RECEIVED SEEDS OF THIS TROPICAL. DO YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO GROW PRIDE OF BARBADOS?
SO THANKFUL FOR YOUR COMMENTS.
HAPPY GARDENING.
PRIDE OF BARBADOS (CAESALPINIA PULCHERRIMA)
I have several Caesalpinias and I don't think you will have any problems. They are EXTREMELY easy to cultivate as long as there is heat and light. They get damaged at 32 degrees and die if the temps hit the teens. They are brilliant in the desert heat and are all over Palm Springs. I would soak them in luke warm water with a teaspoon of beer ( the cheap American stuff not Guinness) for several hours then plant in a well drained medium or add perlite or sand to regular potting soil. There are several varieties and you got the best one. They look good next to Phormium tenax rubrum and Lantana camara or surrounded by any variety of yellow daylily. Enjoy-Bagpypr
THANKS BAGPYPR IN REDLANDS, CA
YOUR INFORMATION IS MOST HELPFUL. I HAVE YELLOW DAY LILLIES THAT NEED TO BE DIVIDED. I'LL SURROUND PRIDE OF BARBADOS WITH THESE LOVELY LILLIES.
MY LAST FROST DATE IS MID MARCH. I'LL GO AHEAD AND PLANT SEEDS IN GREENHOUSE AND HAVE NICE BEDDING PLANTS BY SPRING PLANTING TIME.
AGAIN, THANKS FOR TAKING TIME TO ANSWER.
I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR ROSE PARADE NEW YEARS!
Sudie, you may want to turn your Caps Lock button off. All caps are hard to read (hard on the eyes) and are the eqivalent to shouting in computer speak!
About C. pulcherrima, you may want to post this over at the tropicals forum. I have three, and Bagpypr is right that they do well in heat. You don't say what zone you are in, but even here in Zone 10, they don't do well in winter. I put two of mine in the greenhouse this winter. Seedlings struggle even more so in the winter, and they should be kept warm and moist and surrounded by humidity. I had C. pulcherrima seedlings last winter but none of them survived the outdoors here in Zone 10. If I had had a greenhouse then, I would have definitely kept them in it, but I didn't. Here's a good link: http://davesgarden.com/pdb/go/2247/index.html
Sudie, scrape or nick the seeds outer coat first then soak them in water for about 24 hours. You will be able to see the seed start swelling. Then plant them in regular potting mix and keep moist. I have my yellow varity and the reddish orange ones planted outside since last year and they both came back. The reddish orange one were pretty small last year and they all came back this spring. The college up the street from me has both type and they came back as well.
Anyone have a picture?
google it =)
Do you soak all your seeds in beer, Bagpypr or are these just particularly fond of brew.
Here's mine, but there are more pictures over at the Plants Database link that I posted above. I think there actually might be two C. pulcherrimas: one with thorns on the stems, which stays medium-sized and bushy, and one without thorns, which resembles a tree. Both have very small blue green pinnnate leaves. The other Caesalpinias species have slightly larger and greener leaves.
If you want to see a wonderful photo of a really unique c.p., go to babalu's homepage and check out "threads he's started" - about halfway down. It is AWESOME!
Clare, I've been trying to find out about your two trees. I've not been very successful so far, though my friend who grows tropical fruit said she's heard of the tall one but not seen it.
Thanks, Susie. I sure appreciate you asking about it on my behalf!
I have seen enough! Got to try this plant! Does anyone know where I can buy it in the states?
I can let you have a few seeds if you want to do it the hard way!
So it blooms so small? I may have to get one too. LOL.
thanks, Sequee but I am not a good seed person. Haven't even been able to get cleome to grow for some time...
Actually the beer thing is great for germinating seeds. I picked it up from my Hort professor at Davis instead of using GA-3 on everything. The sugars and carbs are the elements that the seed needs and the alcohol content in American beer is the lowest concentration of most countries i.e. Bud Light and Miller are at about 4% and the European beers are anywhere from 7.5- 10% alc.content. It's kinda like using unflavoured gelatin to boost the growth rate of indoor plants.-Bagpypr
P.S The photo I sent didn't go through, will try again-Cheers
This message was edited Dec 19, 2004 9:07 AM
Caesalpinia pulcherrima- By the by, I have quite a few seeds and I know where P.gillesii is growing wild if you want the yellow flowers instead of orange. I would be happy to send some out to anyone who is interested.You can send an e-mail and we'll talk details-Bagpypr
This message was edited Dec 19, 2004 9:14 AM
Bagpypr - Your flower is GORGEOUS!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
That is a very pretty flower, Bagpypr. A trader in Brazil send me some red and some pink seeds a couple of years ago, but I couldn't keep them happy through the winter, and all my seedlings died. I did, however, collect a bunch of seeds of the C. gilliesi at a local nursery (with permission), and those came up and survived very well through the winter. I didn't get flowers on any of those seedlings last summer, but I expect I might this summer. I did buy the plant below with the flowers last summer, but no seedpods followed.
Here is a close-up of mine last summer:
Very pretty Clare. You sure have some nice tropicals. If you do end up moving to Colorado in the future, your gardening is going to be so much different. Are you sure you want to make that move? LOL! I don't know if I could give up the wonderful weather you have.
LOL, Shirley. You have a good memory. Yes, the move is still impending, I'm afraid, and is now about three years away. I don't want to move, but my husband is determined to leave California when he retires. I'm sure I'll be kicking and screaming and complaining the whole time we're moving! I will miss the weather here for sure. I'm not going unless I have a state-of-the-art greenhouse/conservatory for my plants. Even so, it will be difficult because this California girl hates to be cold. But as hubby says, "You have to look at the big picture." (I had a mocking voice in my head when I wrote that! LOL!) I guess I'll have to get used to greenhouse growing and container gardening for a good part of the year. I guess most of the country does it that way so I better learn to adjust!
No arguement about leaving California... why not try some of the real places in Hawaii?
AlohaHoya, Hawaii would be wonderful but the high taxes and high cost of living would be tough with my husband's retirement, but you can bet we will be vacationing there frequently. That is, if I ever get over my fear of flying.
Here is one of mine
and another
Beautiful, Clayton!
Very pretty pictures Clayton. Thanks! I love red and this is no exception.