The following is a list of what I feel to be some of the very best trees for Southern Nevada. Please note that I said “some”. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive. Just because a certain species is omitted does not mean it is not a good tree. Likewise, while I feel strongly that those trees listed are all wonderful or very promising species, they still require good selection, planting and care, especially in pruning and irrigation.
A great gardening resource for Southern Nevada is the Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Hotline, at 702-257-5555. The Master Gardeners are a group of volunteers who have completed a fairly lengthy course on horticulture in our climate, and often come with a wealth of other useful gardening information. Honestly, over the years, I have learned much from these wonderful folk. And if they dont have the answer to your question when you call, theyll find the answer for you.
Under the name of each tree, I have included a general note that will read as (Small Size) or (Medium/Large Size), etc. These are generalities, and I have included them for ease of reference.
In the near future, I will be posting information on moderate water use (non-desert) trees for the valley. I will also be providing information on how to select a good tree at a nursery, and how to plant it right. Maybe even some information on watering and staking and how to make a tree more cold hardy…depends on how ambitious I get, for this is a LOT of work.
With all that having been said, read on for what I think are some of the most wonderful trees for our region…and I know Ill soon be kicking myself for forgetting some particularly beloved species that I completely spaced out when making this list. (grin)
Trees that produce small yellow ball-shaped flowers are a delightful addition to any landscape. Their fluffy yellow pom-pom blooms create a cheerful pop of color and provide charming ornamental appeal. If you are looking to add vibrant character to your yard, consider one of these captivating trees that bear abundant crops of lively little yellow spheres.
An Overview of Trees with Tiny Yellow Blooms
Several tree varieties are prized for their profusions of diminutive spherical yellow blossoms Some top choices include
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Acacia – Many acacia species like Bailey acacia and sweet acacia yield fuzzy yellow puffs blanketing the branches in late winter or early spring. Their fern-like foliage provides an airy complement.
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Mimosa – Mimosa trees produce powder puff-like yellow blooms in summer after the feather-shaped leaves emerge. They can grow as small trees or large shrubs.
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Goldenrain Tree – Abundant clusters of tiny yellow balls cover goldenrain trees in summer. They reach 30-50 feet tall with wide vase-shaped forms.
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Scotch Broom – Often trained into small multi-trunked trees, Scotch broom shrubs burst forth with pea-like yellow flowers from late spring into summer.
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Fringe Tree – Clusters of fluffy white blooms resembling pom-poms decorate this spring-flowering small tree. It thrives in moist, acidic soil.
The Allure of Fuzzy Yellow Sphere Flowers
What makes these small round yellow blossoms so captivating? Some top reasons to love them include:
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Abundant floral displays – Hundreds of blooms often smother the branches for maximum visual impact.
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Vibrant color – The sunny yellow hues provide cheerful pops of color against green backdrops of leaves.
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Lovely fragrances – Trees like acacia and goldenrain tree give off sweet citrusy scents.
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Textural appeal – The fuzzy puffed orbs add pleasing floral texture.
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Wildlife magnets – Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds flock to sip the nectar-rich balls.
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Extended bloom periods – Flowering lasts for weeks rather than just a few days.
Growing Trees with Yellow Pom-Pom Flowers
While specific care varies a bit between types, most share these core needs:
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Plant in full sun to encourage the heaviest flowering. Light afternoon shade is fine.
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Provide moderately moist but well-draining soil. Avoid overly wet conditions.
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Water regularly when establishing and during droughts. Mature trees have good drought tolerance.
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Apply fertilizer in early spring to support prolific flowering.
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Prune as needed to direct shape and promote blooms. Avoid heavy shearing.
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Watch for pests like leaf spot, scale, aphids, and caterpillars.
Meeting these basic requirements will keep your golden ball flowering tree thriving.
Creative Uses for Yellow Puff Ball Trees
The plentiful flowers and airy forms of these trees make them ideal for:
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Accenting as specimen trees – they really grab attention!
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Adding cheerful color to partly shaded areas where blooms glow.
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Providing seasonal interest to foundation plantings or entryways.
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Defining outdoor “rooms” and spaces within a landscape.
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Directing views and drawing the eye where strategically placed.
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Attracting beneficial wildlife like pollinators and songbirds.
You can even group two or more varieties together for an extended bloom sequence.
Enjoy Long-Lasting Trees with Seasonal Whimsy
What’s not to love about a flowering tree that becomes smothered in hundreds of sunny little yellow balls? These sturdy trees blend year-round usefulness with delightful seasonal charm.
Add some carefree floral whimsy and glowing color to your yard with one of these captivating fuzzy yellow bloomers. You’ll enjoy their beauty for many years to come.
Trees that bear abundant crops of small yellow spherical flowers bring cheerful pops of color, fragrance, and wildlife to landscapes. Acacia, mimosa, goldenrain tree, Scotch broom, and fringe tree are top choices for their fuzzy yellow pompom-like blooms. Meeting their basic care needs for sun, moisture, and pruning will keep them thriving. Use them as accents, specimen plants, shade trees, or wildlife gardens. Let these lively charmers brighten up your outdoor space with their playful floral displays!
Low Water Users: The Acacias
This is a very large genus of low water use plants. They are very wide spreading in form from tall, narrow trees to short, wide shrubs. Yellow puffball flowers that are often very fragrant characterize the Acacias. All are reputed to be bird-friendly, and are generally tolerant of our soils. Some species are rather cold tender, so if you choose to include those species in your landscape, limit the numbers in case of loss. High salt levels in the soil can cause chlorosis (yellowing) of the leaves. If this is the case, leaching can mitigate it. Leaching is the application of a large volume of water (usually 4 or 5 times normal run-times), several times per year. This large volume of water carries the salt deep below the roots, and out of the rooted area of the plant. With normally high levels of salts in our soil and water, leaching is a good general landscape practice.
Sweet Acacia (Acacia smallii) (medium size)
This naturally multi-trunked tree has a light airy texture to the canopy because of the very small size of the leaflets. The flowers are yellow puffballs, appear in the spring, and are nicely fragrant. The ends of the foliage sometimes have a “weeping” look to them, and that combined with the many small thorns makes this a tree that should be kept well away from walkways. It is a medium sized tree at maturity reaching a height of about 20 to 30 feet, and a width of 15 to 20. This tree is very drought tolerant and likes our native soils. It is evergreen, and cold tolerant to about 10 or 12 degrees. It is quite messy, in a way, for the leaflets are very small, and I think they actually make a very attractive mulch. The birds seem to love this tree for building nests, and often becomes home for our native Verdin, a cute little yellow breasted insect eater and friend to gardeners. This tree is readily available at local nurseries.
Twisted Acacia (Acacia schaffneri) (small/medium size)
This beautiful tree is evergreen, with tiny dark green leaflets set in bunches on almost black wood. Short, tightly dividing branches and twigs makes its form often superbly bizarre. However, its form also seems to vary greatly, and can range from very short and wide, to more upright than wide. Unfortunately, the short, wide ones can be very difficult to work with in most landscapes, however most seem to be rather upright in nature. It can reach about 20 feet wide and tall. The flowers are typically Acacia, small fragrant yellow puffballs in the spring. It is very tolerant of our soils and drought, and is cold hardy to about 20 degrees, so it is a bit cold sensitive. It is also messy. But the form of this tree is so striking and interesting, beautiful, in a bold way, I had to have at least one in my yard. It is also possibly the best bird-nesting tree I think Ive ever seen. Its a bit difficult to find at nurseries, though Ive seen them at the Community College Nursery (651-5050). I love this species.
Shoestring Acacia (Acacia stenophylla) (medium size)
This beautiful tree is quite variable in form, but is usually quite a bit more upright than wide, and has a somewhat to very weeping form. Its leaves are not true leaves, but rather “phyllodes”, a condition in which the leaf midrib has evolved to provide photosynthesis, and the leaf tissue itself is not apparent, except occasionally, and usually only on seedlings and suckers. Regardless, these leaves are very long and thin, around 12″ by 1/4″, hence the common name. The tree reaches an ultimate size of around 30 feet tall and 20 wide. It is quite messy and should not be used near a pool. It has a very exotic form, with soft, weeping curves, and interesting twists and turns of wood. Because of this, the tree looks wonderful in silhouette, creates great shadow patterns on walls, and landscape lighting light from beneath can look stunning. Their beautiful form grows in effect as the tree matures, and when young they can look quite gangly. The form is quite open and creates a nice filtered shade beneath. It is cold hardy to a temperature of 20 degrees, so its a bit of a risk. It is fast growing, and the wood seems a bit weak, sometimes causing branch failure.
Weeping Acacia (A. salicina)
This tree is similar to the Shoestring Acacia, but its slightly taller, is somewhat less but still weeping in form, and has shorter, 3 inch narrow “leaves”. The Shoestring Acacia is readily available at nurseries, the Willow Acacia less so.
Catclaw Acacia (Acacia greggii) (small size)
In some ways this is my favorite Acacia, and in some ways, my least favorite. It is a native tree to Southern Nevada, growing in the desert as a large full shrub, rarely more than 10 feet tall. It is VERY drought tolerant, capable of going many months without irrigation once established. Trained from its natural shrub form into more of a traditional tree form, it can reach 15 feet tall and a little wider. Though small, its bark is ragged and wild, giving it an old look. The spring flowers are incredibly sweet and fragrant, and the form open and airy. It is deciduous, and is one of the last trees to leaf back out in the spring. It is cold hardy to 0 degrees. Birds seem to love to nest in it, and for good reason; it has fantastically wicked thorns. Each thorn, though short, is curved like a cats claw, and it is easy to become ensnared in it, requiring delicate extrication. I think this is the most painful tree I have ever worked upon. A rare species at nurseries, but can be grown from seed.
Whitethorn Acacia (Acacia constricta) (small size)
This small Acacia is an excellent choice for small desert yards. Maturing at about 15 to 18 feet tall and wide, it is a good choice for the small yard. It can be grown as a single or multi-trunk tree. Its late spring/summer bloom is wonderfully fragrant, and is followed by long thin bean-like seedpods. Tiny, feathery leaves cast a light shade, perfect for growing other plants beneath. It is deciduous and cold hardy to 0 degrees. It is difficult to find at most nurseries, but Ive seen them at the Community College Nursery on West Charleston (651-5050).
African Sumac (Rhus lancea) (small/medium size)
This tree is native to the arid lands in South Africa. It is a semi-weeping tree with textural bark and often-beautiful form. The bark starts out a light tan-gray in young wood that, with age cracks, revealing reddish hues. Eventually, old wood becomes dark gray and rugged. It is often sold as a single trunk tree, but I much prefer it as a multi-trunk. The form is open and spreading, and branch tips weep gracefully downward. The leaf is composed of three 4″ narrow, pointed leaflets. When new leaves first emerge, they look distorted and seem stuck to each other … this is normal. The flowers are insignificant. The fruit is small yellow to red berries, and can be quite annoying over concrete or the like. This species often wants to produce lots of water-sprouts, tall, vigorously growing, very straight branches from inside the trees canopy. These should be pruned out, as well as other structural pruning to enhance and show the trees beautiful structure. However, be careful not to over-prune, by not removing more than 25% total foliage in a year. Over-pruning encourages even more vigorous water-sprout production. This tree can reach mature sizes of 30 tall and 35 wide, but rarely exceeds much more than 20 high. It is very drought tolerant. In times of drought, it merely sheds some leaves, more as the drought progresses. In high-water situations, it produces lots of foliage and wood to support it, and the trees natural beauty becomes obscured. It is especially important to avoid frequent irrigation in heavy, slow-draining soils. If watered (deep, wide soakings) only 10 to 15 times per year, the tree remains open and airy, and much more attractive. African Sumac is hardy to about 15 degrees, but can suffer some damage to foliage and twigs around 20 degrees. It is quite messy, but I look at the leaf litter that lies beneath mine as beautiful tan mulch. It also tends to produce suckers from the root system, especially if roots have been cut or damaged, or if the tree suffers extensive cold damage. If this occurs, push a little soil out of the way to see where the sucker is attached, and cut it off almost flush at that point. Persistence in removing suckers will eventually reduce or eliminate this problem. It is readily available at most nurseries.
Chaste Tree, Monks Pepper (Vitex agnus-castus) (small/medium size)
I like this tree because mostly because of the flowers, which are usually a quite striking blue to lavender, and borne on 3 to 10 inch flower spikes at the ends of branches. The late spring flower show is especially intense, but it can bloom sporadically through October. Grayish to medium green leaves have very light colored undersides and radiate out in five distinct narrow leaflets in a palm shape, and the tree is deciduous. This tree is usually a shrub in its native Mediterranean habitat, but with some additional water and good pruning, can become a stunning tree. Its rough grayish trunk bark is very visually textual. It can be grown as a single trunk tree, but I like it better as a multitrunk, and reaches about 15 to 25 feet high and wide. It can take low to moderate amounts of water, but if over watered, its form becomes very straight and foliage dense, and it loses much of its character. It is tolerant of our soils, and is hardy to 10 degrees. The seed structures are prominent and persistent dead twigs after flowering, and this gives a bit of a messy look to the tree. The seeds are reputed to be a mild pepper used by the monks in the middle ages, supposedly to help curb sexual desire, hence the common names. If it werent for the striking flower show, I wouldnt like this tree as much, but the colors are so beautiful, and the spring bloom especially strong. There are also varieties with white flowers (Alba) and pink (Rosea). The lavender flowering varieties are very common at local nurseries, but youll have to search more for the pink or white flowering varieties.
Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) (small/medium size)
This is a quite common species in nurseries and our landscapes, but it is so lovely it deserves mention here. Reaching a maximum size of 15 to 30 feet and 12 to 20 feet wide, this species has an open, airy form and a weeping habit, hence its common name…its actually not at all related to true Willows. The flowers are magnificent, and come in a range of pastel colors in a ruffled, open-throated flower almost reminiscent of Snap Dragons, and appear spring through fall. The tree is deciduous, losing all its leaves in winter, and honestly is quite messy, especially from the numerous seedpods. But hopefully you can get over a little mess for such a wonderful tree. For me, it is in winter that I think this tree is most lovely, for when they shed their leaves, the wonderful sways, curves and arches of the branches are best displayed. This tree is native to Southern Nevada, and hence is tolerant of our soils, aridity and temperatures. It is thornless, but the spent flower twigs can scratch your eye quite badly, so be very careful, and if you work with it, wear safety glasses. This species is readily available at local nurseries.
Formans Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus formanii) (small size)
This small, evergreen tree is one of the more cold hardy of the Eucalyptus genus, handling temperatures down to about 10 or 15 degrees. There are many different species of Eucalyptus, but most get quite large and are cold sensitive, and for reasons of space and time, this is the only Eucalyptus Ill mention. It is a low water user, but does require a bit more than the most drought tolerant species. It seems to have an open, spreading form, with branches that hang outward and slightly down, and reaches a mature size of 15 to 18 tall and 12 to 15 wide. It has great trunk bark, very shaggy and wild looking. The overall color of the foliage is a soft gray-green. This is a very good species, especially because of its size, and is underused in our landscapes. It is hard to find at nurseries.
Golden Lead Ball Tree (Leucaena retusa) (small size)
This wonderful little tree has light airy foliage, and fluffy golden balls for flowers. Because of the shape of the tree, its finely divided little leaflets, and its open form, this tree has a real “tropical” look to it, and no thorns either. Reaching a maximum size of 12 to 15 feet (though Ive never seen one bigger than 10 feet), this tree is an excellent small patio specimen, and works well in small yards. It can be evergreen in very mild winters, but will drop its leaves most years. Its very tolerant of our native soils, and truly a low water user. It is deciduous, so its not very showy in the winter. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find at nurseries.
Plant Trees Like An Arborist- Avoid This Common BIG MISTAKE!
FAQ
What tree has little yellow balls?
A deciduous tree by nature, this Acacia can reach 20-30′ high and spreads to near 20′. Leaves are bi-pinnate and filter sunlight rather than completely blocking it. Fragrant, yellow, puff-ball flowers cover the tree in the spring. This tree is native to the desert southwest and does exceptionally well there.
What tree has small yellow round fruit?
A member of the Rosaceae species of flowering plants, the Loquat is native to cooler geographical regions in China, where it can still be found growing wild. The evergreen Loquat tree is grown commercially for its yellow fruit, as well as cultivated for its ornamental properties.
What are the yellow balls falling from trees?
Galls are created by certain species of little wasps when they lay their eggs on leaves, twigs and bark of various trees. The wasps ooze a chemical that irritates the tree tissue and cause the tree to create a home for the larvae. Galls show up in some years and become visible in the fall on live oaks.
What tree drops big yellow balls?
The Osage orange tree drops its fruit, a bumpy, yellow-green apple-sized sphere, in fall.
What does a yellow flamboyant tree look like?
The yellow flamboyant tree is a stunning ornamental plant that produces bright yellow flowers on long flowering stalks. When blooming in spring and summer, the showy yellow flower clusters cover the tree. The flamboyant tree’s fern-like feathery foliage adds to its tropical appeal in sunny landscapes.
What trees have spiky seed balls?
Trees with spiky seed balls are generally easy to identify. In late summer and fall, trees like buckeye, chestnut, and sweet gums produce spherical round seed balls covered with prickly spikes. In some cases, the spiked seed balls don’t do any harm. However, round seed pods with sharp spikes can be painful if you step on them barefoot.
What does a yellow trumpet tree look like?
The Yellow Trumpet Tree, also known as Silver Trumpet Tree, features vibrant golden-yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers that appear in profuse clusters before the leaves emerge. Native to South America, this tree is admired for both its flowers and its silvery-gray foliage and bark. The contrast makes it an eye-catching addition to any landscape.
Are yellow flowering trees evergreen or deciduous?
Many evergreen yellow-flowering trees thrive in tropical or warm climates, blooming throughout the year. On the other hand, numerous deciduous trees with yellow flowers suit temperate climates, filling front or backyards with bright golden yellow colors from spring through fall. This article is an identification guide to yellow flowering trees.
What does a yellow bell orchid tree look like?
The yellow bell orchid tree is a small, tropical tree recognized for its pale yellow, orchid-like flowers. These distinctive, bell-shaped flowers have large petals with a black to maroon center, creating a stunning display. Another identifying feature of this tree is its light green, two-lobed leaves, which resemble wings.
Are yellow trees good for your garden?
Yellow Trees Bring the Energy of the Sun to Your Garden! Trees with yellow flowers bring a bright note to the garden and cheer us up when the weather is gloomy. To enjoy brightness of yellow blooms that attract all eyes in any season, the good idea is to plant different species of trees with bright and golden blooms.