Trees Part 9

The end of my best guesses at what iis growing as a tree or shrub.  There have been 53 so far.  I keep forgetting some shrubs are tender vegetation and get carried inside.  Which means pot bound.  Some take forever to bloom or show fruit.

Rose of Sharon, a glorious weed by any other name surely would not smell as sweet.  Ok, that maybe a bit harsh.  I hated these things when I had a small yard.   You have a thousand seedlings every year it seems.   They with take over easily.   But they can be kept as a hedge.  They will bloom continuously from July til frost.  Every year I cut them back to about two feet tall and they come back really thick.   Left alone they could reach about 6-7 feet tall.   They are a favorite of Japanese Beetles, and may require spaying. 

Hibiscus are a tropical breed.  Hardy ones do exist and require luck this far North.  We have ones that go in for the winter. These are braided as “trees”. They need feed well to stay pretty.  If you let them go dry, It takes awhile to talk them back to blooming.  Once they start they will bloom most of the summer.

The Bay Tree is a Mediterranean staple.  Here it’s a basement plant and acts like it will melt in the Sunshine for the first month its back outside.  This is about four weeks later.  The leaves are usable for seasoning.   Even can be dried and sprinkled around the counter/floor to repeal ants. This can get seven feet tall and if you leave side branches it’ll look a lot better.  It’ll look much better in another month!

Another Florida native, Lantana is at home in sand and loose soils.  But with enough water, it’ll grow in hard soil.  In nature they are 3-4 feet tall,  in a pot or the ground 2-3 feet is big.   This is another spend winter inside plant.  The blooms have multiple colors on most.  Combinations can be red, orange, & yellow, or pink, purple, & cream.  Even solid white or yellow are common. It’s a nice compact shrub.  If you take care of it, all summer it blooms.

The Sargeant Crabapple is another Arbor Day tree.  It had a decent growth rate.   There are male and female trees.  The females bear fruit.  Not edible type for people though.  The tall one is almost ten feet tall, the shorter one six feet.  The foliage is dense enough for a nest or two.  They prefer soil with drainage but can stand wet soil for part of the year.  Just make sure it’s in the Sun.

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