- Angel's trumpet features pendulous flowers.Coeur de brugmansia 2 image by sylbohec from Fotolia.com
In a tropical garden flowering trees can have a colorful impact that stands out among a sea of green vegetation. Trees native to tropical areas hardly ever receive frost or freezing temperatures, which makes their landscaping uses in cool climates limited. Growers in the north enjoy tropical flowering trees for indoor or greenhouse cultivation. - Angel's trumpet (Brugmansia) is a small tropical tree native to South America. It grows to an average height of 6 feet and an average width of 3 feet. It produces hundreds of hanging trumpet-shaped flowers that can reach lengths of up to 20 inches. The flowers are shades of white, yellow, pink and orange. Angel's trumpets like rich, well-drained soil and do not like to remain wet. They are hardy outside to United States Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zone 9, or as container plants that are moved indoors for the cold months in other areas. In southern latitudes they like light shade while in northern latitudes they need full sun. In the cooler area of their range, they benefit from mulching around the base.
- Orchid trees (Bauhinia species) are flowering tropical deciduous trees native to Southeast Asia. They grow to 30 feet tall with an equal spread, forming a natural rounded crown as they mature. The leaves are round with a cleft on each end and range from 2 to 4 inches long. The most interesting aspect of orchid trees are the displays of flowers which vary in season depending on the species. The 3- to 4-inch flowers are shades of white, yellow, pink, red and purple and are vaguely orchid-like. Orchid trees do not like cold temperatures and prefer to remain above freezing, but are suitable for USDA zone 9B where winter temperatures rarely go below 25 degrees. They prefer slightly acidic soils but are not picky about soil type as long as it is well-drained. They require full sun.
- Tree wisteria (Bolusanthus speciosus) is native to the tropical dry forests and shrublands of central to southern Africa. It looks almost like the common garden wisteria growing in gardens in the northern hemisphere, but forms a small tree of about 20 feet instead of a vine. The leaves consist of several leaflets along a stem similar to vining wisteria. The pea-like purple flowers are also similar to vining wisteria and form clusters that cover trees in spring and summer. The flowers are followed by seed pods. Tree wisteria likes slightly alkaline soils that drain quickly. It normally will form multiple trunks that should be removed to keep the single trunk tree-shaped. It can withstand some drought but does best with regular water. It is tolerant to brief frosts but will die quickly if it remains cold long.
