Rare Flowering Trees That Ignite Your Landscape

Flowering Apricots: Earliest Bloomers

Bloom as early as January—risk cold damage in some zones. Outstanding cultivars from mail-order nurseries:

• Prunus mume: red, pink, white on same twigs
• Matsubara Red: double dark-red flowers
• Rosemary Clarke: pure white
• W.B. Clarke: pink weeping, January bloom
• Peggy Clarke: rose-red

Mimosa (Silk Tree)

Albizia julibrissin 'Rosea' from Orient. Feather red/pink summer blooms, fern-like leaves flutter in slightest breeze. Adaptable soils, zones 6-10.

Flowering Peaches

Once common, now hard to find large specimens. Pink/white early/late cultivars. Peppermint: variegated red/pink/white petals. Helen Borchers: recent standout.

Redbud (Eastern Redbud)

Cercis canadensis—first planted by John Bartram (1700s). Leafless twigs covered in red-pink early spring. Favorite native flowering tree.

Flowering Honeylocust

Gledisia triacanthus inermis—fragrant white flowers with airy fern-like foliage. Attracts nesting birds. Nursery availability limited.

Wisteria Trees

Staked/grafted vines trained as trees. Cooke's Purple: fragrant purple pea-like streams, zones 5-9. Texas White: excellent white-flowering form.

Other Spectacular Specimens

• Japanese Snowball (Viburnum plicatum): grapefruit-sized greenish-white clusters, summer + fall rebloom with water
• Jerusalem Tree (Parkinsonia aculeata): fern foliage, golden yellow summer blooms, traditional "crown of thorns" association
• Paulownia (Empress Tree): 3-ft purple-blue clusters, fast-growing timber investment (Jimmy Carter)
• Red Tips (Photinia fraseri): spring red tips, late spring fragrant white clusters
• Scarlet Locust (Sesbania grandiflora): wetland native, brilliant scarlet spring blooms, fern foliage
• Sweetbay Magnolia: lemon-scented white blooms (fall), evergreen, bay leaf substitute, dramatic fall color
• Southern Magnolia: 1-ft fragrant blooms, artistic legend, countless hybrids (Alexander, Brooklyn Girls, Butterfly, Little Gem, etc.)
• Gordonia (Loblolly Bay): rescued from near-extinction by William Bartram (1773), named Franklinia for Benjamin Franklin—large snow-white flowers with gold stamens
• Cassia: fall golden yellow, 12 ft, fern foliage, zones 8-10
• Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus): summer/fall blue/white fragrant flowers, fragrant gray-green leaves, zones 6-10

These rare trees transform landscapes into living galleries—each with unique seasonal drama.