Actually the southernmost native range of Longleaf Pine is in northwest Lee County, which extends down to USDA zone10a and they could probably easily grow in Broward Co (10a/10b) Longleaf Pine should be planted much more than other pines because before European settlement the longleaf pine forest dominated as much as 90 million acres stretching from Virginia south to Florida and west to eastern Texas. Its range was defined by the frequent widespread fires that occurred throughout the southeast. This rich ecosystem has now been regulated to less than 5% of its presettlement range or about 3 million acres. Its range has decreased a lot over time. And their conservation status is now in the Threatened range (Vulnerable). They are much more resistant to pest and diseases than many other native pines which in turn they reach their full size at age 150 years old and they can live up to 300 or 400 years. The Longleaf Pine also has the largest cones of any eastern U.S. Pine, which can be up to 10 inches long and some reach about the size of a football. The needles of young trees can reach up to 18 inches long which are the longest needles of any pine tree in the world. They grow slow for about 3 to 8 years while in the "grass stage" in this stage, longleaf pine seedlings resemble a clump of grassÂand hence the name. But after that they shoot up like a rocket and can equally reach or exceed the growth of a loblolly pine during the "rocket stage". Here is a link that might be useful: The Longleaf Alliance

Greetings, I am new here and don't know much about trees but what I can tell U is this. 1. I've done a lot of research on the October Glory and from what I've read, you really can't go wrong with that thing. Matter of fact, I just planted one in my front yard between my sidewalk and street. 2. I just moved into my home a couple of years ago and we have this really, really, cool tree in the back yard that I have never seen. After two years I've finally had enough interest to find out what it was. I've discovered that it is a thornless, seedless Honey Locust tree.. It's quite large, the bark is really cool looking, the tiny leaves are aswesome. and there is hardly no clean up in the fall. The leaves just seem to disappear. Yet it gives great shade and from what I have read it's growth rate is pretty high. I just love the way that thing looks in the back yard. We even bought one of those tree face kits and put it on there..Something like this http://www.yardlover.com/products.php?catID=1491 Only annoyances i have are that I do get a couple branches laying around after a strom and in the spring time I get little tiny seeds or flowers falling on my patio. I would recommend the Honey Locust - It has that look that you are in a tropical location... Good Luck

My Mom's front yard has a center walk to the front door. The previous owners planted 2 red oaks and 2 Arizona Ash, a local trash tree, one of each on each side. The ash were toward the street. When they bought the house, they removed the ash trees. Within two years, the oaks had filled in where the ash had been and were round like they should be. It gets so hot here that shade is very important to livability. I thought it was a great solution to adding shade quickly and then also planning for the future. bk

Fruitless mulberry is listed non-toxic for horses - can be a great fast growing broad canopy shade tree. Biggest disadvantages are that can require quite a bit of pruning due to vigorous growth and the male flowers produce a lot of pollen in the spring; not so good in a small yard, but maybe not so bad for a riding arena. We had one in northern California, so will probably grow well in your area. They generally stay healthy 40 to 60 years in north Texas. Oh... also, they seem to be able to handle our Texas zone 8 100+ °F stretches without supplemental water once established, though will start to drop some leaves where not catching any lawn irrigation.