Ornamental
Spring Flowering Trees

A list of spring flowering trees with pictures. The list is divided, simply, by type. Dogwood, cherry, pear, crabapple, redbud and plum spring blooming trees. Buy hardy ornamental trees here. Dwarf and weeping forms available.

Nothing announces the arrival of a new growing season like spring blooming trees. Their sheer abundance of bloom makes them breathtaking landscape accents.

It is a serendipity that the flowers appear before the leaves on all but a few of the Magnolias.

This leaves the deciduous types more space into which to cram flower buds and gives you and I an uninterrupted flower show.

Spring flowering trees bloom mainly in white and pink, but there are a few bearing red or purple flowers.

Carefully chosen and properly placed, spring flowering trees will astonish you year after year.

List of Spring Flowering Trees

A mature flowering cherry tree is an unforgettable spring sight, but ornamental plums and pears will give even the most spectacular weeping cherry a run for its money.

Flowering Cherry Trees

Most Japanese cherry trees will bloom in early April in the north.

In southern gardens, 'Okame' will being to bloom in mid to late winter.

'Autumn Cherry' will put on a second flower show each fall.

Flowering Pear Trees

Flowering Plum Trees

Flowering Crabapples

Brilliant red or orange fruits dangle from the crabapple tree's bare branches in winter like Christmas ornaments, providing a second season of color.

Click Here to See a Wider Selection of Crabapple Trees

Flowering Dogwood Trees

Flowering Dogwood trees make good lawn ornaments as they do not cast a dense shade in which grass cannot grow.

They can also be sited in a bed of sun sensitive plants where they will provide their companions with the light shade that they need.

As an added bonus, dogwoods will grow and bloom in high shade themselves.

Redbud Trees

The diminutive blooms of the Redbud tree are shaped like sweet pea blossoms.

They cover the nude stems and, in some cases, will even appear on the trunks!

'Forest Pansy' extends the month-long color show with its purple new foliage.  The heart-shaped leaves turn green during summer and then provide a final season of interest when they color red, yellow, and purple in autumn.

Magnolia Trees

Magnolias are a diverse group of spring flowering trees valued for their large, usually fragrant blooms. There are deciduous and evergreen varieties.

The Sweet Bay Magnolia will be evergreen in the deep south but deciduous when planted further north.

Most Magnolias bloom in late spring. Some types repeat later in the season.

The size range is wide:

• At 30 feet tall, 'Bracken's Brown Beauty' falls into the middle of the range.
• 'Little Gem', Sweet Bay and Star top out at 20 feet.
• At just 15 feet, pretty 'Jane' is the smallest offered here.
• The Southern Magnolia is the most statuesque. It can reach 80 feet at maturity.
  

Spring Flowering Tropical Trees

Tabebuia aurea blooms most heavily in spring and then flushes throughout the warm season. It flourishes in tropical and subtropical locations.

Orchid Trees (Bauhinia spp) may bloom any time from late winter through spring. Most types repeat during the summer months.

Jacaranda mimosifolia produces upright panicles of purple flowers in spring before its fern-like foliage appears.

Dwarf Spring Flowering Trees

White spring flowers followed by edible fruit and brilliant red fall foliage. The 'Autumn Brillance' serviceberry is a small tree that keeps on giving.

15-25 feet tall and wide.

• At 20-30 feet tall the Pink Weeping Cherry is a small tree if not quite a dwarf.
• Likewise, the Newport Plum and the Siberian Crab
• The Robinson Crabapple grows up to 20 feet tall.

Fast Growing Flowering Trees

Paulownia tomentosa is the fastest growing of spring flowering trees.

It is a large tree that can stretch to 50 feet within 5 years.

Everything about the Royal Empress is huge from its foot long pendant blossoms to its 3 foot mature leaf span.

Plant it if you dare!

The Cleveland Pear can put on 4 feet of top growth per season.

With good care, the 'Little Gem' Magnolia may be expected to reach its ultimate height of 20 feet in 7 years.

Other Plant Lists:

List of Summer Flowering Trees Divided by Color

Spectacular Trees for Residential Landscapes

List of Easy-to-Grow Annual Plants

Deer Resistant Plants

French Garden Flowers, Trees, and Vines

Good Shrubs to Use for Hedges

Botanical Journeys Plant Guides' Home Page