Are you looking to plant flowering trees in Texas? Well, you will be immensely pleased to know that despite its somewhat semi-arid landscape, the Lone Star State is home to some of the most gorgeous blossoming trees in the US. Read on to find out about 27 exquisite flowering trees in Texas!
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Texas is one of the few US states blessed with four distinct seasons. The state enjoys mild to cold winters and long, hot, and humid summers, which can be quite hot in its semi-arid regions. Central Texas experiences a subtropical sub-humid climate while the rest of the state experiences an arid subtropical climate. This climate makes it great for certain fruit trees, among others.
The Lone Star State has a varied landscape with seven distinct regions – Gulf Coast, g Bend Country, Hill Country, Panhandle Plains, South Texas Plains, Piney Woods, and Prairies and Lakes. These regions cover versatile landscapes, such as canyons, extinct volcanoes, valleys, mountains, plateaus, plains, and islands.
Due to its versatile landscape and sunny climate, Texas is home to a wide array of trees, including Cathedral Oak, Red Maple, palm trees, Bonita Ash, Pine, Cotton Tree, Sycamore, and more. The Lone Star State also houses some of the hardiest and breathtaking flowering trees, including the stately Swamp Willow and Wild Laurel, the small-sized Anacacho Orchid Tree and Mexican Redbud, and the ever-popular Flowering Dogwood.Â
Most of the flowering trees that you can grow in Florida thrive in limestone-based soils, which makes them ideal for the Texan landscape. They also have distinct, bold, and vivacious blossoms. Once you plant these flowering trees in your garden, you can rest assured that they will enhance your home’s curbside appeal and invite many visitors, such as birds, butterflies, and bees, to your garden.Â
The hot and dry climate of the state of Texas will likely have you longing for some shade during summer, so take a look at these great shade trees for texas as well.
So, without any ado, let’s take a look at 27 popular flowering trees in Texas that you can grow in your garden!
Pink Flowering Trees in Texas
1. Texas Smoke Tree
- Cotinus obovatus
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 25 ft
Native to Tennessee, Kentucky, and northern Alabama, Texas Smoke Tree or American Smoke Tree is an upright, multi-trunked, small-sized tree with an open crown and spreading branches. It features bluish to dark green, elliptic to obovate, alternate, deciduous foliage that turns red and orange in fall. It produces large clusters of small, non-showy purple and pink blossoms. This tree thrives in sunny or partially shaded spots and rocky, well-drained, limestone-based loams, sand, or clay soils.
2. Utah Serviceberry
- Amelanchier utahensis
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 36 ft
Utah Serviceberry is a medium-sized, multi-branched, perennial tree with an ashy-gray bark and grayish-green, oval leaves. It produces racemes of white and pink blossoms that give way to small, dark purple or black-colored berries that attract birds. This widespread shrub grows well in partially shaded locations and well-drained, dry, rocky soils, sandy loams, and clay loams.
3. Anacacho Orchid Tree
- Bauhinia lunarioides
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 12 ft
Native to northeastern Mexico and a small number of canyons in western central Texas, Anacacho Orchid Tree is a rapidly-growing, small-sized, multi-trunked tree with tiny, light green deeply cleft foliage and a silvery gray bark. It produces prolific clusters of delicate, orchid-like, fragrant, and white to pale pink blossoms with extended stamens. The blooms give way to flattened pods. This tree thrives in partial shade and limestone-based, rocky, sandy loams.
4. Flowering Dogwood
- Cornus florida L.
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 40 ft
Flowering Dogwood is a medium-sized, low-branching flowering tree. It features a flat-topped, pyramidal or rounded crown decorated with deciduous, oval green leaves that turn reddish-purple in fall. Dogwoods are northern Mexico and eastern North American native trees that yield miniature, compact, white blossoms that flower from pink bracts. This tree grows well in well-drained, organic soils and speckled locations.
5. Narrowleaf Crabapple
- Malus angustifolia
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 36 ft
Also known as Southern Crabapple, Narrowleaf Crabapple is a thicket-forming, medium-sized flowering tree with spreading branches and a broad, open, rounded crown. It produces profuse, fragrant, pink blossoms that give way to yellow-green fruit. It features red leaves that contrast beautifully against its scaly bark. This tree thrives in partially shaded spots and well-drained, moist soils.
6. Prairie Crabapple
- Malus ioensis
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 30 ft
Prairie Crabapple is a medium-sized, spiny flowering tree with a dense, irregular form, spreading branches, and exfoliating bark with silver-gray insides. It features perennial green leaves that turn deep crimson in fall. It produces clusters of large, pink or white blossoms. This tree grows well in sunny locations and well-drained, rich, moist loams.
Purple Flowering Trees in Texas
7. Texas Redbud
- Cercis canadensis var. Texensis
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 20 ft
Native to central Texas south to northeastern Mexico, Texas Redbud is a small-sized tree with hairy, glossy, wavy-edged, heart or kidney-shaped, round-tipped leaves. The foliage turns red and gold in fall. It produces small clusters of rose-purple flowers that give way to flat, reddish-brown to reddish-purple seed pods. This fairly drought-tolerant tree thrives in partially shaded or sunny locations and well-drained, calcareous, limestone-based, rocky, sandy, loamy, and clay soils.
8. Desert Willow Tree
- Chilopsis linearis
- Flowering in: Spring and Summer
- Max Height: 30 ft
Desert Willow Tree is a Northern US native. It is a medium-sized, rapidly-growing flowering tree with deciduous green foliage and a twisted trunk with slender twigs. Desert Willow produces exotic, 5-petaled, purple or dark pink flowers with yellow and white strikes through the middle. It’s a drought-tolerant tree that grows best in sunny locations and well-drained soils.
9. Guayacan
- Guaiacum angustifolium
- Flowering in: Spring and Summer
- Max Height: 20 ft
Also known as Soapbush, Guayacan is a small-sized, evergreen tree with a compact, dense habitat. Its stems are decorated by pinnately compound, leathery, dark green leaves. It produces 5-petaled, violet to purple blossoms with prominent yellow anthers. The flowers give way to small, heart-shaped seed pods. This tree thrives in partially shaded spots and dry, limestone-based loams, clay, and sandy soils.
10. Pawpaw
- Asimina triloba
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 25 ft
Native to the Southeastern United States, Pawpaw is a small-sized, understory tree with large, elliptic, slightly drooping, medium green leaves that turn yellow in fall. It produces cup-shaped, 6-petaled, purple blooms that give way to oblong, edible, sweet, fleshy, yellowish-green fruits that turn dark brown with age. This tree grows well in sunny or speckled locations and well-drained, fertile, medium moist, acidic soils.
11. Mexican Redbud
- Cercis canadensis var. Mexicana
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 15 ft
Mexican Redbud is a deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub or small tree with simple, cordate, alternate, glossy, leathery green leaves with undulating, wavy edges. It produces uniquely-shaped, small, reddish or pinkish-purple blossoms that give way to green, brown, and red fruit. This drought-tolerant tree thrives in calcareous, limestone-based loams, clays, and soils and sunny or partially shaded areas.
12. Texas Mountain Laurel
- Sophora secundiflora
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 25 ft
Texas Mountain Laurel is a small-sized, slow-growing, evergreen, multi-trunked tree with handsome, dense, dark green, glossy compound leaves. It produces drooping clusters of showy, long-lasting, fragrant bluish-lavender blossoms that give way to semi-woody pods with poisonous, bright red seeds. This drought-tolerant tree grows well in sunny or partially shaded spots and well-drained, dry, rocky, calcareous soils.
13. Eastern Wahoo
- Euonymus atropurpureus var. atropurpureus
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 24 ft
Eastern Wahoo is a small-sized, deciduous, Missouri native tree with an upright, spreading, irregular crown. It features dark green, ovate to elliptic foliage that turns greenish-red or dull red in fall. It produces small, purple flowers that area in the leaf axils. The blooms give way to scarlet fruits that attract wildlife. This tree thrives in sunny or speckled locations and well-drained, medium moist soils.
White Flowering Trees in Texas
14. Cockspur Hawthorn
- Crataegus crus-galli L.
- Flowering in: Spring and Summer
- Max Height: 25 ft
Native to Eastern North America, Cockspur Hawthorn is a small to medium-sized, low-branching, dense tree with a broad-rounded, flat-topped crown and branches armed with multiple large thorns. It features oblong to obovate, dark green foliage with wedge-shaped bases. The leaves turn orange, scarlet, and reddish-purple in fall. It produces unpleasantly scented, white blossoms that give way to rounded, edible, deep red-colored fruits. This tree grows well in well-drained, medium moist soils and sunny locations.
15. Texas Wild Olive
- Cordia boissieri
- Flowering in: Spring and Summer
- Max Height: 25 ft
Also known as Mexican Olive, Texas Wild Olive is an ornamental, medium-sized tree with a sinuous trunk and large, soft, evergreen, ovate, gray-green leaves. It produces large, beautiful, trumpet-shaped white blossoms with yellow throats and a texture resembling crepe paper. This drought-tolerant tree thrives in sunny or partially shaded areas and a wide variety of well-drained soils.
16. Roughleaf Dogwood
- Cornus drummondii
- Flowering in: Spring and Summer
- Max Height: 16 ft
Native to eastern North America, Roughleaf Dogwood is a thicket-forming, small-sized flowering tree with reddish-brown twigs and elliptic to oval leaves with rough surfaces and downy undersides. The foliage turns red and purple in fall. This tree produces flat-topped clusters of tiny, yellowish-white blossoms that give way to clusters of white drupes. It grows well in medium wet, well-drained soils and sunny and partially shaded spots.
17. Leatherwood
- Cyrilla racemiflora
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 30 ft
Native to the West Indies and southeastern North America through Central America, Leatherwood is a medium-sized, slender tree with a reddish-brown bark. It features oval, alternate, dark green leaves that turn rust-red in fall. It produces abundant, arresting, whorled clusters of airy, white blossoms that give way to yellow-brown summer fruits. This tree thrives in partially shaded locations and moist, well-drained, organic, acid-based soils.
18. Texas Persimmon
- Diospyros texana
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 20 ft
Texas Persimmon is a small-sized, hardy, multi-trunked tree with a striking, pale greyish-white trunk and branches with pink flesh. It features firm, rounded to ovate, slightly notched, smooth-margined, dark green leaves. It produces urn-shaped, whitish flowers that grow in small clusters or individually. The blooms give way to edible, sweet, fleshy, round, black fruits. This drought-tolerant tree grows well in sunny locations and well-drained limestone clays and loams.
19. Sugarberry Anacua
- Ehretia anacua
- Flowering in: Spring and Summer
- Max Height: 50 ft
Native to North America, Sugarberry Anacua is a popularly-grown tree in Texas. This hardy, multi-trunked tree is evergreen or partly deciduous and has a reddish, flaking bark. It features ovate or narrow, rough, smooth-margined, tip-pointed, dark green foliage. It produces clusters of fragrant, white blossoms that give way to fleshy, orange to dark yellow, edible fruit. This drought-tolerant tree thrives in sunny or speckled locations and well-drained, alkaline, and sandy and clay loams.
20. Esenbeckia
- Esenbeckia berlandieri
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 15 ft
Esenbeckia or Jopoy is one of the rarest trees found in Texas. It features dark, glossy, evergreen or deciduous leaves. It produces terminal clusters of fragrant, greenish-white blossoms. The flowers give way to 5-part, deeply lobed, woody capsules. This tree prefers to grow in medium moist, well-drained, alkaline clay or sandy soils and loams and partially shaded locations.
Yellow Flowering Trees in Texas
21. Western Sugar Maple
- Acer grandidentatum
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 50 ft
Western Sugar Maple is a medium-sized, deciduous tree with a smooth, thin, gray-brown bark and a dense, rounded crown. It features dark green leaves with three to five blunt lobes and fall colors of red, orange, and yellow. It produces pendulous clusters of apetalous, yellow-green flowers that give way to two-winged samaras. This tree grows well in well-drained, medium moist soils and sunny or partially shaded areas.
22. Texas Buckeye
- Aesculus glabra
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 40 ft
Native to the Eastern United States and Canada, Texas Buckeye is a medium-sized, deciduous tree with a robust, rounded crown. It features dense, dark green foliage that turns golden-yellow and orange in fall. It produces small clusters of greenish-yellow flowers that attract hummingbirds. This tree thrives in sunny or partially shaded areas and well-drained, medium moist soils.
23. Witch Hazel
- Hamamelis virginiana
- Flowering in: Fall
- Max Height: 15 ft
Witch Hazel is an Eastern North American native tree. It’s a medium-sized tree with a spreading habitat adorned with obovate to oval, deciduous, dark or medium green foliage with wavy edges. It yields stem-hugging clusters of crinkly, bold yellow flowers with ribbon-shaped petals. Witch Hazel Trees grow well in organically rich, medium moist, well-drained, fertile soils and sunny or partially shaded spots.
24. Goldenball Leadtree
- Leucaena retusa
- Flowering in: Spring, Summer, and Fall
- Max Height: 25 ft
Goldenball Leadtree is a highly ornamental, slender, small-sized, multi-trunked tree with a flaky bark and brittle stems that feature airy, green, twice-pinnately compound foliage. This attractive tree produces many showy clusters of fragrant, golden-yellow, globe-shaped, powder-puff blossoms. This drought-tolerant tree thrives in numerous well-drained soils and sunny or partially shaded locations.
25. Jerusalem Thorn
- Parkinsonia aculeata
- Flowering in: Spring, Summer, and Fall
- Max Height: 20 ft
Native to the US, Jerusalem Thorn Tree is a fast-growing, small-sized tree with log, slightly drooping branches. It produces profuse, loose clusters of 5-petaled, yellow blossoms with orange and red spots. The flowers give way to long, narrow seedpods. It features long, delicate, thin, olive green leaves. This drought-tolerant tree grows best in medium moist, well-drained soils and sunny locations.
26. Swamp Willow
- Salix nigra
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 72 ft
Native to North America, Swamp Willow is a medium to tall-sized, fast-growing willow tree with a spreading, rounded crown. Also known as Black Willow, this tree features deciduous, lanceolate, narrow, finely toothed, and medium to dark green foliage. It produces tiny, non-showy, greenish-yellow flowers that appear in catkins. The blooms give way to reddish-brown capsules. This tree thrives in consistently moist soils and sunny or partially shaded locations.
27. Wild Laurel
- Symplocos tinctoria
- Flowering in: Spring
- Max Height: 72 ft
Wild Laurel or Sweetleaf is deciduous or weakly evergreen tree with edible, sweet, alternate, smooth-edged leaves with yellowish undersides. This tree has an open crown, spreading branches, and a short trunk. It produces compact, profuse clusters of small, fragrant, creamy-white or light yellow flowers that give way to orange-brown drupes. It grows best in semi-shade and moist, well-drained, acidic sandy, loamy, and clay soils.
