I have a tabebuia and half of it never lost its leafs the other half I thought was dead and I was about to cut it off it was the biggest part of the tree and I was debating editing it then just at the end of August the leafs came out and it looks fine!! What’s the deal with that we have had hellish weather this summer 110 degrees and better and it leafs out!!

The yellow tabuia I take it you have there. They go deciduous in my cool winter. Actually they are super cold tolerant. Fast growing and very pretty in flower. I had to eliminate my ones in the garden, one big mess of seeds by the thousands that germinated every where, and once they get that tap root in they are pretty hard to kill by pulling them out. In the end I had to use a herbicide, with a tap root that’s at least 2 feet long on small seedlings. Very pretty tree but not for my garden anymore.

On 8/12/2026 at 6:54 AM, 96720 said:

I have a tabebuia and half of it never lost its leafs the other half I thought was dead and I was about to cut it off it was the biggest part of the tree and I was debating editing it then just at the end of August the leafs came out and it looks fine!! What’s the deal with that we have had hellish weather this summer 110 degrees and better and it leafs out!!

That is Handroanthus ( Yours pictured appears to be the large form of H. impetiginosus that is sold in 99.9% of the nurseries here ) ..One of several, former Tabebuia species no longer a member of that genus. ..doing that thing they do sometimes here.











Have a small H. impetiginosus ..One of it's shorter, regional varieties that has been a pot for years.

Gets blasted by mid / afternoon sun, esp. this time of year ..and is green as can be. ..Will hold off leafing out after briefly dropping old leaves in Feb or March, until it gets hot.

@Silas_Sancona allways appreciate your insight!!! I bought this tree probably 20 years ago from a nursery no longer in business along with my Guaiacum the lady that worked there was a plant person that pretty much ran the place and ordered whatever plants she wanted was an interesting place to visit!! How do you know if you get a tabebuia the thing I have is so slow growing hasn’t grown much more than my guaiacum and doesn’t bloom very often I’m posting a picture of one year that it did bloom!! When I bought it she said it wasn’t a common tabebuia!!

1 hour ago, 96720 said:

@Silas_Sancona allways appreciate your insight!!! I bought this tree probably 20 years ago from a nursery no longer in business along with my Guaiacum the lady that worked there was a plant person that pretty much ran the place and ordered whatever plants she wanted was an interesting place to visit!! How do you know if you get a tabebuia the thing I have is so slow growing hasn’t grown much more than my guaiacum and doesn’t bloom very often I’m posting a picture of one year that it did bloom!! When I bought it she said it wasn’t a common tabebuia!!

Tabebuia, typically at least, = tend to be evergreen/ semi- deciduous, and have leaves that tend to be thicker and have a smooth leaf margin.

Seedpods often look like this when they open

T. rosea


T. heterophylla



** Credit: Images from iNat observations.

Handroanthus = ..more often than not at least.. have thinner leaves that exhibit some degree of serration on the leaf margin ( leaf edge looks like a saw blade ) or a rough, sandpaper - like / fuzzy texture ( Common, yellow flowered sps like H. chrysanthus, chrysotrichus, and umbellatus esp. )

Many, < but not all > have seedpods that are fuzzy or have some deg of texture to them.. When they open, there is no central membrane that the seed is attached to, like you see in Tabebuia.




That said, here's where things get ...confusing, lol..

While preferred habitat may be different, natural range of Handroanthus impetiginosus ..and.. heptaphyllus, which looks almost exactly like impetiginosus, overlap in part of South America. Impetiginosus' range extends north to the foothills east of Hermosillo. Heptaphyllus' range is restricted to where it occurs in South America.

When impetiginosus was brought into the Hort. trade, it is quite likely seed of the other sp. ...or a naturally occurring cross between... were ( accidentally? ) collected / propagated / distributed.

Adding to the confusion, both sps. can have leaves that are smooth or serrated, though the leaves of impetiginosus supposedly lean smoother, overall..

Flowers / seedpods look the same / aren't easy to tell apart w/ out looking at them under a microscope.

While still somewhat new to our market, after decades of being planted all over FL and southern CA, it's highly possible trees seen here, that originally came from seed grown from specimens in CA or FL are ...something of a mix between ..rather than pure species specimens..

A hypothesis?, yes, but, if you look around at planted specimens, you'll see some obvious differences in leaf size / and deg. of leaf margin smoothness vs. serration. You also see variation of general growth rate / how much /long each tree flowers compared to others planted nearby.

That could account for what your tree is doing / it's " weird -ness ".


The one i have came from a nursery in Tucson. Not too long ago, someone mentioned that seed of their specimen ( which mine came from ) originated in California.. I myself aren't so sure, mainly because the leaves are much smaller than the big - leaved specimens i see in nurseries / planted out up here. growing it in a pot probably limits leaf size but,

Overall size is much different as well. One in Tucson ..been in the ground at the nursery for ..at least.. 12 years.. Is no taller than about 12-15ft atm., vs. specimens you see in local nurseries / specimens planted at Civic Center Plaza in Scottsdale / others i've seen planted locally which are much larger. Leaf size is different as well ( Smaller on the Tucson specimen ) The smaller size of the Tucson specimen fits the description of impetiginosus specimens from Sonora, which " tend to be smaller than specimens from Central or South America "

I really wish i could get my hands on fresh seed off wild specimens from Sonora to grow out and compare mine to, to see which one is the " true " impetiginosus.



Anyway, regardless of whether or not yours is a true impetiginosus ..or a cross w/ it's cousin.. it's a great tree..

There are also white flowered specimens of both sps, and crosses between ..one of them.. and one of the common, yellow- flowered Handroanthus sps that would be a neat find, if you can locate them.

Tabebuia aurea, and heterophylla are also worth looking for since both should be able to handle our winters pretty well / will take some heat. Since our flavor of it is tough on ..pretty much anything..., not sure how well they'd tolerate full sun here, esp. when smaller though.

I just took a picture of the leafs on mine and they are not serrated but smooth!!