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Florida Flowering trees garden help

17 years ago

Hello all. I live in Davenport FL, zone 9. I have a very sunny spot in the front of my house that does have partial shade a time or two during the day but otherwise it's really sunny and with no protection the baby's room gets very hot during the day.

I am looking for a med hight (roughly) growing tree that has flowers (colorful) to put in this area that can afford to not be super thick trunk nor have run away roots as it will be a few feet away from the house wall. Can anyone suggest anything they think might work..?

I found that I really like the looks of Wisteria but I had heard it was invasive, in many ways and so I don't want to make things worse. So in place of this I am looking at a Golden Shower Tree. Anyone know how big these usualy grow and if they can be used in this manner..??

Comments (7)

  • 17 years ago

    I forgot to mention I am currently planting both short and tall Rose bushes and will have a relatively large empty space for shade tree. I Love Cherry Blossoms and so I am also looking at the possibility of either of the following as well.... and then taming(?) them into larger versions of a Bonsai tree or am I just dreaming that this can be done.....?

    *Okame Cherry Tree
    *Acer Maple (Autum Moon)
    (course I would really love to get this one)--> Prunus 'Shogetsu' but it's not for area 9 >_

  • 17 years ago

    A tree a few feet from the house ?
    Not a good idea .
    Roses and shade tree ?
    Not a good mix .
    Golden Showers tree ?
    Please tell us you do not mean a Rain Tree !!
    What ever you choose , make sure you go to Floridata or Davesgarden
    and view the stats of each plant .
    As an example :
    I am sure those who planted a cute little Xmas tree a few feet from their house had no idea
    that a Norfolk Pine grows to be 20 feet wide and 80 feet tall !
    Perhaps the very talented gardeners here have ideas
    for a landscape plan that can help you .

  • 17 years ago

    Since you will be planting that close to the house, perhaps a vine arbor with ( for example )roses and clematis might be more managable. An arbor would present fewer problems, in terms of root invasion and branches against the house. You could plan it so that it would shade the window, and yet still let some indirect light come through. There are many climbing roses that do well in Florida with little or no care, and there are many types of vines you could use as well.

    Many Golden Showers trees lose their leaves during the dry months. If the sun is hitting that wall during the winter, the GS tree won't meet your requirements. Also, in z10 the GS tree can obtain a height of 50 feet.

    happy gardening,
    Avalon

  • 17 years ago

    It is deciduous, but it's multi-trunked and you can get them pretty much 10'-40' in mature height and the colors are beautiful in the summer.

    I have one with white blooms and one with lavender and love them both. They both will get to 40', but I also have another two smaller that will mature at 10'-15'and one has white blooms and the other a deep purple.

    they love sun!

    teeka

  • 17 years ago

    Several trees that will work in your zone:

    Chorisia speciosa - Silk Floss Tree - despite the thorns on the trunk, which your child will only touch once, this is medium tree (to 30 feet) where you live.

    Peltophorum dubium - Yellow Poinciana - again a medium tree (to 40 feet in 40 years) that will tolerate the cold.

    Tipuana tipu - Bolivian Rosewood - growing all throughout Disney and Epcot. This one would be my first choice.

    The Golden Shower or Golden Rain tree is a very invasive fellow and the Norfolk Island pine is also known as the Florida Lightning Rod.

  • 17 years ago

    No one meantioned the crepe myrtle! We have several and you can keep them small or let them go.. The ones i've seen as trees are hugh and very shady. I prefer to keep my manageable even at 25 feet. Good Luck!

  • 17 years ago

    If you decide to do a vine, you can get one of the native wisterias like kentucy blue moon or amethyst falls. These are supposedly less invasive.

    If you want to plant it closer to the house, maybe get a tall shrub or a medium sized crape myrtle. The crape myrtle is not evergreen though as you know.

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