List of possible trees because they are salt tolerant
Landscape Architect for West Ave Project for completed Phase One and for future Phase Two is Savino Miller Design Studio
Mark  Williams (Urban Forester City of Miami Beach) advocates to install Silva Cell on West Ave and Wavna agrees. Silva Cell product allows for larger trees to be planted in a limited green space area, see description with pictures. UPDATE: city deemed Silva Cell too expense and nixed it.
Below are trees that the Wavna Tree Committee recommends. Includes small, medium and large; and also decorative flowering trees.
Geiger – decorative tree, small, 15-20 ft, 2 inch wide orange flower, can bloom year round, best June & July. Exists on Pine Tree Dr at 28th St.
Desert Cassia – small 10 ft, feathery yellow flowers, attracts butterflies. Difficult to source so alternative is Bulnesia (aka Verawood). Exists on Bay Rd just south of Lincoln.
Lignum Vitae – decorative tree, small 10-20 ft, slow grow, purple flowers Feb to May. Difficult to source. Exists on the east side of Bay Rd. between 15th & 17th.
Verawood (aka Bulnesia), decorative tree”, 3 inch wide yellow flowers, Staff’s choice instead of Desert Cassia.
Verawood
Pigeon Plum – small to medium15-25 ft, evergreen, plant the male has no fruit. Exists on south side of 14th St in front of Waverly.
Willow Bustic – medium, 30 ft, evergreen, tiny white, smells nice flowers, smells nice.
Bridal Veil – medium, 35 ft, Staff’s choice.
Bridal Veil
Silver Buttonwood – medium, 30 ft,, purchase single trunked for street. Staff’s choice
Satin Leaf – medium, 30 ft, slow growth, fruit is messy, Staff’s choice.
Green Buttonwood – large, 40 ft, evergreen. Picture is of mature tree. Staff’s choice.
Pitch Apple – medium to large, female has flashy flowers, 2″ wide pink & white, fruit poison, evergreen, fast growth, Staff’s choice.
Floss Silk – large 50 ft, pink flowers blooms Nov to Dec, fast grow, thorny trunk may not be desirable
Mahogany – large 50 ft, plant away from parked cars . Exists on the north side of 14th St. across from the Waverly.
Wild Tamarind- large 40-50 ft, fast grow, smells nice, attracts butterflies
Live Oak – large 50 ft, plant sparingly since it is already so prevalent
Gumbo Limbo – large, 40 ft, showy red bark, roots need room, Staff’s prefers this to Live Oak.
Artistic Crosswalk 1
Artistic Crosswalk 2
Various Crosswalks
A parklet located in a street parking spot
Jacuranda is nice, but like the poincina it does get messy. A less messy tree would be the lignum vitae. Golden Shower Tree is beautiful too, better salt and drought tolerating than jacuranda. Pink Tab is lovely but poor drought tolerance. Verawood jas, moderate tolerance to salt and drought. Myrtle blooms violet as well as pink. Lagerstroemi speciosa, spectacular and good drought tolerance and moderate salt tolerance. Geiger is salt and drought tolerant, but not wind tolerant, West Ave does can get windy.
I think purple with a touch of yellow or white would be nice. Vitae has a light fragrance too.
so my top choices are lignum vitae, golden showers, lagerstroemia speciosa, verawood, jacuranda, mahogany, and yellow geiger, white geiger and then orange geiger in that order.
Comments from Sheryl from GTAG
Large shade trees:
1) Mahogany – More preferable than live oaks which are being so overused in the city, they are now a dime a dozen. Knowles says to plant Mahogany on side of street with no parked cars because they have pods. Beautiful, large mahogany’s can be seen along Alton road north of of Michigan. check out the 14th Street “model” across the street from the Waverly on north side of 14th.
2) Live Oak – Should be planted but not be the pre dominant tree. Otherwise, West will look like the FDOT Alton Rd project. We want West to have its own character.
Flowering trees:
1) Royal Poinciana comes in two colors: red and yellow. The red is pre dominant in Coral Gables. I would go for the yellow as a “signature tree”
2) Yellow Tab – this is the “signature tree in the Palm View Neighborhood. Yellow Tab – trunk is very sculptural. Pink Tab looks like your normal trunk.The Yellow is on west side of Michigan Ave (between 17th and 18th Street) and the pinks are on Jefferson
3) Pink Tab – not very showy. See in the Palm View neighborhood (Jefferson Ave and Michigan Ave by 18th Street).
4) Golden shower tree – You can see on Lenox between 17th and 18th St.
* 5) Jacaranda – Non native; used as shade street tree in cities around the world in tropical areas. High drought tolerance. Low salt tolerance. Good for accent and “signature tree.” We have very few, if at all, of these on MB. I think they are spectacular and I love the color with your neighborhood. I would go for it!
The goal of the Wavna committee is to recommend to the city several species that we like, to include large trees, medium, and small, plus a “signature” tree that will give unique character to our neighborhood. The “signature” tree will be a flowering tree.
There are many beautiful trees that belong only in a park or in a planter. The West Ave trees should be appropriate along a street planted in the sidewalk and be salt tolerant, native, and provide lots of shade. We understand that the city is hiring a landscape architect to design the entire landscape project.
Wavna appreciates all the time the residents worked to research the trees and we appreciate the guidance and knowledge from GTAG (a Miami organization of tree experts and environmentalists). And we appreciate that city staff allows us to participate in the project, especially Rodney Knowles.