The Old Town Garden Club of Sharpsburg has a Franklinia tree...not sure of the latin name, but I believe it's fairly rare. The red twig dog wood is not rare, but is certainly beautiful.

hi forrest,
i'm not in georgia but not far from columbus.
chionanthus pygmaeus is probably the rarest one i have.
sources say native to only certain areas of the florida panhandle and grows to about 6' tall. i got it from mail order natives in florida a few years ago and notice that she does not offer it anymore.
also trying gordonia lasianthus (loblolly bay) but it was struggling where i planted it and i have moved it into a container to nurse it along. know anything about that one and what kind of site it would like? i read it can take seasonally wet (hence the term "loblolly") but it almost died when i planted it in a place like that.
halesia diptera 'magniflora' is coming along well but has yet to flower for me. could be in too much shade (deciduous woods).
magnolia asheii and macrophylla are still small but appear to be settling in and healthy.
i love those northern conifers, too, esp. the blue and gold forms, but it is basically too hot here for most of them. i do have a norway spruce that is quite large. started with a b&b plant for a christmas tree in the early '90's and it is about 12' tall now.

I got turned on to rare native plants several years ago. Most of these came from Nearly Native Nursery, now located in Fayetteville. These are some of the more rare ones that I have.
Quercus oglethorpensis
Quercus georgiana
Quercus boyntonii
Pinckneya pubens "May's Pink"
Magnolia pyramidata
Magnolia macrophylla
Torreya taxiflora

Some other non-native rare trees (at least to this area).
Sequioa sempervirens "Aptos Blue"
Thuja plicata "Whipcord"
Fokienia hodginsii
Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar

My most unusual are:

Thujopsis dolabrata
Quercus georgiana
Pinus bungeana

The Thujopsis and Oak are small. The deer decimated the oak last summer and the males have mauled my Lacebark pine early in its life, but it is by far the oldest and most impressive of the three. If you don't mind Forrest I'd like to share a photo of it from this fall.........

I'd like to see photos of the trees mentioned by others here, especially your dwarf Chionanthus Jeff!!

forrest:

Just and FYI... went to the Southeastern Flower Show yesterday and in the Vendor Area was 'Just Add Water' a nursery in Conyers,GA, who specializes in rare Conifers and Maples. He had dozens of different varieties in his booth, all for the North GA area. I purchased a Pinus virginiana 'Wate's Gold' to try as a Bonsai

Scenter, do you have any more info on 'Just Add Water'? I'm in Conyers and have never seen them...Coming up empty on searches too except for a phone#.

Nothing rare, but perhaps unusual things compared to the average suburban yard:

Styrax grandifolius (big leaf snowbell)
Magnolia tripetala
Magnolia macrophylla
Magnolia acuminata
Magnolia virginiana
Halesia carolina (silverbell)
Cornus alternifolia (Pagoda dogwood)
Asimina triloba and parviflora (Paw Paw)

Here is a picture of the Snowbell:

Here is a picture of the bigleaf magnolias (the macrophylla are the taller ones):

And on Tuesday, I'll have a quercus georgiana.

wildflower:
it's http://www.jawsnursery.com/

I pasted it in the clickable link below too..

Here is a link that might be useful: Just add Water Nursery

I want some of those big leaf magnolias. Supposedly bought one at a Trees Atlanta sale two years ago, but it's not a big leaf. Still, it's nice and I like it, but I'd like to add a nice bigleaf magnolia to it too.

I have never tried any unusual conifers. I guess the fact that they can get pests down here sort of scared me off of them. I didn't want to get into having to spray them with anything.

Will say I did try three dwarf conifers and managed to kill them all pretty quickly a few years ago.

GGG

Very nice Magnolias Esh!! I have a small M. ashei, but the deer again paid a visit. During the rut season last year one broke the entire top off my little tree, leaving a ragged 2' stump! I was so mad!

I meant to mention this before Southwebb, my Georgia Oak came from Nearly Native as well. It was the Green Plant Market when I visited, and the owner told me they were in the process of changing the name. I'd never been before. I also bought a Longleaf Pine and the native Erythrina. I let the pine die and I still haven't planted the Erythrina and that was October 2004!

gaalan,

I really like Nearly Native Nursery. I live fairly local so I've been shopping with them since 2000.

I saw the website for Just Add Water Nursery and have already contacted them. Unfortunately, they don't have regular nursery hours at this point, so I will set up a visit. They said that they had 107 hits on the website after it was posted here.

forrest30295,
If the conifer bug has bitten you, I would recommend that you join the American Conifer Society if you have not already done so. I would also suggest that you visit some of the arboretums such as Cox Arboretum & Gardens and Thompson Mills Forest.