Flowering Trees and Shrubs
By Cindy Mahoney, Waller County Master Gardener
It’s almost time for the Waller County Master Gardeners’ tree sale! Get out your big pots or make room in your landscape. These flowering tree varieties have been specially selected for our unique climate and grown locally. The event supports our Waller County Master Gardeners, who actively provide education and support throughout our local community. The trees listed below are just a few of the 41 varieties that will be available this year.
Texas Lilac Vitex
The Texas Lilac Vitex is a Texas SuperStar and a statement piece in any Texas landscape. It is a deciduous shrub that can be trained into a small tree with showy vertical bloom spikes of lilac purple flowers from late spring into early fall. The palmately, or hand-shaped, compound leaves turn yellow in the fall. The vitex tree does best in full sun and is drought and pest-tolerant once established. It can grow in a variety of soil types and attracts butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. The Texas Lilac Vitex grows up to 15 feet tall and wide at full maturity and can be pruned to a single or multi-trunked form or left to grow naturally in a vase-shaped form.
Muskogee Crape Myrtle
The Muskogee Crape Myrtle is an impressive flowering tree that produces large crepe-like flower clusters. Its blooms attract pollinators and last for an extended period compared to other crape myrtles, up to 120 days. The smooth cinnamon-colored bark peels over the year which adds to the visual interest. The glossy green leaves turn yellow, orange, and red in the fall. This is a fast-growing tree that can gain up to 5 feet per year, topping out around 25 to 30 feet tall and 20 feet wide at full maturity. This variety thrives in full sun and may require light pruning in early spring.
Desert Willow
The Desert Willow tree has trumpet-shaped burgundy to lavender flowers that bloom in late spring and throughout the summer. These blooms turn into long, bean-shaped seed pods that hang around through the winter. While not a true willow, its canopy is open with narrow, willow-style leaves. The Desert Willow is drought-tolerant and heat-resistant once established, thriving in full sun. It can be pruned as a tall hedge, single trunk tree or left to grow multi-trunked naturally. Low maintenance combined with resilience to high heat makes it an excellent choice for Texas landscapes. It can grow up to 20 feet high and up to 20 feet wide, so plan accordingly within your space.
Bracken’s Brown Magnolia
The Bracken’s Brown Beauty Magnolia is an evergreen ornamental tree that produces highly sought-after, large, white magnolia flowers, which grow up to 6 inches across. As fragrant as they are beautiful, these blooms not only attract pollinators, but birds are also attracted to the fruit pods when the blooms are spent in the fall. Its large, dark green, leathery foliage features a velvety, brown underside which is where its distinctive name is derived from. This is a hardier magnolia variety, so it can tolerate a bit more cold and thrives in full sun to partial shade with well-draining soil. These sturdy beauties can grow up to 30 feet tall.
Starting September 5th at 8 a.m., you can place your order online at txmg.org/wallermg The last day to order is October 5 at 5 p.m. Pickup will be on October 25th between 8-11 a.m. at Community Christian Academy which is located at 1016 6th St. in Hempstead.