We have some stunningly beautiful flowering trees available to us here and yet we get a little bogged down with the ubiquitous jacaranda, acacia (mimosa) and callistemon (bottle brush). They're beautiful, of course – all of them – and that's why they're so commonly planted. But, now and again, we want something really incredible, really drop dead gorgeous.
Again, we're lucky here in that most of us have a fair bit of land or, at the very least, large gardens so we can plant lots of trees. But if you're thinking of something spectacular, then here are some of my personal WOW trees. Remember to site them well because they're going to light up your life!
In no particular order – as they say!
Brachychiton acerifolius, Illiwarra Flame Tree, Árbol del Fuego. (see photo above)
This forms a magnificent tree – one that will always draw attention. It commonly reaches 10 – 15 m high though can, under favourable conditions, soar up to 40 m and is a quick grower and cold tolerant down to -5C. It is, like many of the family, a good street tree as they stay fairly narrow and pyramidal and are drought tolerant. The leaves are palmate (acerifolius meaning 'like an acer') with 3, 5 or 7 lobes, variable, again a trait common to many of the family, and juvenile and adult leaves will often be very different in form. It is occasionally deciduous for a short time, though
ours in the garden centre have kept their leaves through all this hard winter. The magnificent flowering is normally in May/June though can be later depending on conditions – but, whenever it comes, you'll love it! The tree comes alight with intensely scarlet, small, bell-shaped flowers that vibrate with colour and look wonderful against our blue skies. Propagation is easy from seed; the only disadvantage is that they can take a few years to settle into flowering. Try it next to that lilac flowering jacaranda I mentioned – if the flowering of the two ever coincides you'll think you've died and gone to heaven!
Chorisia speciosa, the kapok tree, palo borracho rosado and chorisia insignis, the bottle tree, árbol botella. (see photo on opposite page)
Many of you will recognise this one if I say it's the tree with the vicious thorns on the trunk. So wicked are they that, even in the winter when the tree is bare, the trunk is a wonderful feature. The pink and gold flowering speciosa are planted in Calle Larios, Torre del Mar and they're like a wonderful rosy sunset when seen en masse like this. But a specimen tree is, for me, even better. So beautiful are the orchid like flowers that it deserves a solitary planting where you can best gaze at it transfixed. To around 15m high x 10m wide. C. insignis has coffee and gold flowers and makes a smaller, chunkier tree with a vast swollen trunk (used to store water) and even more impressive thorns. Both are deciduous and will Spathodea campanulata, flame tree, African tulip tree, flame of the forest, árbol de la llama. The common names are descriptive, I hardly need to say more, except that it's fabulous! Fiery orange-red flowers slowly unfold from buds that resemble brown velvet-gloved fingers. Each individual flower is shaped like a bell (hence campanulata) and they open into large showy bunches. A native of tropical Africa it needs warmth and protection so, sorry, it's not one for high altitude gardeners. Plant in rich soil; it may take some years to settle into flowering and will always be best after a long hot summer but, be patient, the wait is worth it. To 15m high x 10m wide and semi-evergreen.
Don't confuse this tree with another which is also sometimes commonly called árbol de la llama or árbol del fuego, the flamboyant tree, delonix regia. A native of Madagascar, it too has magnificent scarlet flowers and beautiful ferny foliage but it is very cold sensitive and you could lose it if temperatures fall below 4C.
Tougher is the metrosideros excelsa, the New Zealand Christmas tree or árbol de hierro. At first glance, it's sometimes confused with the Australian bottle brush but it's a much more unusual planting and far tougher. This tree grows on wild windswept and wave-swept cliffs in New Zealand, producing its orange-red, rounded, brush type flowers at Christmas time there, our summertime. Its leaves are leathery and tough and its branches will often twist, dip and distort, contorting into weird and wonderful silhouettes. 10m high x 4m wide and evergreen.
contorting into weird and wonderful silhouettes. 10m high x 4m wide and evergreen.
There's also paulownia tomentosa, the delightful foxglove tree with its huge, strokeable leaves, the more tender erythrina crista galli, the coral tree and many, many others – but come and ask me about them – space is short!
This month, to celebrate the second anniversary of our re-birth, we're opening our rose area – named roses, beautiful, perfumed, shrubs, ramblers and climbers. And we've added to our collection of coloured iris. There's lots new!
Lorraine Cavanagh has lived in Spain for over 22 years; a mother, grandmother and hispanista, her passions are plants, the environment, food and drink, and travelling within Spain. A landscape gardener and writer, she's always happy to give advice. Call and see her at Viveros Florena, near Cómpeta – have free coffee and cake in their tea-rooms. Opening hours Tuesday-Saturday, 10-4.
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Her book Lorraine Cavanagh's Mediterranean Garden Plants has been nicknamed 'the bible'. The new edition at €24.90 is now generally available throughout Spain.
Tel: 689928201
E-mail:florenaspain@hotmail.com
survive down to a few degrees under zero.
