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Spring in Northwest FL 2021


Matthew92

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I did a similar post in spring 2017 but wanted to do so again as I was able to take some better pictures of what flowers around here during this time. Especially after living in Orlando and seeing more northern plants struggle and hardly bloom (such as redbuds and Bradford pears), I really appreciate those species that are near the bottom of their southernmost range and yet bloom and grow dependably here. This will mostly highlight plants in my town in Northwest FL, along with a few photos mixed in from Tallahassee.

(Photos on this first post were all taken Jan 30th) Some of the first to bloom were Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) (taken at Maclay Gardens in Tallahassee). Nice little shrub that seems to be underutilized. Flowers are very pleasantly fragrant.

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Camellias (although technically winter to spring flowering), still provided a blooming presence in the landscape. (Maclay Gardens)

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Taiwan Flowering Cherry (Prunus campanulata) already starting to open flowers on January 30th. From my observations and research, this may be the best deciduous flowering cherry tree for North to North-Central FL. Another underutilized tree with great potential for more widespread landscape use. Quite some good sized trees at Maclay Gardens with some that may have volunteered and partially naturalized.

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Back in southeast Okaloosa County, here is what was starting to pop in early February.

Star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) is a fairly good grower in this area. Always seems to bloom dependably and tolerates the sandy soil fairly well. For being recognized as one of the most cold hardy deciduous magnolias (growing well into zone 3!), it seems to deal with the relatively inconsistent winter temps here just fine. 

Just beginning to open a few flowers on Feb 10th.

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Was delighted to notice for the first time a Taiwan Flowering Cherry (Prunus campanulata) in my neighborhood. As stated before, an excellent tree for this area. Looks to be growing quite vigorously too. Many of the more northern flowering cherry trees I've seen here tend to grow weak, have branch dieback, and/or inconsistent flowering both/either from the poor, sandy soil and lack of a suitable climate (although I will say I've seen a few exceptions).

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Feb 11th. Some of the Saucer/Japanese Magnolias starting to bloom. The one that blooms the earliest seems to be the standard light pink cultivar. I even saw them bloom one year with a warmer winter in January. They dependably put on a good show in this area.

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A later flowering cultivar of Camellia sasanqua (I believe) still putting on quite a show.

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(Feb 16th) Bradford pears (Pyrus calleryana) still dormant. This is one of the oldest ones I've seen in the area growing in a very poor, dry/unirrigated parking lot. They are amazingly resilient trees.

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Edited by Matthew92
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March 1st. Flowers really opening on the deciduous Magnolias. Between the last photos posted on Feb 11th, these trees had slowed in their floral progression as the same cold wave that hit Texas came over here to an extent. By around March 1st though, temps were becoming consistently warmer.

Saucer magnolia (Magnolia x soulangiana) flower close up. They have a nice,, somewhat subtle fragrance I've always enjoyed.

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Entire tree in full bloom. 

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Magnolia stellata (Star Magnolia) starting to bloom more fully as well.

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March 1st. Carolina/Yellow Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirensblooming. I hadn't really taken much notice of this vine in the past, but it's really growing on me- looks a lot better well trimmed as in this case. I appreciate the evergreen leaves and early flowering- to me, it looks more tropical/like a plant that would be too cold tender to grow here.

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(March 4th) Although not flowering, thought I'd include this in here. Thuja Green Giant Arborvitae against a more classic blue, spring sky. Many of the more northern conifers struggle here, but this hybrid between Thuja plicata (Western Red Cedar- a staple in the Pacific Northwest) & T. standishii (Japanese native Arborvitae) actually does quite well: seeming to tolerate the pitifully poor, sandy soil along with the long, hot summers. These are some of the most established specimens I've seen in the area. These should be used more as they give a more rich, lush look to the otherwise scrubby native vegetation.

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(March 5th) I thought this yard was a great example of FL landscaping with a great confluence of temperate and more subtropical vegetation. Saucer magnolia blooming on left, along with Sabal palmetto and Butia odorata, Serenoa repens, and a healthy Kumquat tree with fruit among the Sabal palms- against a backdrop of native Magnolia and Quercus species.

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Fruiting Kumquat

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Edited by Matthew92
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(March 5th) A magnificent Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia x soulangiana) in full bloom. The photo doesn't capture it perfectly, but this cultivar was a lot more darker pink than the standard light pink one mostly seen in the area. This blog site by landscaper Randy Stewart has some of most comprehensive listing and photos of Magnolia species and cultivars. After going down this list, the closest match I see for this one could be 'Galaxy.' I was also very interested to see that there are several yellow flowered cultivars of Saucer Magnolia. I would love to trial them.

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Cameo appearance of a really nice Loquat tree. IMO, Loquat falls into the category of "looks like it would be way more tropical than what is capable of surviving here"- which I love. Only problem is that they seem to get fireblight somewhat readily.

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(March 5th) A smaller growing cultivar of Saucer Magnolia (I use the term "Saucer Magnolia" loosely, as many of these are different combinations of various species and other cultivars of Magnolia). I believe this cultivar is called 'Jane.' Very dark pink/purple flowers not captured fully in this photo. This specimen wasn't quite as dense flowering, as other specimens in the neighborhood grown in full sun were even more spectacular. IMO, color rivals the intensity of some of the pink/purple Tabebuias in Central/South FL. 

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(March 5th) Lorapetulum chinense flowering beautifully. Unfortunately I don't have a full shot of this one, but it is of small tree size and not trimmed. In reality, having them grown this way allows more free flowering and full potential to be realized.

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Edited by Matthew92
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Callery Pear is one of the most prevalent and spectacular spring bloomers in NW Florida. Famous for being maligned (especially in places farther north) where it is/was planted ad nauseum only to readily fall victim to wind or ice/snow storm damage due to a weak branching structure. Here in Northwest FL, while they are prevalent in the landscape, they are not quite as much so as in places farther north like Virginia or Illinois. From what I can surmise, people around here don't dislike them as intensely especially since they are one of the dependable staples of this landscape that give a classic spring, blooming experience in addition to tolerating the poor sandy soil. Yes I have witnessed many break apart in wind storms here, but at the same time there are many specimens that are old and have withstood storm after storm just fine.

Some people seem to over dramatize its issues, calling it a "mutant,"  or that it smells of rotten fish. But in reality it is simply just one cultivar of Pyrus calleryana, a pear tree found in China south to Vietnam. Plant explorer Frank N. Meyer collected many seeds in habitat, and from one of those came the Bradford cultivar. 

This article (2017-74-3-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-ornamental-callery-pear-tree.pdf (harvard.edu) from the Arnold Arboretum is the best description and complete story I've come across of the Callery Pear, its origins, and how it came to be a landscape staple in the United States. A couple highlights of what I found particularly interesting is the capability and genetic variation of populations throughout its native range. Following is an excerpt:

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Additionally, I found it interesting how the species was noted by Meyer to thrive a little more in a less severe winter climate.

"The species 
seemed to be adapted to mild climates, with 
Reimer suggesting, “It is quite probable that it 
will not endure very severe winter climates.” 
However, he also wrote that trees that originated from China had proved to be very hardy 
at the Arnold Arboretum over 10 years, despite 
the more severe winters near Boston compared 
to the native range in China."

When I live in Illinois (where I was a young teen and just getting into botany) and saw Callery pears as a landscape staple, I assumed they were the same as all the other more northern plants and did best in a cold winter climate and could tolerate severe winters to the umpteenth degree. This is partially true, as some cultivars have been found to be hardy into Michigan: however it appears where they do best (and naturalize) most readily is in the lower Midwest to Deep South, as if you look at a map of where Callery Pear has become naturalized, it is confined to that region, not farther north.

From my observations, it seems that Callery Pear does best around Gaineseville, FL or farther north. Farther south of there, the trees tend to look weak and more sparsely leafed out with poor flowering. I even saw a few when I lived in Orlando. A few were almost decent specimens, but were smaller stature with the aforementioned issues, and no notable blooming. At Leu Gardens in Orlando, a progeny from a surviving Callery Pear that was near the World Trade Center on 9/11 and survived was planted a few years go. It has actually done decently well, however unfortunately I don't think it will get to its full potential.

Upon a little more searching, one will find that there are quite a few more cultivars of Callery Pear than just "Bradford" that subsequently do not have the faulty branching structure. A couple I see in my area are "Aristocrat" and "Cleveland Select." (further listing of Callery pear cultivars can be found on this site)

Cleveland Select is a columnar growing tree with more thick, corky looking twigs. From what I've been able to surmise, it looks its best in a slightly more northern climate and doesn't flower as profusely here.

Aristocrat. This seems to be the best Bradford alternative cultivar as it blooms just as beautifully, but has a more open branching structure without the tight branch crotches.

March 9th in my neighborhood. As for the smell, I think it's a stretch to call it rotting fish. To me, it just has a musky smell which can be found in many other flowering plants.

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 (March 14th) Here are a couple plantings in my town of the "Bradford" cultivar in spectacular bloom.

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1 hour ago, Matthew92 said:

(March 5th) A magnificent Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia x soulangiana) in full bloom. The photo doesn't capture it perfectly, but this cultivar was a lot more darker pink than the standard light pink one mostly seen in the area. This blog site by landscaper Randy Stewart has some of most comprehensive listing and photos of Magnolia species and cultivars. After going down this list, the closest match I see for this one could be 'Galaxy.' I was also very interested to see that there are several yellow flowered cultivars of Saucer Magnolia. I would love to trial them.

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Cameo appearance of a really nice Loquat tree. IMO, Loquat falls into the category of "looks like it would be way more tropical than what is capable of surviving here"- which I love. Only problem is that they seem to get fireblight somewhat readily.

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(March 5th) A smaller growing cultivar of Saucer Magnolia (I use the term "Saucer Magnolia" loosely, as many of these are different combinations of various species and other cultivars of Magnolia). I believe this cultivar is called 'Jane.' Very dark pink/purple flowers not captured fully in this photo. This specimen wasn't quite as dense flowering, as other specimens in the neighborhood grown in full sun were even more spectacular. IMO, color rivals the intensity of some of the pink/purple Tabebuias in Central/South FL. 

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(March 5th) Lorapetulum chinense flowering beautifully. Unfortunately I don't have a full shot of this one, but it is of small tree size and not trimmed. In reality, having them grown this way allows more free flowering and full potential to be realized.

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Agree.. Loropetalum look MUCH better / flower better when allowed to attain natural proportions rather than be religiously butchered.  These and Saucer Magnolia are some of the best " temperate " spring flower-ers back in California.. At least around the Bay Area ( think they do ok in S. Cal when given more shade/ regular moisture also ). Have seen a specimen of the yellow ( and what some consider red flowered ) cultivar a couple times but neither seemed to flower well out there. Bet they'd be fine in other parts of CA. where spring temps are just a touch cooler a bit longer. The " Stellata " Magnolia types are nice too.

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My flowering pears in all their glory.  :wacko: These two have a date with a chainsaw in the next couple weeks.
 

The winter ice storm we had has destroyed every one in the neighborhood. The few still left standing need to be removed. Mine were the largest ones and took the least amount of damage.  I always had a love/hate thing with these two as they were very messy year round, but had easy to rake leaves even when wet. 

 

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Edited by Chester B
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  • 3 weeks later...

April 4th. I happened upon a rare stand of Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) in attractive bloom here in town. Black Locust is a deciduous tree native to much of the Eastern and Central US, and has a tendency to become weedy as it thrives on a wide range of soil including barren situations (it fixes nitrogen being in the legume family). It has subsequently become invasive in some areas of the world such as parts of Europe and South America.  When I lived in Southwest Illinois, this tree was everywhere.  Most of the trees there, while very healthy in the rich clay soil, tended to have a spindly, thin crown and weren't exactly showcase specimen material IMO. However, there are a few nice cultivars. I remember in Illinois there being a few trees in our neighborhood that were a smaller growing cultivar with a dense, rounded, mushroom-like crown. 

In any case, I was delighted to find this stand of trees that were thriving- confirming what I had read about the species ability to tolerate very poor soil. The flowers are quite attractive and the bees love them. They are reportedly fragrant, but I these hardly had any smell. Regardless, I think this tree has underutilized potential in this area as it provides a unique look and thrives compared to other trees that inevitably decline and look poor in our sandy soil.

Additionally, there is a complex hybrid of which this species (in addition to a couple other US native Robinia species) comprises part of the parentage. It's called "Purple Robe" and looks similar to Black Locust but has beautiful purple flowers. It is sometimes grafted onto a Black Locust rootstock. I would really like to trial that one here.

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Edited by Matthew92
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April 6th. Japanese Maple 'Bloodgood' (Acer palmatum). This seems to be the cultivar planted most available and readily planted in the area. I feel very fortunate that it grows this well here as into much of Central FL and South it is not possible for the most part. Although it's lifespan seems to be considerably shorter than in places with good soil, it does remarkably well considering it is well irrigated and has mulch.

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Regarding your pear tree post, i agree, they look nice until they fall on your vehicle or house, then they arent nice looking. Sally literally tore apart my neighbor's pear tree, that same tree took out one or two of his fruit trees. This tree wasp probably on its way out sooner rather than later anyway, as it was over 20 years old. I am not going to lie though, that tree produced some AWESOME shade during the summer.

Edited by JLM

Palms - 4 S. romanzoffiana, 1 W. bifurcata, 2 W. robusta, 1 R. rivularis, 1 B. odorata, 1 B. nobilis, 2 S. palmetto, 1 A. merillii, 1 P. canariensis, 1 BxJ, 1 BxJxBxS, 1 BxS, 3 P. roebelenii, 1 H. lagenicaulis, 1 H. verschaffeltii, 9 T. fortunei, 1 C. humilis, 2 C. macrocarpa, 1 L. chinensis, 1 R. excelsa

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