Other Names:  Tropical Hydrangea

Description:

A beautiful evergreen tree with large, heart-shaped, dark green leaves; fragrant, clusters of pink flowers hang within the branches in spring, fading to paler pink, then brown; not very frost hardy; a fine landscape accent tree for warm climates

Ornamental Features

Pink Ball Tree features showy clusters of fragrant coral-pink bell-shaped flowers with shell pink overtones hanging below the branches from late fall to late winter. It has dark green foliage with hints of coppery-bronze. The large heart-shaped leaves remain dark green throughout the winter. The smooth dark gray bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape.

Landscape Attributes

Pink Ball Tree is a multi-stemmed evergreen tree with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This tree will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Pink Ball Tree is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Shade

Planting & Growing

Pink Ball Tree will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 30 feet. It has a high canopy with a typical clearance of 6 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. As it matures, the lower branches of this tree can be strategically removed to create a high enough canopy to support unobstructed human traffic underneath. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 80 years or more.

This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant will benefit from an application of bonemeal and/or mycorrhizal fertilizer at the time of planting. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America.