Flowering trees are an importantcomponent of central Florida landscapes.They provide colorful flowers during theirseason of bloom. Many of these trees alsomake nice shade specimens. Our climatehere in central Florida allows for a widerange of flowering trees to be used. We cangrow some of the hardier, temperate climatetrees and trees from subtropical and eventropical climates. The following are someof the flowering trees that grow well inour area.

For the gardener who is adventurous orwho lives in a very warm and protectedmicroclimate, there are a few tropicalflowering trees that are worth the effort.The Royal Poinciana, Delonix regia, is anative of Madagascar. It is a fast growingtree reaching 30-40 feet tall with anumbrella shaped canopy. It flowers in latespring and summer. The tree is coveredin orange to scarlet red flowers. This isone of the most spectacular of allflowering trees. It is very common insouthern Florida. A close relative isColville’s Glory, Colvillea racemosa. It isalso native to Madagascar. It grows 30-40feet tall. It resembles a Royal Poincianawhen it is not flowering but has muchless of a spreading canopy. It flowers in

fall and bears racemes of orange flowersat the tips of the branches. Schizolobiumparahyba, the Fern Tree, is native fromsouthern Mexico to Brazil. It is anextremely fast growing tree, especially forthe first several years. (It can grow 10-20feet in a couple of years.) It does notbranch until it is about 20-30 feet tall.It has long pinnate leaves and resemblesa giant tree fern in this growth phase. Itcan grow 40-60 feet tall with a highcanopy. It bears yellow flowers during the

summer. The African Tulip Tree,Spathodea campanulata, is anative of tropical Africa. It is afast growing tree reaching 30-40feet tall. It bears orangish-redflowers in spring and summer.S. campanulata var. lutea bearsyellow blooms. Kigelia africana,the Sausage Tree, is a realcuriosity. It is native fromtropical Africa to southernAfrica and grows 30-50 feettall. The dark maroon flowersappear in summer and hangfrom the tree on long stalks. Ifthese flowers get pollinated,large spongy seed pods appear.

These pods can be 1 to 2 feet in lengthand resemble sausages.

For those gardeners that miss floweringtrees that heralded the arrival of springin more northern parts of the country,several of these trees can be grown incentral Florida. Eastern Dogwood,Cornus florida, can be coaxed intogrowing in local landscapes. They grow10-15 feet tall and bare white flowersin early spring before the leaves appear.They are not as showy bloomers as theyare further north. Eastern Dogwoodprefers a lightly shaded location (atleast in the afternoon) and moist soil.They also need good air circulation.For central Florida, it is best to growthe cultivar ‘Weaver’s’ as it is the best

heat tolerant variety. The pink formswill not grow here. Eastern Redbud,Cercis canadensis, is another springbloomer that flowers before the leavesappear. It bears small rosy-pink flowersalong the stems. It has similarrequirements to Eastern Dogwood.‘Forest Pansy’ is a variety that hasburgundy colored foliage when it firstemerges. It usually fades to green bymid-summer. C. racemosa ‘Avondale’,the Chinese Redbud, has performedwell here at Leu Gardens. It flowers inspring like other Cercis but ours also hasa light bloom in the fall. AmericanFringe Tree, Chionanthus virginicus, isanother spring bloomer that grows wellhere. It can be grown in sun or shadebut looks best with at least afternoonshade. It grows 10-20 feet tall. The treeblooms in early spring before the foliageemerges and is covered in lacy whiteflowers. This tree is native to the easternU.S. including northern Florida. Prunusumbellata, the Flatwoods Plum, is aFlorida native growing 10-15 feet tall. Itis deciduous and is covered with smallwhite flowers in early spring. It is anunderstory tree and grows best in ashaded location. It bears small purpleplums in summer. The fruits are bitterbut are loved by birds. A similar Floridanative, P. angustifolia, is the ChickasawPlum. It is similar to P. umbellata butthis one suckers heavily and forms smallcolonies. For those who miss theFlowering Cherries found further north,

Flowering Trees for Central FloridaSecond of a two-part series

Prunus angustifolia

Prunus persica ‘Martha Jane’

there is one that can be grown locally.Prunus campanulata is a low-chill speciesthat will grow and flower in centralFlorida. It is known as the TaiwanFlowering Cherry and is a native ofTaiwan, southern China and southernJapan. It grows 20-25 feet tall and bearssmall pink flowers amongst the barebranches in early spring. It likes full sun.Prunus persica ‘Martha Jane’ is a FloweringNectarine that grows well here in centralFlorida. It grows 10 to 15 feet tall andbears double pink flowers in early spring.

Several of the trees previouslymentioned in this article are droughttolerant and can handle periodic dryconditions. There are several floweringtree choices that are extremely droughttolerant and are excellent choices for dryareas. These trees can survive on theirown with normal rainfall once they areestablished. They also can grow well inan irrigated landscape as well. Acaciafarnesiana, Sweet Acacia, is a spiny treegrowing 10-20 feet tall. It bears brightyellow, round flowers that are extremelyfragrant. It flowers heavily in spring andsporadically during the warmer months.It is a Central American native. A.stenophylla, the String Acacia, is a gracefulweeping tree that grows 10-20 feet tall.It has very narrow but long foliage thatis blue-green in color. It bears small,creamy colored flowers in summer. Thistree is hardy and is becoming commonout west in places like Las Vegas, Tucson,and Phoenix. It is native to eastern

Australia. Mexican Poinciana,Caesalpinia mexicana is fastgrowing reaching 10-15 feet tall.It bears small yellow flowersalmost all year. It is a native ofsouthern Mexico. Cordia boisseri,the White Cordia Tree, is one ofthe best flowering trees for thisarea. It is fast growing, cold hardy,and bears white flowers all year.Sometimes the tree onlyhas a few flowers, at othertimes it is covered in white.

It only grows 10-15 feet tall and isnative to southern Texas andnorthern Mexico. Sicklebush,Dichrostachys cinerea, is nativefrom southern Africa to India. It isa small tree growing 10 to 15 feettall and bears pendulant purpleflowers with yellow stamens duringthe warmer months. The flowersfade to white after several days.Ebenopsis ebano, Texas Ebony, isan evergreen tree that grows 10 to15 feet tall. It bears small, creamywhite flowers several times duringthe warmer months. These flowers arevery fragrant. It was formely known asPithecellobium flexicaule. Erythrinacrista-galli, Coral Tree, is native to a largearea of eastern South America. It growsto about 20 feet tall. It bears pendulantclusters of dark red flowers in summer.The Jerusalem Thorn, Parkinsoniaaculeata, is actually native from southernArizona and Texas to Argentina. It is aspiny, deciduous tree that grows 10-15feet tall. It bears smallyellow flowers in summerand the narrow foliagegives it an airy look.Pithecellobium brevifoliais a native of northernMexico. It is a small treereaching about 10 feettall and bears small,white flowers during thewarmer months. Thevetiaperuviana, Yellow

Oleander, is native to Central America.It is not a true Oleander but is a closerelative. It has small, narrow, glossy leavesand bears yellow, bell-shaped flowersduring most of the year. T. peruvianavar. aurantiaca bears orange flowerswhile T. peruviana var. alba bears whiteflowers. It grows 10-15 feet tall.

Some of these flowering trees caneasily be found in local nurseries and

garden shops. Others are more difficultto locate. A good source to find themore rare trees and for information isthe Central Florida Flowering TreeSociety. They meet every other monthhere at Leu Gardens. Another source isthe Spring Plant Sale at Leu Gardens.Some of the more unusual and rarespecimens can be found for sale at theassortment of vendors.

– Eric Schmidt

Michelia champaca‘Orange Champaca Tree’

Dichrostachys cinerea with purple and white flowers

Prunus campanulata