What part of central Florida ??? Southern live oaks are great trees but vastly overused and too often are planted in a wrong location. Some that are easy to grow; Acacia farnesiana (smallii)- Sweet Acacia Acer saccharum ssp. floridanum (barbatum)- Southern Sugar Maple Araucaria bidwillii- Bunya Bunya Bauhinia x blakeana- Hong Kong Orchid Tree Bauhinia forficata- Thorny Orchid Tree Cassia leptophylla- Gold Medallion Tree Ceiba speciosa (Chorisia)- Floss Silk Tree Cordia boiseri- Wild Olive Cupressus arizonica var. glabra- Arizona Cypress Elaeocarpus decipiens- Blueberry Tree Erythrina crista-galli- Coral Tree Eucalyptus polyanthemos- Silver Gum Ilex cassine- Dahoon Holly Jacaranda mimosifolia- Jacaranda Juniperus silicicola- Southern Red Cedar Lagerstroemia fauriei- Japanese Crepe Myrtle Magnolia virginiana var. australis- Sweetbay Melaleuca alternifolia- Tea Oil Tree Nageia nagi (Podocarpus)- Nagi Tree Neolitsea sericea- Japanese Silver Tree Olea europea- Olive Tree Peltophorum dubium- Yellow Poinciana Pinus elliotti- Slash Pine Pinus palustris- Longleaf Pine Pinus serotina- Pond Pine Pistacia chinensis- Chinese Pistache Podocarpus elongatus- African Yellowwood Quercus durandii- Durand Oak Quercus geminata- Sand Live Oak Quercus myrtifolia- Myrtle Oak Tabebuia chrysotricha- Golden Trumpet Tree Tabebuia heptaphylla- Purple Trumpet Tree Tabebuia impetiginosa- Pink Trumpet Tree Tabebuia umbellata- Yellow Trumpet Tree Taxodium ascendens- Pond Cypress Tipuana tipu- Tipu Tree Ulmus alata- Winged Elm Ulmus parvifolia 'Allee'- Lacebark Elm

I live in north DeLand and have a very old fig - brown turkey I am guessing . It grew very slowly but really perked up dramatically one year when I put a heavy application of oak ashes around it . The fig took off after that . I get two crops a year - one in July and a smaller one in October . It is in poor soil and full blazing sun . It is also in my citrus grove so it gets citrus fertilizer when I think about it . It is a wonderful carefree plant . I used to trim it before I knew better and now I do almost nothing . This time of year is great since the fig leaves are returning and are a pretty green . Plant the figs in Gainesville in the ground . Ask your younguns to water it regularly until the summer monsoon sets in and off you go !

The issue might be the watering bit. From everything I've read, almost any tree will need to be 'babied' for its first year in-ground until it becomes established. Especially for the first few weeks. Planting one 'now', you might be able to get away without providing extra irrigation as it is our wet season. So you can cross your fingers and hope mother nature keeps it adequately watered. But if we get a dry spell... As overused as they are, Crape Myrtle is what springs to mind for me. But when you go to a nursery looking for one, make sure you are getting a tree form and not one of the clumping shrub forms. And yes, they are actual 'tree' Myrtles and not shrub Myrles that can be trained into trees. The following article has a table of the different varieties of Crape Myrtles and what kind of forms they grow in. Some might argue that Crape Myrtles are not low-maintenance since you 'have to clip off all the spent flower pods', but I would argue that you don't HAVE to. Many people don't trim these off and their trees still look perfectly fine. Here is a link that might be useful: Crape Myrtles

This is my tree! I have so many questions about it, as i have never seen or heard of a bigger one! My house was built in 1927 and is set back from the street, with the mango tree close to the sidewalk/curb. The sidewalk from my front door to the sidewalk is straight until it takes a turn to go around the tree. So any idea as to the age of the tree can start there. I've been told many things...ive been told they are pineapple mangos, they are green skinned and ripen to a deep yellow...fruit is extremely sweet and delicious but pretty fibrous (we tend to pulp and strain the fruit for cooking purposes). Ive been told that it was the "mother tree" used for grafting and such for the fruit orchards that no longer exist here. I am dying to find out more about what kind of mango tree we have here.