I have a deciduous shade tree I am very fond of, but no tree is perfect. Because it blooms all summer there is the dropping of the spent bloom, my wife complains about sweeping up. If the tree was not partially over the patio, I doubt any sweeping would be required. As for me the looks of the bloom on the tree more than outweighs the sweeping. My Chitalpa "Pink Dawn", is about 20 years old and 20 feet tall. Other than yearly pruning to maintain the shape, no other care has been required. Al

Al, you just crack me up. "For me, the looks of the bloom on the tree more than outweighs the sweeping." I'm sure that's true, since it's your wife who sweeps up the blossoms! :)
Chitalpa is a great tree, and it's pink.

Katherine, I think you made a good decision to avoid the mimosa. They are so beautiful, but what a mess. Before I became a gardener, I wondered why everyone didn't plant mimosas and jacarandas with wisteria in every spare space. Now I know!

I love my Chinese Fringe tree (white, deciduous), but it is slow-growing and has a short bloom period. Another tree I like is Purple Robe Robinia (violet/magenta, deciduous), but some people claim that it suckers far from the tree. This has not happened to me yet, so the jury is still out here. It is very fast-growing.

My very favorite blooming tree, though, is weeping bottlebrush (red, evergreen). So lovely, attracts Western Tanagers, Orioles, Black-headed Grosbeaks, even Phainopeplas. I don't know how fast they grow, though.

Another tree I love- don't know how it would do in your summers, is Mayten (evergreen). No flowers, though.

Good luck on your hunt for the prettiest tree.
Renee

I agree with Renee on weeping bottlebrush. It's a magnet for my hummers and orioles.

Any flowering tree is gonna have litter but the bottlebrush is just small red like needles no big petals or leaves. Not nearly as messy as a crape myrtle.

What is your real priority?:

Shade
Fast-growing
Gardening under it
Flowers
Color
Birds and Butterflies

Joe

Some of your wants are, indeed, contradictory. If you really want showy flowers, you're going to have some litter. A deciduous tree will produce fallen leaves for a few weeks in autumn, but should be clean for 11 months of the year. If you were in a somewhat milder zone, there would be more flowering evergreens in your color preference to choose from. If you don't want fruit, something self-sterile would be preferable. Also, there aren't a lot of trees that grow fast to 20-30 ft. and suddenly stop. If you want a tree that will top out at that height, it will probably take longer to get there. For your zone, what comes immediately to mind is:

Vitex agnus-castus 'Abbeville Blue' (deciduous)
xChitalpa tashkentensis (deciduous, sterile, drought tolerant)
Chilopsis linearis 'Art's Seedless' (deciduous, sterile, drought tolerant)
Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman' (evergreen, needs training to form tree)
Nerium oleander (evergreen, larger forms are trainable as trees)
Hibiscus syriacus 'Aphrodite' or 'Minerva' (deciduous, sterile, technically a shrub, but trainable as a small tree)
Magnolia maudiae var. platyphylla (evergreen, white fragrant flowers -- there are a number of other small magnoliads to consider as well, some deciduous, some evergreen).

Thank you for all your help.

We are leaning towards the weeping bottlebrush, as that has always been one of my husband's favorites.

Another tree I've considered is the Eastern Redbud. Any thoughts? The Western Redbud is common in the foothills around here, but it's shrubby, and from what I understand the Eastern is more apt to take tree form, and it's also the fastest-growing species.

Crape myrtle is still in the back of my mind... the flowers are easy to clean up.

I should clarify that we don't mind leaf litter (we'll use it for mulch), but wanted to avoid anything with wet, sticky fruit or anything that produces too many seedlings.

And as far as my priorities, I definitely want something that flowers and therefore attracts the wildlife, and gardening under it is fairly important as well, as we have a fairly large planting bed in the area we will be putting the tree. The shade doesn't need to be super-dense, as that area already gets decent afternoon shade from the house. And I'd just like it to grow fast enough for me to be able to hang a bird feeder in the tree soon :)

I should note that the tree will be planted about 5 feet away from the driveway & sidewalk, so we need something that doesn't have surface roots that could cause damage.

Thanks again!

~Katherine

Cercis siliquastrum, LOVE TREE.

Joe

I think you have made good choices- weeping bottlebrush or crape myrtle. Both will stay small enough for your space, they won't create deep shade that nothing will grow in, and they flower. The bottlebrush flowers for a longer time, though, and I don't think crape myrtles attract wildlife as much. I have not been able to grow redbuds here, so can't help you with that.
Renee