Asklemmy

I don't think its very common in the US but The pōhutukawa tree

The pōhutukawa tree is a special part of New Zealand culture, often called the "New Zealand Christmas tree" because of its bright red flowers that bloom in December. It’s seen as a symbol of strength and resilience, especially since it grows along rugged coastlines. For Māori, it has deep spiritual meaning—there's even an ancient pōhutukawa at Cape Reinga where spirits are believed to begin their journey to the afterlife. Plus, it’s great for the environment, providing food and shelter for native birds and insects.

Balanced binary tree

Real answer: Japanese maple and willows

I've got three and I've been trying to grow each from seed:

1. Dawn Redwood because it has an incredible backstory, it is a true redwood contrary to popular belief, and It easily grows where I'm at.
2. Giant Sequoia because they are massive, it is also a true redwood, and it can allegedly grow where I'm at.
3. Cedar of Lebanon because I grew up in one of the many U.S. towns of Lebanon named for the trees as referenced in that religious book and I remember the original Cedar of Lebanon referenced in that story I linked.

Unfortunately, I can't get the Giant Sequoias past a few inches tall while even acknowledging their infamous 20% germination rate. The Cedar of Lebanon seeds I can't even get to germinate but I also haven't found as much academic literature on cultivating them from seeds.

Shoutout to the Ginkgo Biloba for being one of the OG trees, also.

So anyway, I love those dark maples with the leaves that are so blue they're almost black in certain light. I call them goth maples.

Picture:

Weeping willow trees. We had one at my childhood home. When it was sold, the new owners tore it out. I was very sad.

Weeping Willow!

Japanese Maple. Had one by the front door of the house I grew up in. Reminds me of my childhood home.

Love me a magnolia tree

Dogwood. Hidden away under the canopy, reaching out and up to find sunshine in the PNW rain forest. Beautiful white spring flowers.

After leaving my beloved PNW when I was 12 to move to smoggy searing Los Angeles and missing the green and rain for 45 years, I'm back. We just bought a dogwood for the backyard. So excited for spring.

Scots pine

Fiddy.

Not too expensive.

I used to live in a rickety flat that had a single old creaky staircase to get up to the front door, and a little grassy terrace area. Only I really ever used the grassy bit. The stairs had a pohutakawa tree growing essentially right through them, making walking up or down them hazardous. Especially when drunk.

I would not classify that period of my life to be "happy" by any stretch, but that tree signified being "home." It was like the guardian to my space. A physical barrier between me and the shitshow that was the rest of the world at that time. An almost literal gatekeeper (many people were too scared to walk up the stairs lol)

Added bonus, year end holidays, and the height of summer were vividly and brightly different thanks to the red needles they drop everywhere around that time.

It wasn't until the landlord told me he was planning to have it cut down, and I had an almost physical reaction that I realized how much I loved that tree. I managed to convince him not to have it cut down until after I'd left.

Both the tree and the flat are now gone. A multi million dollar new build is there now.

Birch!

They’re just so beautiful!

Willows. They feel so incredibly relaxed, like they just don't give a shit.

Everything about the Gingko tree is pretty cool

Being the most common tree in America doesn't make the sycamore any less awesome.

They're big and their canopy is lush. Their limbs are all twisty and knobbly. They've got huge leaves that sound amazing blowing in the wind or crunching underfoot. The colloquialism for their seedpods is hilarious and the pods themselves are almost as cool as sweetgum seed pods.

Just some great trees all around.

Mango tree!! 🥭🌳

It's big, it provides plenty of shades, it's unassuming, and most importantly it has mangoes!!

The walnut tree. Its leaves are dense so it casts a cohesive shadow, perfect for shelter from the sun. I LOVE how it smells, especially when developing walnuts, and green walnuts are entirely unique in how they taste!

Monkeypod

Delonix regia, the original flamboyant.

American Chestnut. Have a few seedlings we planted in the front yard. Super excited to be part of the process of restoring them

Number three…

The larch.

Redbud. It's got such pretty blossoms and the leaves are a really pleasing shape.

Red-black tree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red%E2%80%93black_tree

The one that gives weed

Red maple, the colour and shape of the leaves are so pretty!

Dark oak. I like how it looks, when processed.

Aspen. Having lived and vacationed in Colorado in the past made my wife and I fall in love with them for their color in the fall. We’ve traveled back just to see them.

there's this one tree in a park nearby that I used to climb on as a kid, id say that's my favorite tree

We have a big maple in our yard and more through the neighborhood. The sound of wind running through their leaves is very calming.

Despite being really really invasive here in Europe, I love the Staghorn Sumac.

It's very pretty, with great flowers and soft furry branches (like antlers). You can make an amazing "lemonade" from the fruits and you can eat the shoots raw.

And eating the shoots raw is a great idea, because it branches out like crazy. If your neighbors have one of these, you'll soon have half a dozen too.

They also grow pretty fast, and the wood is super pretty (and super curvy, so you won't be making any boards out of it)

Eucalyptus. Houses koalas, smells nice, is sturdy, and has a chance to explode when on fire due to the oil inside.

Ipê (common name), both the Handroanthus and Tabebuia kinds

you think cherry blossons are pretty? you ain't seen nothing yet

https://static3.tcdn.com.br/img/img_prod/350075/muda_de_ipe_rosa_feita_de_semente_10791_1_20190808175908.jpg

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.JY7DjARq6F4wKcPPZZXPIwHaFj%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=1f8ff6dd51cb66b539b248856e84c166c50442d91aec7100a76150417f9fb31d&ipo=images

https://images.tcdn.com.br/img/img_prod/912574/ipe_branco_adulto_com_2_metros_em_vaso_663_1_b5b8f3f91ed2aed91c2e1cbb8b4b94f7_20210625165218.jpg

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ip%C3%AA&t=fpas&iax=images&ia=images

Araucaria species. Because of their shape. They are the best.

I also really really like Magnolia trees, the large grandiflora ones ( those with the large glossy leaves and white flowers). I mean the flowers are amazing, but the way their trunks develop in very large specimens is so good, those semi buttressed roots and aerial offshoots hanging down are crazy amazing.

So yeah, araucarias and magnolias.

There was a HUGE oak tree at my grandma's house. I mean it was MASSIVE covering like the whole yard and was like 5 feet in diameter.
I grew up playing under it climbing limbs and swinging on a tire swing and a funner branch-seat swing which was lighter so it would go higher. Heres kinda how it looked:

Anyways, in a hurricane a few years ago a large branch snapped off and it got infected and had to be chopped down :(

I'm going to go with white oak. The wood is very versatile; it's strong enough for load bearing furniture, it's hard enough for tabletops, it steam bends quite nicely, it's just a joy to work with, looks wonderful under an oil finish, and it lends a nice flavor to whiskey.

Madrona. They're only in a few places in the world. Their bark sheds like paper and becomes kindling, leaving a super smooth trunk. The shed bark encourages forest fires, killing competitors and making room for their offspring to thrive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutus_menziesii

Yew, so many are really old and have a mystical air to them.