Every fall when October rolls around we all marvel at the fantastic leaf color that appears in our Iowa rural and urban forest. On weekends you hear, "Let's go for a drive and look at the leaves."

It is a fantastic autumn show but for the appreciative viewer the spring show is almost as great. The only difference is you can't see it through your windshield. Begin by going for a walk in the woods to fully experience the signs of spring. If you take your time and look closely at all plant material you will see the reds, yellows, and many shades of green. It's my favorite time of the year to look at the leaves.

The tree that I feel has the best spring appearance you are not going to find in our woodlands. In fact you will be hard pressed to find it anywhere but in an arboretum. This may be one of the finer small trees, which has been a secret. I have seen it in only one private landscape and shame on me - it's not mine! The tree is Amur Maackia, and surprise! That is not the scientific name, it is the common name. Maacki amurensis is the scientific name and this is almost as easy to say as the common name. The name Maacki is for the 19^th century Russian naturalist Richard Karlovic Maack and Amurensis means "of the Amur region" an area of northern China and southeastern Siberia. In the wild it may grow to 40 feet but in captivity (the landscape) 20 to 30 feet is more likely. It can be grown as a multi trunk or single trunk tree. At 35 years of age a single trunk tree will have a diameter of about a foot.

The emerging, silvery colored leaves in the spring are a real head turner. With a WOW! What kind of tree is that which will soon follow?

Besides the spring foliage show, in early summer appear spikes of creamy white pea-like flowers that from a distance remind me a little of a Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) In addition to all of this, for year around interest the bark is a beautiful olive green to gold with a webbed pattern. It is also very hardy with no serious insect or disease problems and not fussy about soil types. The only down side: fall color is non-existent and the plant is hard to find in the nursery trade.

I know this spring you will all want to come to the Bickelhaupt Arboretum and see this wonderful small tree. It is located along the creek at the northern end of the Arboretum just a stone's throw from the Heartland Collection of Garden Conifers. (I bet you didn't think I was going to be able to work conifers into this article.) As long as you are this close, take a walk through the conifer collection with the new spring growth, which will be in the height of its glory.