Show-Stopping Pink Trees To Add To Your Yard That Birds Love To Visit

Having a flowering tree in your backyard can really improve your curb appeal. But why should you choose a flowering tree with pink-colored blossoms in particular? The answer is simple: some hummingbirds, like ruby-throated hummers, really enjoy pink flowers — likely because these tend to be the ones brimming with the most nectar. So, play your cards right to attract them to your yard.

During its active growth season, a single flowering tree can provide as much nectar for pollinators as a diverse landscape boasting multiple blooms. This means that nectarivorous birds will have ample resources to fuel their foraging or migrating activities. Additionally, even birds that don't typically seek nectar can benefit from insects attracted to your pink trees, like butterflies and beetles, or from the fruit they produce, such as crabapples or berries. By planting a single pink tree, you can enjoy a variety of feathered friends visiting your garden. However, some bird-attracting trees might create a mess by riddling the area with fruit litter and consequent bird droppings. So, be careful about site selection, particularly when driveways, walking paths, and patios are in proximity. Keeping this in mind, here are various show-stopping pink trees that'll have birds flocking to your yard.

Pink trumpet trees (Handroanthus heptaphyllus) have also been referred to as Handroanthus impetiginosus or Tabebuia impetiginosa. Pau d'arco, pink lapacho, and ipe are some other common names. Plus, their ornamental beauty makes them a great fit for residential landscapes. Luckily, they offer decent shade as well, making them popular around patios, decks, and driveways. Better yet, their foliage and fruit don't tend to create litter problems. While pink trumpet trees aren't native to the U.S., they aren't considered invasive.

In their quest to put out a stunning flower buffet, pink trumpet trees shed their green leaves. This feature isn't lost on hummingbirds, who are keen to seek out pink trumpet blossoms. Even long-beaked orioles can be seen drinking their sweet nectar. These trees grow around 12 to 24 inches annually. However, over a lifetime, they may expand to 25 feet wide and 30 feet tall, so they need ample room to grow. They're shade intolerant, so place them in full sun. Moderate drought tolerance enables their survival in water-stressed areas.

Oklahoma's state tree, eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) is a vibrant tree that will bring stunning color to your spring landscape. While most other spring bloomers remain bare, the eastern redbud or American Judas tree provides purplish-red buds that songbirds, including rose-breasted grosbeaks, consume hungrily. These buds explode into masses of five-petaled flowers in varying shades of pink and magenta, with long-tongued bees and hummingbirds lapping up their nectar. This exhibit invites insects, including caterpillars, who reach for their flowers even though they can't access the sap. Since they're not ones to waste a golden opportunity, insectivorous birds quickly pluck these insects off for sumptuous meals.

When the blossoms terminate into bean-shaped seed pods, birds like cardinals, blue jays, and northern bobwhite quails return for summer suppertimes. However, not all redbud varieties are consistent in their fruiting — some produce no fruit at all. Also, the pods don't always stick around for winter, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since many homeowners don't find them very attractive. Eastern redbud trees sprout heart-shaped, red-tinged green foliage that assumes bright yellow tones during autumn.

As eastern redbud trees have a deep rooting system, choosing the right location is pertinent to avoid transplantation shock. Stick to growing juvenile trees in damp soils under full sun or in partial shade. These trees are quite popular as understories in more heavily wooded areas, where their nearly 30-foot-tall and slightly wider frame fits easily.

Attract more birds to your garden with a stunning tree they love: pink flowering dogwood (Cornus florida var. rubra). Yellow-bellied sapsuckers and woodpeckers will wing in for the sap running through its bark and the gobs of insects attracted to it. Cedar waxwings, robins, cardinals, northern flickers, hermit thrushes, rose-breasted grosbeaks, gray catbirds, and scarlet tanagers love gorging on the red berries in the fall. However, you must avoid consuming the fruits since they're bitter and may even be toxic. Flowering dogwood's pink colors remain on display during spring, alongside or shortly after eastern redbud trees bloom. Nevertheless, these pinks aren't actually flowers per se, but modified leaves (or bracts). These eastern U.S. native trees typically produce tiny pink leaves that resemble a four-petaled flower. Being deciduous, their foliage isn't striking throughout the year, but their characteristic branching pattern is a sight to behold. As the trees mature to their full-scale height of up to 30 feet, their lower branches nod towards the soil. In contrast, their upper canopy remains upright, thus adding a horizontal split across the landscape design.

With their 25-foot spread, pink flowering dogwoods offer light shade for a patio or a lawn. They're best grown in full-sun locations. Otherwise, the blooms will be fewer, and the growth will be sparse. But protect it from the afternoon sun, especially in the southern range of zones 5 to 8, to prevent leaf scorch. Avoid growing these trees if your area has a history of dogwood anthracnose.

Common across the southwest U.S., the New Mexico locust (Robinia neomexicana) is another tree with pink flowers you should have in your yard. Its bristly stems are decorated in pale pink flowers before spring ends, perfuming the landscape. This desert flower bonanza gets the attention of hummingbirds looking for sweet feasts. Indeed, the USDA Forestry Service recommends planting New Mexico locust trees, as they serve as an effective nectar source for maintaining and improving habitat for hummingbirds in Nevada and Utah. These pink flowers also attract other nectar-feeding insects that nesting birds help themselves to. However, some birds, like quail, wait for the flowers to become fruit before they swoop in. They may also use the canopy for cover.

New Mexico locust trees are ideal for tricky sites in USDA zones 5 through 9. Since they're highly drought tolerant, they can be easily planted in xeriscapes. They're brilliant at erosion control, too. That's because they pack themselves into thickets, forming dense patches in the landscape. This is also why they're popular in woodland gardens. Better yet, they're known to fix nitrogen. Unfortunately, most of their parts, such as twigs, flowers, fruits, and foliage are speckled with thorns, making them a risky option in high-traffic areas. So, pick thornless varieties or wear gloves when handling its foliage. New Mexico locust tolerates alkaline soil, but is best maintained in partial shade.

Desire a flowering tree that will bring romance to your yard along with birds? Look no further than the Japanese flowering cherry tree (Prunus serrulata), or oriental cherry. These trees typically produce white to light pink flowers, though the Kwanzan (or, sometimes, Kanzan) variety is known for its luscious deep pink blooms. These cultivars grow vase-shaped leaves that turn bronze or burnished orange in the fall. However, they lure in feathered friends by infusing the landscape with their sweet scents and nectar-rich blooms.

From northern cardinals and cedar waxwings to blue jays, several birds will come to your spring garden, enthusiastically devouring cherry buds and flowers. On the plus side, they may pick off any harmful insects targeting your cherry trees. This is good news since these Asian imports often fall prey to the mandibles of aphids, scales, spider mites, caterpillars, and Japanese beetles. Even better, they remove excessive blooms, ensuring diseases can't take hold. Hummingbirds, especially winterizing rufous hummingbirds, aren't ignorant about the cherry blossoms' star power and nutritional value. The Baton Rouge Audubon Society recommends growing Kwanzan cherry trees to attract hummingbirds to your garden. Most Japanese flowering cherry tree varieties grow symmetrically, supporting a 25-foot stretch — top and across. Plant them in groups or as lawn specimens, provided the area receives copious sunlight and holds fast-draining soils. Oriental cherries are unlikely to survive beyond 20 years, so reconsider planting them in case you want long-lived trees.

Bring Christmas cheer (but in pink) to your yard by growing Japanese flowering apricot trees (Prunus mume). While this plant is uncommon in the United States, its deciduous foliage helps it put on a pink spectacle like no other. In late winter, their drab branches are decorated with pastel pink petals that outlast spring. A spicy fragrance, much like clover, lingers on in the patio, pathways, decks, or wherever they're planted. Meanwhile, the fruits produced by the Japanese flowering apricot are enjoyed by fruit-eating birds. While you could keep the fruits for yourself considering they're edible for jellies, they taste bitter. Check out the 'W.B. Clarke' cultivar if you want a plant draped in double pink blooms. 'Peggy Clarke' and 'Dawn' are other worthy pink, double-flowered cultivars.

Flowering apricot trees put on fast-paced growth in their initial years, sometimes gaining 5 feet in a year-long stretch. Eventually, their growth rate slows down until the trees max out at around 30 feet. They need acidic, fertile soils paired with full sun exposure on all sides, or the crowns will grow lopsided. As their buds and blossoms are prone to suffering damage from unexpected frosts, they should be maintained in protected locations. Avoid this specimen if you have pets in your yard on the off chance they bite into the fruit litter, as it can be toxic to some animals. Flowering apricot trees are winter hardy in growth zones 6 through 9.

Southern Crabapple (Malus angustifolia) trees are considered indispensable for bee conservation across a few U.S. states, including Maryland. But they can also double as pink beauties to lure in songbirds, including orioles and warblers, though the blooms may fade into whites as the season warms. Southern crabapples, or narrowleaf crabapples, are a few of the earlier spring bloomers with a pleasant aroma. After spring, crabapple trees produce greenish-gold fruits that small birds and mammals, including grouse, bobwhites, and pheasants enjoy from summer through fall. They showcase fall interest when their foliage turns purplish-red.

Best of all, southern crabapples have a long life span. Besides, they're unfussy about their growth conditions, tolerating anything from dry to moist substrates, barring salt. To gain the most wildlife value, group them into a grove, though keep in mind that fruit droppings will be frequent. Full sun exposure enhances crop and blooms. Consistent pruning can be undertaken if desired to improve tree structure and air circulation so diseases keep out. These trees also send out suckers that must be pruned to contain their sprawl.

Quintessentially Japanese, Akebono Yoshino cherry (Prunus x yedoensis Akebono) is another gorgeous flowering tree that'll attract birds to your yard. When food becomes scarce in the fall, the Yoshino cherry delights songbirds by growing black drupes (fruits). Fortunately, the fruits last the feathered creatures through the winter, and waxwings, robins, and cardinals especially like them. As a landscape plant, Yoshino cherry trees are quite the stunners. Though their branches remain fairly bare during the winter, they look gorgeous because of their artistic limb arrangement. Their gray, furrowed bark is ornamental as well, lending winter interest. Spring has them opening pink flowers that wane as whites, while fall brings out impressive yellow foliage.

Yoshino cherry trees grow up to about 25 feet square, making them an ideal fit for small shade trees. That's why they're generally propped next to outdoor hardscaping elements, including sidewalks and patios. They work great as lawn specimens or to line pathways, but be sure they are properly sheltered from cold come the winter months. As they mature, they grow dense, necessitating pruning to establish ground clearance. Cherry trees require sun exposure from all sides. They can tolerate heavy soils, including clay, but they must drain well.

Originally, star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) trees produced white flowers. But lately, plenty of pink-flowering cultivars have joined the horticultural trade. For instance, the Jane Platt variety has pink-fading-to-white flowers and stands well over 10 feet tall. Similarly, the Rubra variety offers purplish-pink blooms atop yellowish-green foliage. Pink Stardust and Rosea are other suitable varieties. While homeowners appreciate star magnolias for their early spring blooms, birds like them for their seeds. Once the trees terminate their flowering cycle, they produce conical fruits late into the summer. The fruits eventually mature and split open to reveal orange seeds. These are then picked off by songsters and rodents.

Star magnolias grow at a slow pace, but left unpruned, they grow bushy, passing off as shrubs rather than trees. So, trim them regularly, especially the lower limbs, to create a multi-stemmed structure. This will especially look glorious in the winter, particularly when backdropped with spotlights. Star magnolias are winter hardy in zones 4 to 8, but their buds require protection. That's because they tend to open prematurely when the weather starts warming but die out if a late frost hits. Even their blooms discolor and branches die back if exposed to cold winds. Watch for magnolia scales, and mulch their roots for adequate moisture retention.

To add an elegant, multi-season interest to your yard, consider planting Sargent's cherry (Prunus sargentii) or North Japanese hill cherry trees. As is common to their cherry brethren, these Japanese natives brighten spring with pink umbels before they leaf out. Summer causes the foliage to change into bronze-tinted, green hues that make way for deeper red colors in the fall. The best part of Sargent's cherry trees is their purple cherries, or so consider the birds crowding them early in the summer. Surprisingly, the fruits are inconspicuous to homeowners. Despite lacking evergreen foliage, Sargent's cherry trees look spectacular in the winter chill due to their textured, metallic cinnamon-to-chestnut bark.

Sargent's cherry trees grow upwards of 30 feet tall and just as wide, often doubling as shade trees for residential landscapes. They mostly grow rounded canopies. They're well-adapted to the growth conditions of zones 4 through 7. Expose them to direct sunlight for at least six hours, though they'll need some protection during peak summer, particularly in zone 7. Deer consume their foliage, so pick the site accordingly. While Sargent's cherry trees are relatively pest-resistant, they can be future-proofed further via regular pruning. The aim is to improve airflow by thinning out the branches and taking out dead foliage that may harbor fungal spores.