Geiger

[bayside mike]

Orange Geiger (Cordia Sebestena)

[BS Man about Palms]

Funny, I only know of the Len Geiger.....

[LJG]

That is good Bill, because that is the only one that will grow in SoCal.

[bayside mike]

That is good Bill, because that is the only one that will grow in SoCal.

Yeah, Orange Geiger is very much a Caribbean tree. Even in extreme south Florida it gets cold damage.

[aztropic]

I've grown these in my greenhouse - they will flower the third year from seed.Outside,even in full blistering Arizona sun,they will grow like weeds, but as soon as the temp drops below 35F,they drop dead! Even royal poincianas are a little hardier.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[bayside mike]

I've grown these in my greenhouse - they will flower the third year from seed.Outside,even in full blistering Arizona sun,they will grow like weeds, but as soon as the temp drops below 35F,they drop dead! Even royal poincianas are a little hardier.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

I have found that just before winter (I guess other people call that fall) if you pinch off the new growth and let them kind of "harden off". They are a little tiny bit more hardy. But if you go into winter with lush new growth on them they will get torched.

They kind of look like crap in the winter anyway. The pictures I took are this seasons first nice flush.

[LJG]

Cordia lutia is a good plant for the right microclimate in SoCal. Not as pretty, but still nice. I find it a challenge to keep it getting leggy. So I chop it up a few times a year.

[bayside mike]

Cordia lutia is a good plant for the right microclimate in SoCal. Not as pretty, but still nice. I find it a challenge to keep it getting leggy. So I chop it up a few times a year.

Cordia Boissieri Is really nice and I think is the most cold hearty of the three geiger's mentioned.

[Eric in Orlando]

Another nice white flowering one is Cordia superba from eastern Brazil. It tolerated 30F and heavy frost one night this past winter, which froze back our C. lutea part way.

[Eric in Orlando]

There are some other hardier ones that will grow in zone 9 and maybe 8b, especially out west and tolerate heat and drought.

Cordia parvifolia is from western and NW Mexico. It is an arching shrub growing 5-8ft tall. This is widely planted in southern Arizona. I brought one back to FL and it grows well in our Arid Garden.

Cordia myxa is native to southern Iran, Pakistan and India. It bears pendulant inflorescences with small white flowers, similar to Coccoloba. It bears edible fruit and grows 20-30ft. This tree is growing on the U of AZ campus in Tucson, AZ

and a photo of the flowers

http://ag.arizona.edu/arboretum/images/tax...0myx%20flrs.jpg

Cordia alliodora is native from Sinaloa, Mexico all the way to Peru and in the Caribbean. It is a large tree growing 30-60 ft. It is valued for its wood and is also used to shade coffee and cacoa. It bears terminal inflorescences with small white flowers. I would imagine the Sinaloan populations would be the hardiest forms.

http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/VFH/image/...lliodora5sq.jpg

Cordia sonorae is native to Sonora, Mexico and grows 10-15ft. It bears white flowers.

http://www.desertmuseum.org/programs/alamos_trees_corson.htm

Has anyone grown these last 2 species?

[bayside mike]

Another nice white flowering one is Cordia superba from eastern Brazil. It tolerated 30F and heavy frost one night this past winter, which froze back our C. lutea part way.

Thanks for the pictures and the info