The range of trees with pink blooms is large. Many, but not all, bloom in spring. Good identification of these trees depends on accurate characterization of the blooms and can be bolstered by details including leaf shape and size, tree size and configuration. Sometimes, additional plant identifiers, such as bark color and texture, are helpful, too. The presence or absence of flower fragrance also can aid the identification, as can the location and situation of the trees.
Some magnolia (Magnolia spp.) varieties bear pink flowers, including the "Rosea" variety of star or swamp magnolia (Magnolia stellata "Rosea"), which can be grown as a large shrub or small tree. Hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 5 through 9, "Rosea" features pale-pink flowers with narrow petals, and it grows 10 feet tall with a 12-foot spread. The related magnolia hybrid "Leonard Messel" (Magnolia x loebneri "Leonard Messel") bears funnel- or trumpet-shaped, pink-purple blooms that appear in spring before the plant's dark-green, oval-shaped leaves. That variety is also hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9.
Raspberry and Paler Crape Myrtles
Crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia spp.) often bear pink flowers. Although crape myrtles can be grown as large shrubs, more often they are grown as small trees. "Whit I" Raspberry Sundae (Lagerstroemia indica "Whit I" Raspberry Sundae) blooms in midsummer to late summer, bearing panicles of raspberry-pink flowers. It is hardy in USDA zones 6 through 9 and reaches up to 15 feet tall. The taller, hybrid variety "Biloxi" (Lagerstroemia "Biloxi"), hardy in USDA zones 7 through 9, has pale-pink flowers and grows up to 20 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Crape myrtles have been reported as invasive in some southeastern U.S. locations.
"Forest Pansy" eastern redbud tree (Cercis canadensis "Forest Pansy") features tiny, pealike pink flowers. Hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, the tree blooms in spring and grows 20 to 30 feet tall with a nearly equal spread. The rosy flowers, which appear all over the branches, are succeeded by purple, heart-shaped leaves that may turn purple-orange in fall. The smaller Chinese redbud (Cercis chinensis) produces flowers larger and a rosier shade of pink than those of "Forest Pansy." Hardy in USDA zones 6 through 9, Chinese redbud grows up to 15 feet tall with a 12-foot spread.
Locust trees (Robinia spp.) often have pink flowers. The hybrid "Hilleri" locust (Robinia x slavinii "HIlleri"), hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, features loose clusters of shell-pink flowers in early summer, and the blooms resemble ornamental sweet peas. That tree bears medium-green, feathery, compound foliage, grows about 20 feet tall has a nearly equal spread. The larger hybrid "Decaisneana" (Robinia x ambigua "Decaisneana"), hardy in USDA zones 4 through 11, features pendulous clusters of pink, early summer flowers and feathery foliage. It grows to 50 feet tall by 30 feet wide.
- The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers; Christopher Brickell, Editor-in-Chief
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Lagerstroemia Indica "Whit I" Raspberry Sundae
- Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Fifth Edition; Michael A. Dirr
- Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States: Crape Myrtle, Lagerstroemia Indica
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Cercis Canadensis "Forest Pansy"
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Cercis Chinensis
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