TREES FOR SMALL YARDS

Looking for a cold-hardy tree with stunning flowers and a heavenly scent? The Little Gem Magnolia is a compact variety of the Southern Magnolia that delivers all the beauty without the towering height. Its large white blooms emit a divine fragrance, and its fluffy, teddy bear-like leaves add extra charm. Perfect for small gardens or containers, this slow-growing beauty still reaches up to 8-10 feet wide, offering plenty of blooms even when young. Ideal for those who want elegance, fragrance, and manageable size in one gorgeous package!

Neea, Saltwood, Pigeon Plum, Hoja de Salat. Rare in cultivation, this small tree or bush should get more attention from tropical plant collectors.The plant is very nice, easy growing and make those "jelly beans" like berries at least twice/year. The flowers are almost unnoticeable. The berries are very showy and come right after. It fruits for several months non stop. Mature fruit is edible. In its native countries, this plant is widely used medicinally. From book "Messages from the Gods. A Guide to the useful plants of Belize": "To treat babies who can not sleep, often accompanied with crying, especially when they have been frightened by chickens..." Very useful plant especially for those who are afraid of chickens!

Naturally compact with a dwarf growth habit, Plumeria obtusa Singapore Pink features fragrant pink flowers and long, narrow leaves, often staying just 3-4 ft tall while branching well and flowering profusely.
It is soft and refined, with creamy white petals, a warm yellow center, and a delicate pink edge that adds gentle contrast. The flowers have smooth, rounded, slightly overlapping petals with a thick, waxy texture, giving them a clean, polished look.
Calm and understated, it offers a subtle variation of Singapore White while maintaining a classic, elegant appearance, producing abundant clusters of charming blooms ideal for containers and small spaces.

Plumeria obtusa Yellow Dwarf is elegant and slightly exotic in form, with noticeably long, slender petals that give the flowers a star-like appearance. The blooms open creamy white with a soft yellow center that gently fades outward.
The elongated petals are thinner and more tapered than typical obtusa varieties, creating a lighter, more airy look. This unique shape adds movement and grace, especially when flowers appear in clusters.
Like other obtusa types, it has a compact, dwarf growth habit with glossy green leaves, making it well-suited for containers and small spaces. The overall effect is clean and refined, but with a distinctive twist thanks to its long-petaled form.

Very pretty apricot colored flower - rare collectable small tree from China. Flowers are slightly fragrant.

Dwarf Tree Jasmine. A very rare small Thai tree with extremely fragrant flowers. The scent resembles roses, juicy fruit, candies, fine cologne all together and can be smelled from many yards away. Leaves are very ornamental and have a fountain-like architecture. In Thailand, the tree symbolizes simplicity, endurance, advancement, and peacefulness. Extract from these flowers is used in village pharmacy as relaxant and aphrodisiac.

Tree Fuchsia, Bush Boer-bean. Small tree from Africa with pinkish to red flowers. Native to South Africa, this small tree, growing to a maximum height of 10-20 feet, is an excellent choice for a flowering garden tree. Easy maintenance and low water needs make it ideal for gardens in USDA Zones 9-11. It is quite tolerant of both full sun and partial shade, and also moderare water requirement. As an ethnomedicinal plant, it has been used for centuries for various ailments and has been known to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. When planted in a pot, the Bush Boerbean is able to thrive in colder climates.

Yellow Elder. Beautiful small tree or shrub with yellow trumpet flowers, everblooming. Looks great as a standard.
Golden Blooms: Bright yellow trumpet-shaped flowers that light up your garden with vibrant color.
Pollinator's Delight: Attracts hummingbirds and butterflies, adding lively visitors to your garden.
Drought-Tolerant: Tough and resilient, perfect for sunny spots and low-water gardens.
Long Blooming: Flowers almost all year round, providing continuous bursts of sunshine.
Compact Size: Ideal for small spaces or containers, fitting nicely into any garden layout.
Easy Care: Low-maintenance and hardy, great for gardeners of all experience levels.
Lush Greenery: Rich green foliage that stays beautiful all year, even when not in bloom.
Tropical Charm: Adds a bright, tropical feel, making every day feel like a sunny getaway.

A rare exotic fruit tree from southern Africa, Spanish Tamarind, or Wild Medlar, is a hidden gem for fruit lovers and collectors. It produces small, round fruits with a sweet-tart flavor, enjoyed fresh, dried, or cooked into jams, sauces, or even fermented beverages. This plant isn't just tasty - it's packed with health benefits. The fruit is rich in vitamin C, fiber, and essential minerals. Traditionally used as natural medicine, the leaves and bark are brewed for fever, colds, and digestive issues. Bark and foliage yield natural dyes in yellow, green, and purple. The tree is easy to grow in warm climates (Zones 9-11) and can handle poor soil, dry weather and even cold snaps. What makes this even more impressive? The tree has beautiful, lush velvet leaves - soft to the touch and tropical in appearance - yet surprisingly hardy for such large, tender-looking foliage. Give it full sun, some water, and it'll reward you with 20-40 fruits per season. Hard to find and easy to grow, Spanish Tamarind is a perfect addition to your food forest or tropical collection.

Wrightia religiosa - Sacred Buddhist, Water Jasmine, or Wondrous Wrightia - is one of Thailand's most treasured fragrant tropical plants. This elegant flowering shrub produces masses of delicate white pendant flowers with an enchanting fruity-jasmine fragrance that can perfume an entire patio or garden. Blooming almost year round in warm climates, it is widely planted near temples and homes throughout Southeast Asia and is considered sacred in Buddhist culture. The single-flowered form is more vigorous and easier to grow than the double varieties, with graceful twiggy branching that also makes it an outstanding bonsai subject. Prefers well-draining soil, regular watering, and partial to full sun. May become deciduous in cooler winter weather below 65F but quickly returns with warmth.

Golden Penda - outstanding small tree with golden flowers that have sweet fragrance! Blooming size. Very rare and difficult to propagate species.

Coffee Senna, Fedegoso, Privet Cassia. Medium size shrub or small tree with orange-yellow flowers from spring to fall. From distance, flowers look like little yellow hummingbirds and attract butterflies and bees. The plant is very ornamental not only due to its bloom but also to large, red-veined leaves. Propagation by seeds.

Red Maple is a fast growing tree, best known for its brilliant deep scarlet foliage in December-January in Florida and autumn elsewhere. It is is adaptable to a very wide range of site conditions. It can be found growing in wet sites, swamps, on poor dry soils, and most anywhere in between. Due to its attractive fall foliage and pleasing form, it is often used as a shade tree for landscapes. In Florida it grows much shorter than in colder region, reaching 20-40 ft.
This plant is grown from seed collected in Florida, so it is suited for planting in Florida. It may perform worse up North.

Pride of De Kaap, Nasturtium Bauhinia - compact shrub with large red orchid-like flowers.
Learn more: Bauhinias: trees with Orchid Flowers and Butterfly Wings

This rare variegated variety plant is one of the most spectacular Orchid trees in cultivation. Flowers and extremely showy, look like scarlet butterflies with bright yellow stripes at the base of each petal. It grows into a small tree or bush. Plant in in full sun to get the most of its flowering season. Rare collectible species. Fast growing.
Learn more: Bauhinias: trees with Orchid Flowers and Butterfly Wings

Cananga fruticosa - dwarf Chanel #5 Ylang-Ylang, small tree or compact shrub with scented flowers. This dwarf variety appears to be more cold hardier than regular Ylang-Ylang Tree!
Special growing instructions are here

Rare red Cassia. A medium size tree having profuse blooms of dark pink to crimson flowers throughout the Spring. It usually blooms earlier (February-April) than many of its common relatives.

Enchanted Incense: absolutely NEW perfume plant! It is becoming one of the most wanted in rare fragrant plant market
Beautiful striped red-and-white flowers are highly fragrant. Fragrance is the most intense you can imagine and is much better than all jasmines and gardenias all together.
The plant is very similar to plumeria in growth habit (and is close related to Plumeria). It grows into a small tree. Unlike Plumeria, it is evergreen in warm climate.
Beautiful mauve colored leaves are very ornamental.
Slow growing, compact plant, great for containers. Very undemanding and has low water needs.
This amazing flower was recommended to us by our friend horticulturist John Mood, he discovered it in Thailand.

Chains of Glory, Light Bulb Flower. This elegant plant is a rare species in plant collections. The white fragrant flowers are held in loose pendulous panicles, similar to Bridal Veil (Clerodendrum wallichii). The white flowers are very showy against dark green foliage. Flowering racemes hang down a foot and a half or more. Winter bloomer. It often has two flowering periods during the winter season.

This graceful shrub grows up to 7 ft and has pointed narrow leaves. The white fragrant flowers are held in loose panicles. Cascades of flowers appear around Thanksgiving. Keep it out of the wind, and avoid putting it where it in hot afternoon sun. Blooming in fall-spring.

Small leathery, pear shaped leaves on compact, rounded shrub, with small light pink flowers. The leaves have a special effect: you may write with a sharp stick on the surface, and the writing will stay forever. Thus the common name of this plant!

Yellow Geiger tree. Ever-blooming small tree with elliptic leaves with rough upper surface. Flowers are bright canary-yellow in clusters. Free-branching habit. The plant requires regular watering until established. Nice specimen container plant. Nice small tree for limited space yard.

One of the most desired plants. It is a good grower with large leaves. Very large flowers, 3 to 5 inches in diameter, March thru June. Has a tendency to have yellow-green foliage. Flower Size 3 - 5". Large bushy grafted plant, with buds or/and flowers, can be planted in ground.
See picture of flower,
page about gardenias, their cultivation and varieties.
See picture of actual plant for sale (1-2013).

Rare gardenia from Africa with blooms sporadically year round. Covered with flowers when in bloom. Strong fragrance, unusually shaped leaves. Rare gardenia with star-like tubular flowers. It is a slow growing, round shrub and has large leaves of unusual diamond shape and delicate to touch unlike most of gardenias with waxy leaves. The plant blooms sporadically several times a year - year round. Fragrance is very strong and sweet. One day the whole plant is covered with blooms that stay a few days and then drop all together. A must for rare plant collection.

Star of Tahiti. National flower of French Polynesia. The intoxicating sweet fragrant blossoms are creamy white works of art. Large flowers 3" in diameter, large glossy oval leaves.