good trees to plant in boca raton? (West Palm Beach, Kendall: buy, maintenance)

[sistersville]

I visited a good friend of mine in Boca this past week and I was thinking of sending her a tree from a local nursery as a thank you gift for letting my family stay with her. She has a large yard and loves plants and trees. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a good tree for this area- she lives in Old Floresta. I thought about a fruit tree of some sort, but not sure if there are rules on these- I remember hearing something about citrus issues. I live in NC so have no idea what would be something good for this area- thanks for your help!

[bale002]

Best up-to-date source will be the state agricultural authority, Palm Beach County extension.

Palm Beach County Extension
Palm Beach County/UF-IFAS Extension
559 N. Military Trail
West Palm Beach, Fl 33415-1311
Phone (561) 233-1700
Fax (561) 233-1768
Email palmbeach@ifas.ufl.edu

[blacksmith76]

Golden Nugget Jackfruit or a Gefner Atemoya. I got both from Pine Island nursery in Redlands.

[sistersville]

Thanks for the replies! Any other fruit tree suggestions? Or something with pretty flowers?

[blacksmith76]

Those are still my top two picks, but you should check this link out. Sorry I can't help with ornamentals. I have only been here long enough to obsess over tropical fruits.

Pine Island Nursery: Products Page A - B

[heydade]

buy something that is HURRICANE resistant. Most trees are NOT. The only thing that is hurricane resistant and because of that we have TONS of them everywhere you look, are PALM TREES. They are many different types of Palm Trees...some more exotic than others. Hurricane Andrew with it's 150 mph hour winds showed us what happened to trees....all of them were up rooted. The only ones that stood standing where the palms. I remember this clearly and I lived south of Kendall Drive back then, or the "war zone".

[Van Greco]

Many palms do great in hurricanes. Some do not however so be aware. There are some other hurricane resistant trees though. Gumbo Limbo comes to mind. Live oaks (not laurel oaks) also do well in storms because of their habit of branching out. They take up alot of space though. Ironwood is another good choice. It would be helpful to know what type of area she lives in. Coastal ridge? Pine scrubs? Water front? That can have some say as to what trees will work. If you are dead set on fruit trees then you will have many choices. Florida avocados are beautiful trees that grow to be very large. Mango is great too. There are also lots of trees that will encourage birds and butterflies if that's something your friend enjoys.

If I can make one recomendation though, try to get something native. We have many invasive trees and many beautiful native ones that are overlooked. The natives tend to be a better low maintanence option and many do better in storms since this is their natural habitat.

[P Andrews]

I agree and along with so many varieties, they are pretty much the perfect fit here. All for that little to no maintenance, type gift. they grow slowly enough that trimming, and /or grooming is very minimal. If at all, depending on the variety.

[blacksmith76]

You can keep fruit trees pruned to a manageable size, but I agree, a lot of them aren't the most wind resistant. I was just suggesting the fruits that I thought taste the best and are the most fun. The Golden Nugget jackfruit variety is supposed to produce tons of small jackfruits instead of 60 lb. monsters and it's supposed to be the best tasting variety. Jackfruits are supposed to be wind resistant, and you can keep them pruned to 8' tall and they will produce a lot. Mine is doing great so far, but it's still really small. I agree on the native plants, but not that many of the exotic fruit trees are considered invasive. Guava and sapodilla are the only ones I've run across.