Help me find the perfect flowering tree to fill my gap (fnarr fnarr)

[Greensleeves]

I have a wooded area at the top of my garden, with hazel, holly and a big ceanothus. There's a gap, with scratty grass and wild flowers, and then a rose arch between the wooded bit and the rest of the garden. I want to put another tree in the gap, but I don't want something that's going to grow enormous, like another hazel, and I would like something that flowers, to contrast with the ceanothus, and ideally I'd like it to smell nice as well! Any ideas?

A white Lilac? Mine is flowering now as is my Ceanothus. Alternatively, and not a tree, a Philadelphus Aurea (?) which would provide colour contrast all year and flowers later in the summer.

Oh and just to be really awkward - I already have a flowering cherry, so don't want another of those, and it can't be a magnolia because gorgeous as they are, they take forever to grow (I have had one in a pot for three years and it's grown an inch)

Ooh, I like the idea of a lilac! Thanks!

Lilac. The flowering season is quite short, but it's worth it for the wonderful scent. (If you happen to like the scent of it lilac).

Acer? But doesn’t flower.

Fig- grows fast and fruits.

Pittosporum- gross fast and is pretty much ever green with lonely dappled leaves.

Viburnum. Pale pink and white flowers all winter and smells of vanilla. Grows reasonably quickly but won’t overwhelm neighbouring trees. Very hardy - mine has survived minus 18C up here in Scotland.

....um, what's "fnarr fnarr" ?

Flamingo tree

Crabapple.

I have two (white one and a dark pink one). Adore them both but prefer the dark pink one more. Don't know the names as the previous owner put them in.

Will be putting in more next year.

Another vote for crabapple. And you get to make jelly each autumn to show off at the Church harvest festival. Poncetastic.

I love the look of crabapple, but am wary of more mess to clear up when the fruit drops (we already have apple, pear, plum and cherry trees and it's a real ballache picking up endless falls!) They are so beautiful though...will mull on it!

rowan, so many gorgeous varieties to choose from with year round interest. varieties of hawthorn, but choose a single flowered one. Crab apple, something like butterball or they do purple ones like Laura, which bring a different tone. So many wonderful options.

Amelanchier is beautiful.

Hibiscus? I’ve got three little hibiscus trees at the bottom of my garden. All with different coloured flowers. Also the birds and bees love them.

Hawthorn or Mock Orange? Both smell divine. Hawthorn better for wildlife

What about amalanchier.

If you put this in Gardening you might get more traffic. But i agree with Lilac. Also how about Cornus Capitata? It makes lots of babies which friends might love to have!
Think Acer would be lovely but they do need dampness.

Off to google amalanchier, not just because that is a most enjoyable word to roll around one's gob (presuming a cod-French or Franglais prn...)

Now that is a pretty tree. Get one of those, Greeny. Amalanchier.

That is indeed a very pretty tree...and lovely colourful foliage in autumn! Definitely a front runner

If you want something smaller and a bit shrubbier, I give you: cercis chinensis.

No fragrance but simply beautiful; the pink flowers appear on bare wood, then slowly mature to a vibrant purplish pink. The flowers last simply for ages and look great set against the blue of a ceanothus.

Then find bright green leaves emerge, growing onto the mature plant into huge, lush, glossy green, spade-shaped leaves which turns a magnificent beautiful orange in autumn (and then fall off but they are easy to scoop up).

You can prune and shape it as you like.

I am such a huge fan of mine! And it tolerates poor soil, partial shade, and fairly dry conditions. What's not to like?

Crabapple "Evereste" doesn't drop it's apples, it holds them all winter, mine still has some shrivelled ones on the tree when the blossom comes out. They are beautiful and tiny like red berries and the spring blossom is beautiful.

If there is enough sun, Choisya looks great with ceonathus (and incidentally, I have blue and white ceonathus). Mine is 2.5 metres tall - takes a bit of time to get going but looks gorgeous at the moment with the lilac, ceonathus in bloom too. Viburnum is easy too but flowers earlier but for quite a while. The round robin with it works too. I have all these easy bushes/mini trees against my fences and they are low maintenance and work well together.

Budelier Davidii. Butterfly 🦋 shrub. Grows to about 7 foot and takes care of itself. Very hard to kill. Very pretty when flowering, which is most of summer.

Amalanchier is a good shout. I also have a choisya, mock orange and a variegated weigela I've trained into a tree shape, and they sit well alongside my ceanothus. Viburnum is easy peasy too and flowers forever.