If I tried to list my favorite trees in South Florida, I could fill this column. The trees that grow here are glorious. Native towering live oaks. Gumbo limbos with their reddish peeling bark.

The Dombeya burgessiae (Seminole) puts on one of the best flower shows of any shrub in Florida. It is sometimes called the tropical hydrangea because its flowers are similar to the hydrangeas we know ...