in evidence, so the best location for this picturesque little tree is one that is conveniently accessible.
A silver bell can handsomely terminate a long flower or shrub border. It also looks exceptionally well against a background of large evergreens.
Hardy Carolina Silver Bell
The Carolina silver bell is a native of the South, from West Virginia to Florida and westward to Texas.
For all its Southern background, it can withstand winter nights when the mercury drops a few degrees below zero. It is hardy as far north as Massachusetts and New York State.
It reaches a height of 30’ feet in its natural range, but when growing in the North, it may be only half as tall and frequently is more like a hush than a tree.
Excellent Growing Practices
Silver bells have another advantage in being virtually free of insect and disease troubles and requiring little pruning.
They appreciate plenty of humus and a reasonable amount of moisture in the soil, but special feeding, winter protection, spraying, and dusting rarely enter their cultural picture.
If a bit of cutting does become advisable to keep a particular branch from getting out of hand, do it immediately after the blossoms have gone by to avoid the needless sacrifice of the following season’s bloom.
Silver Bell’s Pleasing Assets
The flowers, you see, are borne only on twig growth of the previous year. The buds form in late summer and early fall and then remain dormant until the ensuing winter has passed.
Autumn adds several modest but pleasing assets to the value of this relatively informal tree.
First, its pointed, elliptical leaves, some of them nearly 6” inches long, become a soft yellow before they fall.
When they have dropped, you notice, perhaps for the first time, the warm, ruddy brown of the bark, which is often striped with tan on the thicker branches.
During this season, you will also be intrigued by the singular winged seed pods, usually about 2” inches long.
Mountain Silver-bell “Halesia Monticola”
If your situation calls for a larger tree than the Carolina silver bell, consider the mountain silver bell (Halesia monticola).
This closely related species comes from the mountains of North Carolina, Tennessee, and northern Georgia.
Here I have seen it towering nearly 90’ feet above the 3-foot base of its trunk.
This species grows about half as tall in the North, and it is not quite as hardy as the Carolina silver bell.
However, the blooms of Halesia monticola are larger than its smaller cousin, being around an inch long.
The flowers are similar except for size. However, there is a pink-tinted form of the mountain silver bell, Halesia monticola rosea.
Both the species of halesia are obtainable from the best tree nurseries.
The Ideal Planting Season
Autumn is the preferred planting season, as with most spring-blooming woody plants.
If you live north of the tree’s natural range, better play safe and mulch substantially after the ground has frozen a couple of inches deep, at least for the first winter.
Permanent mulching with several inches of leaves is a good idea anywhere outside of the tree’s native haunts since the mulch will conserve moisture and promote good soil texture.