What’s Blooming in North Texas?
As the weather warms up in the spring, we see trees begin to bud out in at different times. Most of our North Texas trees don’t have colorful blossoms in Spring, but there are a few notable exceptions.
Saucer/Tulip Magnolia
An impressive early spring bloomer is the saucer magnolia (Magnolia x soulangena) or closely-related tulip magnolia (Magnolia liliiflora). Much smaller that the common southern magnolia, this tree grows to about four feet tall. While it shows green foliage through much of the year and may be overlooked, the highlights of the saucer or tulip magnolia are its namesake pink and purple blossoms that show in early spring before the new leaves open. These trees thrive in alkaline soils, like we have in much of the DFW area.
Purple Leaf Plum
The purple leaf plum is a non-fruiting tree with brilliant purple leaves that look beautiful summer long. In the spring, delicate pink flowers bloom on the branches, creating a dramatic scene before the new leaves begin pushing out. The purple leaf plum will have more flowers and darker purple leaves when planted in direct sunlight.
RedBud
Whether you have an Eastern redbud, Texas redbud, Mexican redbud, or another cultivar, you are likely seeing its pink or purple blossoms appearing. An early bloomer, the redbud’s blossoms are often the first herald of spring. Even after blossoming, however, the redbud’s heart-shaped leaves and attractive seed pods make it a stunner all year long.
Flowering Dogwood
Flowering dogwoods are understory trees that do best in the shade from larger species. Their white flowers in the spring and red berries in the fall are a common site in Southern gardens. Dogwoods can grow in the North Texas area but tend to do better in the sandier soils of East Texas. If you do have dogwoods, we recommend adding iron and other nutrients to the soil to help keep them healthy and blossoming.
Fruit Trees
There are few fruit trees that can thrive in North Texas due to the generally hot and dry climate and ill-suited soil conditions, but you will still see a few putting our blossoms in the spring. The more flowers a tree has, the more fruit it can produce, as the flowers are the starting point for fruit development. If you have a fruit tree, it may need special care, fertilization, and soil amendments.
At Texas Tree Surgeons, we love trees and we love our customers, and we are happy to see spring flowers starting to appear! If you are looking for recommendations of ornamental trees for color variety in the Spring or year-round, check out our previous posts for some suggestions! As always, if you have any questions about blossoming trees, ornamentals or anything else, let us know!
