Brazilian Red Cloak Shrub (need some info)

[Walt]

Another thing I didn't realize was how long this shrub takes to fully produce blooms once it starts. It seems to be excruciatingly slow! But my BRC shrub is developing blooms all over, but more on the east side.

[Walt]

I thought I would do an update to this thread to show how my Brazilian red cloak shrub is blooming this year. Earlier this year I made a cutting, rooted it, grew it up to a 3 gallon size and planted it in a more shady location to see how it will fare as opposed to mother plant's near full sun location. While planting my cutting I accidently broke off a branch (rake fell on it). This made the plant look unbalanced and I wasn't happy about it. None the less, I stuck the broken off branch in the soil next to the planted one. Well, after about a week or 10 days the leaves went from limp to normal (indicating it developed roots) and looked great. It has grown well since then.

Below is my Brazilian red cloak shrub as of December 23, 2015:

 

[Walt]

Close up of flower:

 

[Al in Kona]

BRAZILIAN RED CLOAK is a name much easier to remember and identify with than using its botanical name Megaskepasma erythrochlamys.  This plant has "naturalized" in my garden but I don't mind as they can be easily pulled out if they appear where I don't want one to grow.  Here they can pretty much flower at anytime of the year depending on the size of the plant.  If not trimmed back they can grow up to 10 ft.  After flowering I usually trim them way back and let them start new growth again.  A great large shrub that gives color most of the year here.  Here's a pic I just took today (Dec. 30th). 

[Walt]

54 minutes ago, Al in Kona said:

BRAZILIAN RED CLOAK is a name much easier to remember and identify with than using its botanical name Megaskepasma erythrochlamys.  This plant has "naturalized" in my garden but I don't mind as they can be easily pulled out if they appear where I don't want one to grow.  Here they can pretty much flower at anytime of the year depending on the size of the plant.  If not trimmed back they can grow up to 10 ft.  After flowering I usually trim them way back and let them start new growth again.  A great large shrub that gives color most of the year here.  Here's a pic I just took today (Dec. 30th). 

Al: Does it naturalize from seed that you can observe? They definitely can get to 10 feet, because that is exactly how high the peak of my BRC shrub is. The bottom of my roof soffit is 8 feet, so you can see my shrub well above the roof line. Mine only flowered for the first time last year (and less profuse than this year). So far I haven't seen any volunteers coming up.

[Al in Kona]

Hey Walt, yes they self sow from seed but not a real problem.  Your BRC next to your house sure looks nice too.  IMO it's a good looking plant and livens up the garden with color. 

[Walt]

1 hour ago, Al in Kona said:

Hey Walt, yes they self sow from seed but not a real problem.  Your BRC next to your house sure looks nice too.  IMO it's a good looking plant and livens up the garden with color. 

Al: The reason I ask is not because I want more of them (if I do they bare root from cuttings by just sticking them into the soil with no rooting hormone). I just was somewhat concerned that they would become invasive.

16 years ago I planted three Tabebuia chrysotricha  trees I grew from seed a distant neighbor gave me. To make a long story short, one of these trees sets seeds that are very invasive. I have literally thousands of these trees coming up on my property from 300 feet  distant from the mother tree. Beneath the mother tree hundreds of seedlings came up I mow them down and they regrow. Never seen anything like it.

Also, when my Bismarckia noblis palms started seeding, they are now naturalizing up to 100 feet from the original palms. Seedlings come up like weeds around my mature palms and I mow them down until they run out of energy from the seed and die. Actually, I think my bismarckia palms are naturalizing faster than my queen palms, which have become a real nuisance. I'm constantly mowing over them and cutting them down in areas my mowers can't reach.

And BTW, the reason I know BRC cuttings root so easily is that every cutting I've ever tried rooted. And earlier this year I planted a 2 feet high, 3 gallon size BRC I grew from a cutting. While planting a rake fell over and broke off a branch, destroying the symmetry of my BRC. I wasn't happy about it. However, I just stuck the broken branch into the soil next to the planted one and watered it in and keep watering it every day. After about 10 days it perked up and is not growing strong.

[Al in Kona]

Even tho' my BRC self-sows it has never been a problem of it getting out of hand for me.  If I see a plant coming up in an area I don't want I simply pull it out easily.  I'm probably partly responsible for it germinating in certain areas because after the plant flowers I usually cut the plant way back including of course the flowers (some with seeds) and throw the cut off growth around different areas as a mulch which decomposes rapidly.  Also, the color of the flowers are actually a bit more red-tone than the photos tend to show.

 

[Matt in OC]

Wow! My bush is a really decent size now and flowered quite a bit last year. I'll have to start trying some cuttings.

[Jeff Searle]

13 hours ago, Matt in OC said:

Wow! My bush is a really decent size now and flowered quite a bit last year. I'll have to start trying some cuttings.

From cuttings! Are you kidding? Take cuttings in summer months and while holding in the palm of your sweaty hand they practically root before your very eyes!

[peachy]

You can even put a weight on a branch, pin it to the ground and it will strike roots that way too. It's one of my unkillable plants. Even the freak minus 5 C frost event we had a few years ago, just burnt the outer leaves. In my climate they flower best in partial shade.

[Matt in OC]

2 hours ago, Jeff Searle said:

From cuttings! Are you kidding? Take cuttings in summer months and while holding in the palm of your sweaty hand they practically root before your very eyes!

Awesome! Can't wait to start putting this baby everywhere.

[Walt]

This will be my last update to this post. My Brazilian red cloak shrub has finally maxed out in size. I see no appreciable growth from my December 2015 photo (above), other than last year's photo of my shrub looked better.

The shrub appears to be topped out at just over 10 feet high. Funny thing, I read where this shrub can take some shade, so I made cuttings, grew a small shrub, then planted it in more shade. It's been planted now for two years -- and no growth! It just sits there staying the same size.

My main shrub started to bloom back in October this year. That seemed earlier than last year, although I could be wrong.

[Sandy Loam]

Hello PalmTalkers.  This is a cold-hardiness question.  Is it worth me trying this plant one more time up here in Gainesville, Florida (northern Florida where it gets cold), zone 9a?  I bought a Brazilian Red Cloak shrub in January 2018 and planted it just a few days before out two back-to-back freezes hit (the worst in eight years).  My lowest temperature in that part of my yard was 24.3 Fahrenheit and we had several hours below freezing.  My newly planted Brazilian Red Cloak --- which had just been brought up from tropical South Florida -- could not handle the freeze and died.  It has not come back from the roots because the roots had not become established, or maybe it wouldn't have come back anyway (?)

 

Is it worth trying this plant again in, for example, March so that it has the chance to establish its roots?  I am fine with this plant dying back to the ground each winter, if only it would grow back from the roots each year.  Is that even possible in Gainesville?  Have they survived as die-back perennials in Jacksonville? In Houston? In New Orleans?  In Ocala?   If so, there is hope for me.

Here is a quote from this PalmTalk thread by NMORRELL in which he is discussing his Brazilian Red Cloak up in Natchez, Mississippi, where the winter weather gets colder than here:

 "Up in Natchez it survived a few winters and came back (slowly) in spring after being killed back by 9a hard freezes lasting 12 hours or so a few times each winter, but finally succumbed in the 2010 nightmare with three solid days below freezing and a low of 18F. It never bloomed for me there but may have eventually if it hadn't been killed out by that one awful winter. It's not as strong as the other Acanthaceae in resilience after freezes but it would be fine in a 9b or in a low-latitude 9a where the freezes are short."

[Really full garden]

I had these in Houston. I think you have to be careful about where you plant them. Good drainage to help them survive wet winters. Sun to help them bounce back in Spring and a good mulching. Do not plant out until the soil has warmed a bit - April.

Mine survived and bloomed in the Fall before the first frost. ( Almost like the Angel Trumpets). Also a good idea to take cuttings before a freeze. They are really easy to root.

[Walt]

I don't have experience with Brazilian red cloak shrub being frozen down to the roots. That is, I don't know if this shrub will come back from the roots like many plants do.

I grew my BRC shrub from two cuttings a palm friend sent me. My shrub grew fast, IMO, and within 2 years after planting it out from a pot it got up to about 8 feet high. After that it got up to about 10 feet high. I think I started my BRC shrub after the horrid freezes of 2010. I know subsequent to 2010 my BRC shrub did take some wood damage on top where it's full exposed, but was replaced very fast come spring. Again, as i said in an above post, I cut my BRC shrub back hard this year, as I felt it was getting to leggy. It regrew fast. 

I suspect it will start to develop some blooms around mid October. The photos below are of blooms from years past.

[Sandy Loam]

I was hoping to plant one in deep shade because it is so hard to find plants which bloom in dark shade, but Brazilian Red Cloak does (that's the whole point of growing this plant: (a) blooms for several months; (b) blooms in shade; (c) blooms in winter, which is also hard to find).  ScottGT, if I plant it in shade, are you suggesting that it less likely to come back from a freeze than if I plant it in sun?

 I only need it to grow three feet tall, not the eight feet which every (2 1/2 metres) which everyone says it will reach in a growing season.  However, if it only grows enough to reach three feet, I am not sure if it will bloom.  Will short ones bloom too?  Even in dark shade?  ... and for a long time, as people report?                

Everyone's advice is welcome.  Thanks -- and thanks for your background too, Walt.

[Really full garden]

6 minutes ago, Sandy Loam said:

I was hoping to plant one in deep shade because it is so hard to find plants which bloom in dark shade, but Brazilian Red Cloak does (that's the whole point of growing this plant: (a) blooms for several months; (b) blooms in shade; (c) blooms in winter, which is also hard to find).  ScottGT, if I plant it in shade, are you suggesting that it less likely to come back from a freeze than if I plant it in sun?

 I only need it to grow three feet tall, not the eight feet which every (2 1/2 metres) which everyone says it will reach in a growing season.  However, if it only grows enough to reach three feet, I am not sure if it will bloom.  Will short ones bloom too?  Even in dark shade?  ... and for a long time, as people report?                

Everyone's advice is welcome.  Thanks -- and thanks for your background too, Walt.

I think it might be more likely to rot after a hard freeze due to the soil not drying out as fast as it might in a sunny spot. It might be slower to sprout out in the Spring. Maybe root some and use them as annuals. In Houston they were half-hardy perennials most years. Camellias do well in filtered shade and do bloom in winter.

[Sandy Loam]

Wow, if I have to treat them as annuals (replanting each year), that's just too much effort and I simply may not bother.  Thanks anyway though.  Has anyone else on PalmTalk had experiences that they can speak of with Brazilian Red Cloak during cold snaps?  Thanks.

[Walt]

1 hour ago, Sandy Loam said:

I was hoping to plant one in deep shade because it is so hard to find plants which bloom in dark shade, but Brazilian Red Cloak does (that's the whole point of growing this plant: (a) blooms for several months; (b) blooms in shade; (c) blooms in winter, which is also hard to find).  ScottGT, if I plant it in shade, are you suggesting that it less likely to come back from a freeze than if I plant it in sun?

 I only need it to grow three feet tall, not the eight feet which every (2 1/2 metres) which everyone says it will reach in a growing season.  However, if it only grows enough to reach three feet, I am not sure if it will bloom.  Will short ones bloom too?  Even in dark shade?  ... and for a long time, as people report?                

Everyone's advice is welcome.  Thanks -- and thanks for your background too, Walt.

I recall my plant didn't bloom at 3 feet high. I recall posting years ago and asking the forum when I could expect some blooms. Seems others had blooms with much smaller plants than mine.  I took some cuttings from my plant (which gets lots of south full sun) and planted rooted cuttings in the shade, but for some reason they just wouldn't grow. I think I had them in this spot for several years, and they just stayed the same size, less than 2 feet. I purposely planted them in shade for the very reason you stated, that they do well in shade and bloom in shade. I guess it was just a fluke thing. I have a BRC plant coming up in a shrub bed in front of my house. How it got there I have no idea. If somehow it came up from a stray seed from my shrub on the side of my house, that will be a first.

[mnorell]

I would suggest you try another one next spring. Plant it in a slightly raised bed or other well-drained spot, amend with coarse sand and give it a good thick mulch in winter. Under a south-facing eave of your house or under a protective evergreen tree like a live-oak, positioned so that it receives winter sun and summer shade. It is one of those borderline half-hardy plants that unfortunately flowers during the cool season. Since, from reports on this forum, the warmer areas of Gainesville seem to suffer only from light frosts except in the worst years, I think unless you're in a cold-sink you could grow it with similar results to those who have succeeded with it in Houston or New Orleans. It's worth trying as they are inexpensive and easy to propagate...just keep a backup safe if a bad freeze hits.

[Walt]

I went out earlier to take a more close up photo of my Brazilian red cloak shrub -- and I noticed one bloom starting to form! I can't recall seeing a bloom starting to form earlier than this, and it's still summer.

Also, I took a photo of what I have to assume is a volunteer BRC that came up in my front shrub bed. All I can determine is that a seed somehow germinated there. I plan to dig the volunteer out and pot it up, as I sure don't want it growing where it is.

BTW, I failed to note earlier that when my BRC shrub was fairly small, maybe no more than 4-5 feet high overall, I did drive some poles in the ground, slightly higher than the shrub, then I covered my shrub with flannel sheets (the poles carrying most of the weight of the sheets) so as to help protect it from frost. The sheet covered all the way to the ground, serving like a tent that helped to capture rising ground heat. Doing this could make all the difference in keeping your BRC shrub from being killed. Now that my shrub is big, the shrub itself will act to help protect it. The top and outer exposed parts might get frozen back, but the inside should be okay, with recoverable damage.

[Sandy Loam]

This thread is going to make a handy future reference for anyone cultivating a BRAZILIAN RED CLOAK.  Thanks to everyone who has provided insight and who still wishes to add their own trial-and-error experiences.

I wonder if I should be asking this question on PalmTalk:  Post your experiences here if you have EVER managed to get a BRC to bloom in shade.  Maybe no one ever has managed to make this happen if everyone on this thread who has planted them in partial sun or full sun (?)  I wonder.  

I will try to think of a spot that combines sun and shade both. 

MNorell, it is going to be tough finding a spot which is sunny in winter and shady in summer.  Also, you suggested a raised planting bed to enhance drainage.  I thought these plants were supposed to be water hogs (leaves drooping as soon as they lack water).  If so, won't it dislike a raised bed of course soil?  I assume that you're worried about winter rot in my cold soil.  ...or do they love sandy soil?  I thought they'd enjoy heavy, wet clay, but perhaps I was wrong. 

I will try a new one in the spring.  Thanks for your encouraging words.  Please keep the great advice coming, everyone! 

 

[Sandy Loam]

I haven't received any responses to my questions above.  Does anyone know the answers?
 

I have one more question because I have just ordered a Brazilian Red Cloak and plan to grow it in a pot, but to bring it indoors on those especially cold nights.  Question:  what temperatures causes deformation in Brazilian Red Cloak?  I am willing to bring mine into the garage when the temperature drops into the 20s Fahrenheit because that happens rarely in winter here.  However, we do have a number of nights in the thirties and forties here in the winter, and I don't want to bring it indoors every time that happens. 

 

[Walt]

20 minutes ago, Sandy Loam said:

I haven't received any responses to my questions above.  Does anyone know the answers?
 

I have one more question because I have just ordered a Brazilian Red Cloak and plan to grow it in a pot, but to bring it indoors on those especially cold nights.  Question:  what temperatures causes deformation in Brazilian Red Cloak?  I am willing to bring mine into the garage when the temperature drops into the 20s Fahrenheit because that happens rarely in winter here.  However, we do have a number of nights in the thirties and forties here in the winter, and I don't want to bring it indoors every time that happens. 

 

I know I dropped into the high 20s last February, and my coconut palm was burned. Yet, my Brazilian red cloak shrub wasn't hurt!  I don't think you will have any problem with temperatures down into the high 20s -- as long as there's no frost. I believe it will be frost that burns the leaves. My BRC shrub is well established. Even if it gets totally defoliated and some upper wood damage, it should come roaring back. I say this as Hurricane Irma broke my BRC shrub pretty bad, breaking lots of limbs, so I cut it back hard, and I mean hard this early spring. For awhile I was wondering if my shrub was going to regrow fast enough to satisfy me. Well, this shrub starting kicking out growth and is now back up over my roof line and full again. I wish I had a photo of it showing it cut back, as I would post it. 30s aren't going to hurt the BRC, unless maybe the pot soil freezes and damages the roots. But the top growth shouldn't be hurt. 

[Sandy Loam]

Do you (or anyone else out there) know what type of potting medium I should use to minimize the chance the roots freezing?  If I mix in perlite, does those bits hold water which, in turn, can freeze?  Brazilian Red cloak is known to be very thirsty for water at all times, so it won't love being in a pot anyway, but still...

[Walt]

3 hours ago, Sandy Loam said:

Do you (or anyone else out there) know what type of potting medium I should use to minimize the chance the roots freezing?  If I mix in perlite, does those bits hold water which, in turn, can freeze?  Brazilian Red cloak is known to be very thirsty for water at all times, so it won't love being in a pot anyway, but still...

I would think regardless of what potting medium you use, there will always be danger of freezing of the roots. And for this plant, I would think you would want a potting medium that would hold as much water as possible and keep the moisture in contact with the roots as much as possible.

I know when I first planted my BRC out, it would wilt every day. I had to water it sometimes twice a day until it finally got bigger and developed a good root system.  I would just be prepared to bring your potted BRC plant in the garage on nights that are forecast to go below freezing.

[Sandy Loam]

Thanks.  Maybe if I keep it in a pot until March arrives, I can put it in the ground then and hope for the best?  The one which froze to the ground on me in January had just been purchased right before the freeze.  It therefore never has the chance to establish its roots.  I kept waiting for it to emerge back from the roots as juvenile, but it never did.  Maybe if it had been growing roots from March to January, this would not have happened when the big freeze hit (?) 

I bought mine somewhere in Broward or Palm Beach County, so it might have been a more sensitive, tropical variety than yours ?? Is that even possible?

I would just love to have one of these Brazilian Red Cloak and see those incredible blooms.... In deep shade... in winter!

[Sandy Loam]

Does anyone have any thoughts? (Experiences with Brazilian Red Cloak, aka.  Megaskepasma erythrochlamys, in marginal climates). Should I just give up?  I am in zone 9a, but I was just reading that this plant is for zone 9b/10a.  Walt 's experience appears above.  Someone in Charlotte County, Florida wrote about their experience online (warmer than Central Florida, but not perma-summer like South Florida or, even warmer,  the Florida Keys).  They said that Brazilian Red Cloak was a great shrub for Charlotte County, but once every several years, a cold event would zap it and it would spring right back to normal soon afterwards.  I am up in northeastern Florida, so I believe I am just a bit too far north for Brazilian Red Cloak.  Has anyone tried it this far north, or almost this far north? (Or this far south if you are in the southern hemisphere) Could it be that this shrub gains hardiness the more it gains size and becomes well established in the soil?

[Walt]

I think your zone is too cold. That being said, I think if you could tent your shrub and supply heat to it for the first winter on nights that will go below 30 degrees, it may be possible to get your shrub -- and root system -- large enough so that if it does get frozen down to the roots it will come back from the roots.

When I first planted my BRC I did cover it with several layers of flannel sheets, draped all the way to the ground so that rising ground heat would get caputured within the shrub and sheets. 

I don't think the shrub will gain any degree of hardiness, other than the larger the diameter wood can take more cold than wood of smaller diameter. That's pretty much true for any plant. Just covering the shrub with many layers of insulation sheets, blankets, etc., should go a long way in protecting it from fatal cold damage. I know it does for me. Some times I use a pole or two (wood furring strip, 1" PVC pipe, etc., to help support the insulation coverings, to keep the entire weight off the shrub.

But bottom line is: If you don't protect your BRC on nights below about 28 degrees, it's going to get hurt. And if it drops into the low 20s it will probably be killed down to the roots -- unless this is a plant that can come back from the roots.

[Hillizard]

This is the first year I've had blooms developing on my potted Megaskepasma erythrochlamys. Indoors in my sunroom it had a bad black scale problem that disappeared once I moved it outside year-round under my pergola.  It's not as compact as those grown in full sun in SoCal, but I'm not complaining.

[Hillizard]

Update: my potted Megaskepasma erythrochlamys has performed well outdoors year-round in my pergola. It's definitely a 'keeper' in my opinion, although the bracts on mine seem to be more hot pink than the bright red I've seen in other growers' pictures.

[BrianRBruning@gmail.com]

I live in northern California Oakland to be exact so we have warmer sunnier summers than cloudy, foggy chilly San Francisco.  I got cuttings of this plant from the late IPS member Jim Mintkin's garden in San Jose Costa Rica about 20 years ago.  It is quite an aggressive grower for me but my soil has been composted and fertilized including micros for 30 years.  It blooms from August to February in my climate.  It has never been frost damaged here but we don't get much frost and the last hard frost (28F or less) was 30 years ago.  If it did get frosted even to the roots it would spring back.  Mine grows to 20 feet tall and I just headed it back last spring as it was shading out everything else.  

[Silas_Sancona]

9 hours ago, BrianRBruning@gmail.com said:

I live in northern California Oakland to be exact so we have warmer sunnier summers than cloudy, foggy chilly San Francisco.  I got cuttings of this plant from the late IPS member Jim Mintkin's garden in San Jose Costa Rica about 20 years ago.  It is quite an aggressive grower for me but my soil has been composted and fertilized including micros for 30 years.  It blooms from August to February in my climate.  It has never been frost damaged here but we don't get much frost and the last hard frost (28F or less) was 30 years ago.  If it did get frosted even to the roots it would spring back.  Mine grows to 20 feet tall and I just headed it back last spring as it was shading out everything else.  

Sounds pretty impressive for the greater Bay Area. You have any pics?  Was on the fence ( regarding hardiness ) when I'd brought one back from a trip to San Diego when I lived in San Jose. Had planned to hold onto it but ended up giving it to a neighbor ( who forgot to protect it the first winter after I planted it ) when I moved to Florida.

Heliconia and Tiger Grass I planted in his yard survived ( and are still there, 6 years later ) a hard frost that occurred literally the day after I headed east, Brazilian Cloak apparently didn't make it. Pretty sure it would have survived had I not moved at that time though. Had numerous other things that could be considered far more cold sensitive in that part of California,  that grew fine for me in San Jose. 

One things for sure, for anyone reading this, here, in / around Phoenix.. if you want to try it here, plant these under lots of canopy.. and water the heck out of them. I'd had about half a dozen cuttings I'd started before moving here, that practically went up in smoke by late May the first year here..