"Nick Maclaren" wrote after ..
"Bob Hobden" wrote

| Albizia julibrissin.
|
| Silk Tree. Small tree with spreading crown to 5-12 m tall. Pink puff
ball
| flowers.

Maybe. I have been trying for some years, and it dies back to the
ground every winter, and so has never started to grow.

I believe they need protection for a number of years until the trunk is
thick enough to be frost hardy, certainly in a friends garden near Toulouse
they grow well and he gets down to 13°C of frost each winter. I have a few
I've grown from seed and one stayed out in it's pot as an experiment and is
now growing away.

| Cercis chinesis
| Chinese redbud. To 12ft tall, flowers well.

You could also try C. canadiensis.

| Ficus carica
| Fig. 3 - 9 m tall.

Grrk. In the open, it will be a small shrub, if it thrives. As with
some of the others, it's the lack of a summer that is its problem.

That's what I thought, but I saw one near here (Datchet) the other day that
is growing as a specimen tree and it was quite big. Was surrounded mostly by
buildings though but exposed to wind from the River. Mind you, I don't know
how old it is.


You could also try Halesia monticola and Maclura aurantica.

I'll take a look at those, thanks.

--
Regards
Bob H