Mahoe Tree

Turn your home into a tropical paradise with this lush, blooming beauty. An evergreen member of the hibiscus family, the mahoe tree is a beautiful, fast-growing addition to any Miami garden. Left to its own devices, the mahoe matures into a big, brushy and multi-trunked shrub, growing up to 25 feet tall and almost equally wide. Use careful pruning to train it into a standard, single-trunked tree with a dense, flowering canopy.

The mahoe is covered with multitudes of dark green, glossy, heart-shaped leaves, but the flowers are the real stunners. The mahoe blooms year-round, producing dozens of big, showy blossoms. Like most hibiscus, the flowers are five-petaled in arrangement and trumpet-shaped with a prominent red stamen. The flowers last only one day, but change color as time passes. Pale yellow when they open in the morning, they gradually deepen to orange or even deep red before dropping in the evening. In the cooler months, fewer flowers may appear but linger longer, creating the unusual sight of yellow and red flowers on the same tree.

This coastal native is a natural for the Miami climate. Mahoe is extremely salt and wind tolerant and doesn’t mind sandy soils. It thrives in wet conditions and prefers regular watering. It grows quickly with little care. Remove low-growing branches and suckers to prevent it from spreading or to train it into an upright tree. Plant your mahoe in a sunny location where it has plenty of room to grow, away from structures and power lines. Its dense foliage and attractive appearance make it an ideal and striking green fence or windbreak. Plant it as a shade tree in rainforest gardens to shelter outdoor seating. As a specimen tree, use it in lawns or parkways, or potted in large containers on patios or at poolside.