As you drive around SWFL, try and spot some of these beautiful flowering trees that come to life this time of year.
It’s fun to see colorful wildflowers and flowering trees come to life in the spring! While our warmer temperatures allow many plants and shrubs to bloom throughout the year, some trees in South Florida are deciduous, meaning they lose leaves in the winter and bloom in the spring.
What’s Blooming This Spring?
Poinciana
You’ve probably seen large royal poinciana trees in a few front yards, but there’s also the dwarf poinciana, which is a bit smaller and can be grown as a full shrub or groomed to keep a tidy “tree” appearance. Actually, the South Florida Plant Guide website points out that these two Poinciana’s are not related, but just share the same name.
Click here to read more about the Royal Poinciana, including instructions on how to care for the tree. Click here to read more about the Dwarf Poinciana, including tips on how to incorporate it into your landscaping.
Bottlebrush
Again, there are different varieties of bottlebrush, but two common types you’ll see around town are the red cluster bottlebrush tree and the weeping bottlebrush tree. There’s something majestic about the weeping bottlebrush, especially when it blows in the wind. It reminds me of a mini-weeping willow tree!
Click here to learn more about the Red Cluster Bottlebrush, including plant specs to help plan your spacing. Click here to learn more about the Weeping Bottlebrush, including the conditions it prefers for best growth.
Magnolia
Sweet Magnolias! They remind me of country music and southern living. But even if that’s not “your thing,” these trees are beautiful additions to landscapes, providing a darker green coverage with elegant white flower blossoms when in bloom. Plus, the lemon-scent is considered one of the strongest sweet perfumes in nature. Click here to learn more about the Magnolia tree.
Bougainvillea
These beauties, or “bougies” as commonly referred to, come in all shapes and sizes – and colors too! My favorite is the vivid purple or hot pink bougainvillea, but you might also see them in red, orange, white, yellow, and anything in between.
The bougainvillea takes some work to trim and keep in “tree form,” which is why you see many of them in vine or shrub form. Either way, they are a bright-colored addition to your landscape that bloom off and on throughout the year. Click here to learn more about Bougainvillea trees, including tips for trimming and growing.
Geiger
A breathtaking orange! That’s what I love about the Geiger tree, which also has a white or yellow flowering variety. The Geiger’s prefer warm environments and are salt tolerant – great for beach homes! In fact, the name Geiger has Florida connections to Key West. Click here to read more about the Geiger tree, including the fun backstory as to how it got its name and the connection to Key West!
Okay, I could go on and on about flowering trees. These are just a few I selected that usually bloom this time of year. Now you can put a “name” to the “tree” when you see it!
Note: The links provided for each tree are to help you identify the tree and learn more about the variety. The website lists tree care instructions, which include fertilizing. We would like to caution you against using harmful fertilizers that can runoff into our water with heavy rain and cause an imbalance of nutrients in the water.
If you have any questions about the care and use of these trees in your own landscape or about safe fertilizer use, we suggest you reach out to the SCCF Landscapes and Garden Center – click here for their contact information.
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