How tall and how far spreading do you want the tree's canopy to develop.

Sounds like the area is where you need a tree that will not drop lots of nuts or other type of litter.

Are you seeking a beautiful speciman tree which is not messy, does not produce lots of suckers at its base and has well behaved roots that grow deep enough not to damage your sidewalk.

Also must it be able to develop a tap root which is deep enough for the tree not be blown over from uprooting and crash into your house easly when major hurricanes that are strong enough to level forests blow through, or if you are so far inland that hurricanes are not a problem, maybe a tree which will not do major damage to the house if tornados spawned off in your area along the outskirts of some distant hurricane that made landfall.

Do you also need a tree that tolerates salty soils very well

Is the virgin soil where you want to plant the tree sandy or sandy loam, nicely humas filled, or clay? Does the soil drain to rapidly, not enough, or just right?

All the above issues, and even others I might not be aware of will affect which ornamental speciman tree will work best for you in that location.

Please clarify if I am on the right track with the above listed questions, or if there are other issues that needs to be taken into consideration, but which I have failed to mention.

I cant say exactly what our soil is like but I can describe it as good, dark colored dirt - not sandy and not peaty. It seems to drain well enough - no standing water and not soggy. Salt tolerance is not a problem as we are not near anything remotely salty. We are well inland but do have occasional hurricane winds just as any Florida resident does. I would have the tree far enough away from the sidewalk that it would not be a problem and could also keep it well away from the house. Our yard is very large so it does not have to be near the house but I do want to make it part of the bed that I intend to sweep out and around the corner of the house. Specimen tree would be a good term to describe what I am seeking as it would be a tree that a garden would sort of develop around. It does not need to be large and probaly should not be. I would imagine that a 10 to 15 foot tree would be fine, 20 at most. Nothing overwhelming. Spread? Not sure. Since we have plenty of room there isnt really a limit but it doesnt have to have a huge spread. I do, however, think that it is pretty to have a sort of mushroomy shape or a weeping or canopy shape is nice. I generally find beauty in many forms so could be open to shapes. Messy is probably not ideal as it would not be very tidy to have fruits and nuts and such dropping all around near a front entry. We are in the country, however, and do not have a super manicured type lawn. Nice and green and we do care for it, but it is not like you see in a neighborhood where everthing appears perfect. Love birds and have a hummingbird that likes to visit. Would love to encourage that. That could be done with flowers and such, however, so while a tree that attracts critters would be nice, I realize that there are other ways to do it.

Does that cover it? I guess I am asking a lot! Trying to do this right, however, and am seeking possiblities that I may not have considered, as well as advice on what I have considered. I could also just use a large plant of some sort to base the bed around so that is an option as well.