Growing Red Flowering Trees

Below you will find a list of Trees from our plant database that are red flowering. If you click any of the photos, you will see a Virtual Plant Tag that may contain plant descriptions, usage suggestions and a link to where you can buy that plant for your landscaping. The concept of a tree can be difficult to define since different people might consider the same plant a broadleaf evergreen, needled evergreen, conifer, bush or shrub.

Uses for these trees vary by variety, and may also thrive in partial shade, partial sun, full shade or full sun. These trees may do equally well in wet soil, average moisture or dry conditions.

Our focused search engine that sorts the data includes anything relevant.  This can be confusing on pages like these because plants with flowers with red centers or flowers that start red but fade to yellow and similar situations are included.

Suggested native trees with red, rosy-pink or scarlet bloom include: Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) and improved cultivars, the red variation of Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida var. rubra) and interesting cultivars and Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia).

As long as the plants aren't invasive, non-native or introduced plants can add a new look to the landscape garden.  Suggested exotic red flowering trees include: Anderson Crepe or Chinese Hibiscus (H. rosa-sinensie), Bell-flowered or Taiwan Cherry (Prunus campanulata), many lovely Flowering Crabapples and hybrid cultivars, Chinese Redbud (Cercis chinensis), Crapemyrtle, a summer garden staple for Zone 6 and south (Lagerstroemia) has wonderful red selections, English Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) has several red cultivars, Japanese Camellia, Japanese Flowering Cherry (P. serrulata) has several red cultivars including 'Royal Burgundy', with too many Magnolias to mention by name, a variety of species, hybrids and hybrid cultivars are a must to extend bloom times, Red Horsechestnut (Aesculus x carnea), Rose of Sharon or Shrub Althea (Hibiscus syriacus) and various Witchhazel including Hamamelis x intermedia cultivars 'Diana' and 'Ruby Glow'.

Trees with red flowers are exciting in the landscape. Red's powerful, passionate color can be enjoyed throughout the season and blends well with other annuals, perennials, ornamental grasses, shrubs, evergreens, groundcovers and tropicals. Too much red can quickly overwhelm an interior room, but in the outdoor living spaces without the confined dimensions of walls and ceilings, red flowers harmonize with orange and yellow, green, blue, purple and white providing a striking contrast.