Trees with heart-shaped leaves add a lovely touch to the landscape. If you plan your plant selection, you can enjoy much more than just green heart shapes in the summer yard.
Before buying, consider other features such as fall foliage color, beautiful flowers, and the tree's growing habit. Aspen, Japanese tree lilac, and weeping redbud offer these features, respectively. But they are just three of the 15 trees with heart-shaped leaves we'll consider below.
Read on to browse some trees that are sure to give your home a little love.
- 01 of 15
Japanese Tree Lilac
Japanese tree lilac is very different from shrub-form lilacs such as Syringa vulgaris. One of the most important differences is that it's more resistant to powdery mildew disease. This superior disease resistance makes the heart-shaped leaves that much more of an asset, since their appearance won't be marred by powdery mildew.
Though they are resistant to powdery mildew, it's still recommended to space them far enough apart so that they have good air circulation (the enemy of fungal diseases such as powdery mildew). Their flowers are white and bloom later than those on Syringa vulgaris.
- Name: Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 7
- Flower Color: White
- Light: Full sun to partial sun
- Mature Size: 20 to 30 feet tall, 15 to 20 feet wide
- 02 of 15
Dove Tree
The Dove tree has another common name: "handkerchief tree." Both common names refer to the unusual flowers. But the tree's heart-shaped leaves are also attractive. Red flowers framed by large white bracts stud the tree in spring.
The bracts remain long after the blooms have gone by. On windy days, these bracts flutter attractively in the wind.
- Name: Dove tree (Davidia involucrata)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 6 to 8
- Flower Color: Red, white
- Light: Full sun to partial sun
- Mature Size: 20 to 60 feet tall, 20 to 40 feet wide
- 03 of 15
Balsam Poplar
Poplars belong to the Populus genus, but some trees in this genus go by the common name of "cottonwood," others "aspen." There are many types of poplars, each with its various pros and cons.
One pro is that they are among the hardiest deciduous trees. Many, such as balsam poplar, have heart-shaped leaves. Balsam poplar's leaves also have a resinous smell. It makes a good street tree, being tolerant of pollution and salt.
- Name: Balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 2 to 6
- Flower Color: White
- Light: Full sun to partial sun
- Mature Size: 40 to 80 feet tall, 30 to 60 feet wide
- 04 of 15
Quaking Aspen
This tree's common name refers to the fact that its heart-shaped leaves tremble at the slightest breeze. But their best feature may be their fall color.
The tree has smooth, light-colored bark, interrupted by darker knots and horizontal scarring. The flower is a catkin, as on the pussy willow (Salix spp.). The plant spreads through its underground root system.
- Name: Quaking aspen tree (Populus tremuloides)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 1 to 6
- Flower Color: White
- Light: Full sun
- Mature Size: 20 to 50 feet tall, 20 to 30 feet wide
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Italian Alder
This Mediterranean native with glossy, heart-shaped leaves does not do well in hot, humid climates, nor is it as hardy as Populus species. Thus its narrow zone range: 5 to 7.
- Name: Italian alder (Alnus cordata)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 7
- Flower Color: Yellowish-green for the males, reddish-green for the females
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Mature Size: 30 to 50 feet tall, 20 to 30 feet wide
- 06 of 15
Sacred Fig
The figs of this tree start green, but ripen to purple. The reason the tree is called "sacred" is that the Buddha is supposed to have sat under one of these fig trees when he achieved enlightenment. The heart-shaped leaves are evergreen in tropical climates.
- Name: Sacred fig (Ficus religiosa)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 10 to 12
- Flower Color: Green
- Light: Full sun
- Mature Size: 60 to 100 feet tall, 60 to 100 feet wide
- 07 of 15
Eastern Redbud
This classic flowering tree of spring is easy to identify. Its branches are studded with small, rosey-pink flowers before the first leaves appear. Once the leaves take over, the tree remains attractive, as this heart-shaped foliage maintains a dark green color throughout summer.
- Name: Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9
- Flower Color: Pink
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Mature Size: 20 to 30 feet tall, 25 to 35 feet wide
- 08 of 15
Ruby Falls Weeping Redbud
Trees with a weeping growing habit are highly sought after for the novelty they lend a landscape. 'Ruby Falls' is one cultivar of redbud that offers this feature; another is Cercis canadensis 'Covey Lavender Twist.'
Both have a compact size that makes them well-suited to small yards ('Ruby Falls' is the smaller of the two).
- Name: Ruby Falls weeping redbud (Cercis canadensis 'Ruby Falls')
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9
- Flower Color: Pink
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Mature Size: 5 to 6 feet tall, 3 to 4 feet wide
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Weeping White Mulberry
While mulberry tree does produce edible berries if you grow the species plant, many people grow the less invasive cultivars, many of which are sterile (no berries). Besides its heart-shaped leaves, the 'Pendula' cultivar offers an attractive, weeping habit.
- Name: Weeping white mulberry (Morus alba 'Pendula')
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 8
- Flower Color: Yellowish-green
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Mature Size: 13 feet tall, 13 feet wide
- 10 of 15
Little-Leaf Linden
Trees in theTilia genus are sometimes called "lime trees," although they are not related to the citrus trees of the same name. Between its common name and its botanical name, you get a pretty good idea of what the foliage of "little-leaf" linden (Tilia cordata) looks like: a smaller leaf size than most Tilia trees, with a heart (cordata) shape.
It is an attractive tree because this foliage is dense and the tree is low-branched. Flowers yield to small nuts that are attached to wing-like bracts.
- Name: Little-leaf linden (Tilia cordata )
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 7
- Flower Color: Yellowish
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Mature Size: 50 to 70 feet tall, 35 to 50 feet wide
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American Basswood
Large-leaf linden, as its name suggests, has bigger leaves than little-leaf linden: up to 6 inches long. Also called "American basswood," its bracts, too, are larger than those on little-leaf linden (up to 5 inches long), and therefore showier.
- Name: Large-leaf linden (Tilia americana )
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 2 to 8
- Flower Color: Yellowish
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Mature Size: 50 to 80 feet tall, 30 to 50 feet wide
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Southern Catalpa
There are a few different types of catalpa. Southern catalpa and northern catalpa are the main types grown in the U.S. Both are messy trees, so be prepared for the extra landscape maintenance involved in cleaning up after them. The main difference between the northern and the southern is that the latter is shorter and stouter.
- Name: Southern catalpa tree (Catalpa bignonioides)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9
- Flower Color: White, lavender, purple
- Light: Full sun to partial shade
- Mature Size: 30 to 40 feet tall, 30 to 40 feet wide
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Northern Catalpa
With its long, dangling, bean-like seed pods and large, heart-shaped leaves, the catalpa is easy to pick out. It is lovely in bloom. However, it is a messy tree that causes you a lot of extra landscape maintenance. The large leaves turn black in fall and litter a large area when they drop. You must also rake up the pods.
- Name: Catalpa tree (Catalpa speciosa)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 8
- Flower Color: White, lavender, purple
- Light: Full sun to partial sun
- b 40 to 70 feet tall, 20 to 50 feet wide
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Empress Tree
Empress tree presents a dilemma for potential growers. It has some great features, like fragrant flowers, lavender blooms, and fast-growing properties.
Unfortunately, its one drawback is a deal-breaker for some people: It tends to spread out of control (via seed).
- Name: Empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 8
- Flower Color: Lavender to purple
- Light: Full sun
- Mature Size: 30 to 40 feet tall, 30 to 40 feet wide
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Katsura
This specimen's heart-shaped leaves grow in opposing pairs along the branches. This tree is neither a fast grower nor particularly large, meaning it works for typical urban or and suburban yards. It has a beautiful fall color scheme, changing from yellow to purple as the season grows on. Its uniqueness makes it a great choice for your yard.
- Name: Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to x8
- Flower Color: Reddish, greenish
- Light: Full sun to partial sun
- Mature Size: 40 to 60 feet tall, 25 to 60 feet wide