15 Fantastic Trees That Can Turn Your Garden Into a Dreamland

You might be a garden whisperer or know very little about plants, live on acres or just have a tiny piece of land, love spending hours on your garden or prefer it to be super-low maintenance. Regardless of your living conditions and preferences, it’s possible to turn your backyard into a fairy tale garden. The trees that we selected look so cool that they will make you say, “Wow, that’s so beautiful,” and you might just want them in your own backyard.

We at Bright Side were blown away by the beauty of these trees and can’t wait to show them to our readers. Make sure you check our very special bonus.

1. Jacaranda

• It’s originally from South and Central America.
• They’ve been introduced to many tropical and subtropical places, and we can see why.

2. Cherry tree

• The cherry blossom, in Japanese culture, is a symbol of hope and renewal.
• There are more than 200 species that can only be found in Japan.

3. Wisteria

• Technically Wisteria is not a tree, it’s a vine, but we think that this flowering plant deserves to climb into our selection due to its incredible beauty.
• This wisteria is 144 years old and it’s absolutely stunning.

4. Magnolia

• Magnolias bloom during the spring season and have the most beautiful flowers, which often appear even before the leaves.
• Magnolias were first cultivated around 4,000 years ago.

• Magnolias come in different colors depending on the species.
• The tallest magnolia tree is 60 ft high, but there are many species that are perfect for a garden.

• Magnolias were around before bees and get pollinated by beetles.
• Magnolia bark is used in Chinese medicine.

5. Rhododendron

• Technically, it’s a shrub, but it’s so beautiful and can grow to a very respectful size so we decided that it should be part of this selection.
• The largest Rhododendron is believed to be more than 125 years old.

6. Illawarra Flame tree

• Illawarra Flame tree can be easy identified for its bright red bell-shaped flowers
• In the wild, it can reach 35 meters high but it grows only up to 10 meters in gardens.

7. Maple tree

• These trees are known for the changing color of their leaves to the stunning bright reds, oranges and yellows in autumn. They’re the tree we think of when we think of fall.
• Maple trees can live to be 200 years old.

8. Yellow mimosa

• A mimosa tree is a type of acacia, it’s native to Australia but has been spread around the world. This tree is really hardy and can grow in almost any soil.
• Its beautiful yellow blooms and their delicate scent make it very popular with florists.

9. Royal Poinciana

• Royal Poinciana has a nickname — the peacock tree or the flame tree.
• It is known, not only for its beautiful look, but also for its invasive growth habit.

10. Ginkgo

• Ginkgo Biloba is native to China and is known for use in traditional herbal medicine.
• These trees are one of the oldest living trees and have been around for more than 250 million years.

11. Manchurian pears

• Manchurian pears, with their heart-shaped leaves and delicate white flowers, look so elegant.
• Their flowers have a slightly pink color when budding, and turn white when they’re fully open.

12. Crepe myrtle

• Many crepe myrtle hybrids grow as shrubs, but they can also be trees.
• Crepe myrtle trees can be up to 25 ft tall.

13. Callistemon

• These trees are very popular in Australia. Aussies call it the Bottlebrush tree and we can see why.
• It seems that it’s a really sweet meal for many birds.

14. Lilac tree

• Lilac can be a tree or a shrub depending on the species
• It’s famous for its intense fragrance and beautiful flowers that normally come in pink to purple colors, but also can be white or yellow.

15. Guayacán tree

• This tree is native to Central and South America.
• It loses all its leaves before the dry season and blooms with bright yellow flowers before growing leaves at the beginning of the rainy season.

Bonus: Tāne Mahuta, the 2,000-year-old kauri tree and its story

Tāne Mahuta is New Zealand’s largest known living kauri tree. It’s believed to be more than 2,000 years old and it has its own legend. Tāne Mahuta in Maori means Lord of the Forest.

Tāne was the son of the sky father and the earth mother, he had many brothers and sisters and their parents were so much in love that they couldn’t bear to be apart. Because of this never-ending embrace, Tāne and his siblings never saw the sun. Until one day when Tāne Mahuta pushed his shoulders into his mother’s body and his legs against his father and broke their embrace, letting the light shine through.

Since then, when it rains in New Zealand, it means that the sky father is grieving for his wife, the earth mother.

Which tree did you like the most? Do you have photos that would be a good addition to our collection? Show us in the comment section, we can’t wait to see them.