What trees / shrubs / flowers do you have growing in your southern lawn?

[Tennesseestorm]

Not sure if we have had this thread before, but with spring planting here, I thought it would be neat too see what all trees everyone has on their property.

I currently have the following trees in my lawn:

Southern magnolia

Southern red oak

Weeping willow

Longleaf pine

Loblolly pines (8)

Bald cypress

Washingtonia palm

Southern live oaks (2)

Beech (2)

White pines (5)

Black willow

White willow

Peach

Apple

River cane (bamboo?)

Yuccas - Spanish Bayonet & Spanish Dagger (and some other unknown type)

Camellia (Pink perfection)

Holly

Leyland cypress (2)

Firs (unsure of species)

Australian pine

Chestnut

Walnut

Locust

Windmill palm

Coming soon:

Sabal Birmingham

Blue yucca

Thanks for posting !!!!!

[DruidCity]

I've got a little of everything back there.

Some of my favorites right now:

* Palms (about a dozen kinds, member of SPS)

* Yuccas (and Agave, Nolina, Hesperaloe, Dasylirion) - Perhaps the most spectacular of the lot here

is Beschorneria. Mine currently has a 6-foot red bloom spike. Nolina is probably the most

underrated of this whole class of plants.

* Bananas - My Musa basjoo has begun leafing out for the spring and is 10 feet or so.

My Musella has an inflorescence that has been active for ONE YEAR !

* Loquat - Lots of fruit set this year

* Hardy Citrus - Thomasville Citrangequat, Ichang Lemon, and Poncirus 'Flying Dragon' are

all blooming right now.

* Lady Banks' Rose - My yellow one is 30+ years old and is taller than my house.

I have it interplanted with a hybrid between a Lady Banks and a Cherokee Rose that has white blooms

roughly twice the size of a Lady Banks. That thing is has blooms about 30 FEET in the air right now.

* Loropetalum - Has become extremely common in southern landscapes, but for good reason - blooms along with the azaleas, dogwoods, and Lady Banks.

* Magnolia - Also the related "banana shrub" Michelia, which has been beloved by generations of Southerners, but isn't all that well-known in some modern circles.

* Old Roses - "Sweetheart/Cecile Brunner," Cabbage Rose, and others have been passed down in the

family for generations. Of the "modern roses," one that performs particularly well here is "Rio Samba."

* Japanese evergreens- Variations of Rohdea and Aspidistra, for instance.

* Holly ferns - Easily among the best and boldest evergreen ferns for southeastern gardens. About 5-10 years ago, K-Mart closed some of these out as low as 2 for 25 cents, so I got about a half dozen (which is what they had left).

Now, each clump is about 3' x 3'.

[Tennesseestorm]

Hi Druid. I think we have discussed palm trees before on the "palm tree" thread, but I do not recall you mentioning which ones you have.

How many different ones do you have and if you have time to post - which ones do you have?

I recently planted a Washingtonia filifera (still trying to figure out the species - whether it is a filifera or the even hardies filifera x robusta), and today I planted a Windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei). Also- I did not realize that there were other species of this one either. A couple of these is hardy down to 3.2* and one 10.6*, which I think is the one I have. Even one down to -18.1* (the fortunei bulgaria). I am not even sure what this one looks like.

Since you are a member of the SPS, do you think that you or someone else may be able to look at my palm tree photos and tell me which species they are? (If so, see photos below)

Windmill - photos taken before I got it planted:

Washingtonia -

Thanks in advance!

BTW - if you have any photos of your palms- post them here if you do not mind.

[Cadeho]

Not sure if we have had this thread before, but with spring planting here, I thought it would be neat too see what all trees everyone has on their property.

I currently have the following trees in my lawn:

Southern magnolia

Southern red oak

Weeping willow

Longleaf pine

Loblolly pines (8)

Bald cypress

Washingtonia palm

Southern live oaks (2)

Beech (2)

White pines (5)

Black willow

White willow

Peach

Apple

River cane (bamboo?)

Yuccas - Spanish Bayonet & Spanish Dagger (and some other unknown type)

Camellia (Pink perfection)

Holly

Leyland cypress (2)

Firs (unsure of species)

Australian pine

Chestnut

Walnut

Locust

Windmill palm

Coming soon:

Sabal Birmingham

Blue yucca

Thanks for posting !!!!!

All those? How big is your yard!?!

All we have left is an ancient maple that amazes us that the one branch it has left keeps coming back. It is completely hollow and at least two people can fit inside of it.

We used to have two giant Chinaberry trees in the backyard too that blocked out the sun during the summer (killed the grass)... then Hurricane Isabel uprooted both of them (luckily one didn't hit the house, came close though). I miss them and then I don't. The berries were always fun to fling at someone! Squirrels would get high or something from eating the berries (they're toxic). They killed the grass but they used to drop enough seedlings to sprout a forest! I don't miss that... and when the flowers bloomed, the smell was overpowering and then the petals would fly everywhere! But hey we had the tallest ones I'd ever seen here in Richmond and I was amazed at basically how shallow the roots were.

A college friend of mine said he hadn't seen a chinaberry tree outside of Texas and was amazed I said we had two and my neighbor had one. He told me he absolutely hated the trees and so, I brought him back some berries and a twig... he was happy.

I haven't seen them anywhere in the metro Richmond area except in yards near my neighboorhood and some over southside. usually there's maybe one tree and they're way shorter than what we grew. Although they dropped millions of seeds, they didn't reproduce like that darn Tree of Heaven... ugh.

[DruidCity]

How many different ones do you have and if you have time to post - which ones do you have?

I don't have any photos, but :

* Sabal minor - Blooms every year, seedlings come up a lot. This species is native here, so grows

very well.

* Sabal louisiana - like a larger S. minor. Mine hasn't formed a trunk yet.

* Sabal "Tamaulipas" - Mexican palm from Yucca Do Nursery. Very similar to S. minor, but

the leaves are larger. It seems just as hardy here.

* Sabal palmetto - Mine isn't big enough to have much of a trunk yet, but no problems with cold.

* Sabal "Birmingham" - Mine's just a seedling. I've seen photos of some of the "original" trees in Birmingham. I look forward to seeing what this does.

* Sabal xtexensis - I've had this for just 3 years, but it is faster-growing than my other Sabals.

These have a reputation for being of very variable hardiness. I remember when I bought mine, that

the nursery had about 10 plants, and the one I picked was the only one without cold damage.

So far, so good.

* Rhapidophyllum hystrix - Needle palms are awesome ! I've seen larger ones in Mobile and Anniston that have several feet of trunk.

* Serenoa repens - The saw palmetto has been reliably hardy here, both the green and silver forms.

* Chamaerops humilis - I got this one as a small plant, so I haven't planted it out yet. It works well as a house plant in the mean time. The ones in Birmingham get some damage in a cold winter.

* Butia capitata - The "jelly palm" is one of the most beautiful palms one can grow from Tuscaloosa south.

Hayes Jackson of Anniston (SPS) has some of the other Butias, a couple of which are possibly slightly

hardier.

* Trachycarpus fortunei - I have just the "plain" windmill at this time.

The Birmingham zoo uses these extensively in its landscaping.

The other fortunei variants like the Bulgarian look the same, though.

T. takil, wagnerianus, and nanus are all ones I'd like to try eventually, but I'm out of space.

People also grow sago palms (Cycas revoluta) around here, but those aren't true palms.

Another bit of palm advice is, when looking at the hardiness temperatures posted, remember

that those are generally for mature trees. Young plants in their first year or two of getting established

can be a lot more tender, so might need a little protection in your climate if the first winter is

especially bad.

[Tennesseestorm]

Thanks for the replies.

Druid - I just planted a sabal Birmingham today. It is a seedling- about a foot tall. I am interested to see how this one turns out. I have seen photos of ones a few years old and they are nice looking trees that develop a nice little trunk. Supposed to be one of the hardiest trunking palms. Zoned to 6b.

Last week, I finally planted a 3 foot windmill palmetto. Photos of that to follow. Also planted a Spanish Bayonet yucca.

I don't have any photos, but :

* Sabal minor - Blooms every year, seedlings come up a lot. This species is native here, so grows

very well.

* Sabal louisiana - like a larger S. minor. Mine hasn't formed a trunk yet.

* Sabal "Tamaulipas" - Mexican palm from Yucca Do Nursery. Very similar to S. minor, but

the leaves are larger. It seems just as hardy here.

* Sabal palmetto - Mine isn't big enough to have much of a trunk yet, but no problems with cold.

* Sabal "Birmingham" - Mine's just a seedling. I've seen photos of some of the "original" trees in Birmingham. I look forward to seeing what this does.

* Sabal xtexensis - I've had this for just 3 years, but it is faster-growing than my other Sabals.

These have a reputation for being of very variable hardiness. I remember when I bought mine, that

the nursery had about 10 plants, and the one I picked was the only one without cold damage.

So far, so good.

* Rhapidophyllum hystrix - Needle palms are awesome ! I've seen larger ones in Mobile and Anniston that have several feet of trunk.

* Serenoa repens - The saw palmetto has been reliably hardy here, both the green and silver forms.

* Chamaerops humilis - I got this one as a small plant, so I haven't planted it out yet. It works well as a house plant in the mean time. The ones in Birmingham get some damage in a cold winter.

* Butia capitata - The "jelly palm" is one of the most beautiful palms one can grow from Tuscaloosa south.

Hayes Jackson of Anniston (SPS) has some of the other Butias, a couple of which are possibly slightly

hardier.

* Trachycarpus fortunei - I have just the "plain" windmill at this time.

The Birmingham zoo uses these extensively in its landscaping.

The other fortunei variants like the Bulgarian look the same, though.

T. takil, wagnerianus, and nanus are all ones I'd like to try eventually, but I'm out of space.

People also grow sago palms (Cycas revoluta) around here, but those aren't true palms.

Another bit of palm advice is, when looking at the hardiness temperatures posted, remember

that those are generally for mature trees. Young plants in their first year or two of getting established

can be a lot more tender, so might need a little protection in your climate if the first winter is

especially bad.

[teshadoh]

Only have 4 trees - but it's only on a .2 acre lot - magnolia in the front, 2 gum trees on the side & an oak in the back.

[socaguy]

Druid, are you going to the SPS meeting in Savannah this weekend? Im driving down tomorrow night.

[DruidCity]

socaguy, unfortunately I very rarely attend meetings anymore, and my yard is overfilled already.

I do still enjoy reading their publication, though.

Some of those SPS people are like walking botanical encyclopedias.

Tennesseestorm, good luck with the Sabal "Birmingham." Imagine the look on neighbors' faces when

it gets big

[Tennesseestorm]

Thanks. I hope this one grows pretty quickly. I am too impatient.

Here is a photo of it I took the other day. As you can see, it is in soil that not much grass grows on. This used to be a heavily wooded area before we built our house here and we still have not planted grass on this part of the property. I hope the tree does well here. I still need to get some landscape "detail" going around the tree.

Also, got my windmill palm planted as well. Still some landscaping to do around it as well.....

Tennesseestorm, good luck with the Sabal "Birmingham." Imagine the look on neighbors' faces when

it gets big