Megaskepasma erythrochlamys

[Really full garden]

THis is one of my favorite blooming shrubs because it is blooming when not much else is in flower.It makes a great barrier screen and grows to about 2m.Here it starts to bloom in October and lasts until our winter winds destroy the bracts.

[Jeff Searle]

Scott,

    I could'nt agree with you more. I have a large one planted in the ground up by my office, and when it blooms, it's truly beautiful.

Jeff

[Tropicalken]

I have a large plant of this growing in Southern California.  It has been in the ground at least ten years.The problem is that it has never bloomed. Is anyone else growing this plant in California? If so, did it bloom for you?

Ken

[LJG]

Ken, I have one I got from Exotica in Vista two years ago. It blooms each fall. In fact it is still blooming. My issue is it yellows from direct sun, so I am hoping a Ficus I have near it will give it some shade so it can green up. It is also leggy, but I think that is related to direct Vista sun too.

Here is  apic from a few months ago with its first bloom:

[Peter]

Ken, I've had one for 3 years and it has never bloomed for me either.  I moved it from filtered sun to lots of sun with no change.  It looks green and healthy, just no blooms.

[mnorell]

I have two of these growing in a warm part of the garden near the house flanking the front portico, with southern exposure. They're somewhat protected by some Tetrapanax and by the edge of the portico...they grew quite well and vigorously this, their first year in the ground, with huge, lush leaves, obviously appreciating some overhead shade. They haven't thrown any blooms, though they're about 3-4' tall at present. Though we've had two freezes this year, one for seven hours (min. 30.1F) and one for four hours (min. 31.0), the portions of these plants protected from frost are holding on pretty well. Frosted foliage did burn and so there is spotty tip dieback. Am wondering whether I will see these  make it through to return after the winter if we have some typical 9a weather (fingers crossed!). But it would be great to hear from anyone else who has experience with the blooming issue, either in California, Gulf South, or Florida. Other acanthaceae I have here (Justicia/Jacobinia/Beleperone/Crossandra, etc.) typically bloom like crazy quite early in life so I wonder if there's something special these need, or if it's just getting to a certain size that makes them start popping. Obviously they bloom on new growth so I would think even annually damaged specimens could bloom without a problem the following season. Those beautiful big specimens at Fairchild are all in bright shade under large evergreens, so I doubt they need sun for blooming (in fact, I think they blanche in full sun). Anyone with experience on time to bloom or special cultural requirements??

[Really full garden]

Michael, mine get almost full sun.They love heat and need lots of water.I do not have any cold weather to deal with but we do get incredibly strong winds (like Santa Anas) and mine must be cut back every year.When the rains start in April they leaf out and are much fuller with more blooming branches.

I did see these growing in Houston and they got frozen to the ground almost every year.They always came back and bloomed in the Fall.

                                                                                         Scott

[mnorell]

Scott--

Thanks so much for that info. I've got them mulched in case they go down. Here, most acanthaceae (even Aphelandra) seem to be able to deal with rebounding from hard freezes if kept under some light canopy, mulched and not allowed to get too sopping wet in winter. Crossandra's the only one that dies outright each winter. Frustrating.

The Megaskepasma are such showy ornamentals that it seems crazy they haven't been more widely sold in borderline climate areas. Your specimens in Guatemala look gorgeous! Here we have much less cloud cover in summer than you do in Central America, and the heat is extremely intense, so I'm careful not to give them too much sun. I've taken some cuttings and they're in the greenhouse for safety, attempting to root. Have you (or anybody else) tried to root cuttings, and do they take as easily as the other acanthaceae?

[Really full garden]

Michael, these are very easy to root from cuttings.I also propagate mine by soil layering.I just pull down a small branch and cover a node with soil.These nodes will form roots in about a month and then can be planted elsewhere.You should try this in August or September.

                                                                                                                  Scott

[Tropicalken]

I'm glad someone has bloomed this plant in Southern California. Mine is quite lush looking, about 8 feet tall and is in the shade most of the day. Len's plant is in the sun, so maybe that's the answer. I remember seeing a large one some years ago at Fairchild. It was loaded with blooms and in the full sun. The Red Cloak seems to bloom so well in Florida. Does it also flower heavily in shade in Florida's climate?

I just looked over the posts again and saw that Peter's plant in the San Fernando Valley is in the full sun and doesn't bloom either. So much for the sun theory. Perhaps it's the amount of humidity or soil fertility.

Ken

[fastfeat]

I suspect that this, like many Acanthaceae, bloom best when exposed to consistent (day and night) warmth. Though they do indeed bloom on new growth, if the plant has to spend a lot of energy developing foliage lost to cool weather, it will probably be sparse in flower production.

Acalypha hispida (Euphorbiaceae) performs similarly. While it will grow in SoCal, it takes so long to accumulate enough heat to bloom (after losing most of its leaves in Winter, with or without frost) that it barely squeaks out flowers in late Fall, just before cold defoliates it again. In SoFla, with consistent warmth, it blooms year around.

I'd recommend planting Megaskepasma in filtered light on the south or west side of the house in places like CA. It will grow in full sun in SoFla, and probably blooms best with some sun.

They do like pretty heavy feeding. I know mine (containerized) were frequently yellowish in FL in sun or  shade until they got dosed with nitrogen. I suspect they require warm soil temps to absorb it; probably best to hit with nitrate or ammonium sulfate where soil is cooler.

[Eric in Orlando]

We have them in 2 different spots, shade and in shifting light but that gets full sun midday in summer. They both grow and flower fine. They are 6-7ft tall.

[gandryko]

Megaskepasma erythrochlamys has proven quite hardy in my Zone 9a garden for the past three years.  It is growing in a protected location--a south facing, paved courtyard under a Queen palm.  It blooms several times a year, although it did not bloom at all its first year.  The accompanying photograph was taken in October, but it is blooming just as well today.  We have not suffered a frost so far this year.  Since the plant is now over eight feet tall, I will be cutting it back drastically in late winter.  It should be interesting to see how it recovers.

[Al in Kona]

A few years ago I planted one of these in the garden and it grew and flowered and went to seed.  I now have this plant popping up from seed in various parts of the garden.  If it doesn't interfer with anything growing nearby I just leave it alone and let them flower off and on pretty much thru-out the year.  If it gets too tall I just cut it back as far as I want and it grows out nicely to flower again later.  I've pulled out many of these plants (try to do it while reasonably small) as they can become almost a weed in places.  They are a nice tall shrub that adds color to the tropical garden.

[Al in Kona]

Here's a pic of one of mine in full bloom (just took the pic today).

[Tropicalken]

What a beautiful plant you have Al. I would be content if mine just produced one flower.

Ken

[ariscott]

I love your broms there, Al. Are they Neo cruenta?

Regards, Ari

[Sandy Loam]

On 12/28/2007, 11:58:51, gandryko said:

Megaskepasma erythrochlamys has proven quite hardy in my Zone 9a garden for the past three years.  It is growing in a protected location--a south facing, paved courtyard under a Queen palm.  It blooms several times a year, although it did not bloom at all its first year.  The accompanying photograph was taken in October, but it is blooming just as well today.  We have not suffered a frost so far this year.  Since the plant is now over eight feet tall, I will be cutting it back drastically in late winter.  It should be interesting to see how it recovers.

 

Gandryko (or anyone else), what is the plant with red leaves on the centre-left in this photo?

[Matt in OC]

Hard to tell. Irisene? 

On 11/27/2017, 11:18:48, Sandy Loam said:

Gandryko (or anyone else), what is the plant with red leaves on the centre-left in this photo?

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Looks like a Acalypha ( Copper Leaf) hybrid of some sort. 

[Matt in OC]

Getting back to Megakepasma, what is the best method for pruning to ensure blooms in the subsequent years? Any suggestions? 

[Sandy Loam]

I recently started reading up on pruning the Brazilian Red Cloak.  The authors seemed to discourage any pruning because it would take a while afterwards for "bloomable" foliage to grow back again.  However, I don't know the answer to this question and can't wait to hear from the experts on PalmTalk.  Some trees (like Crape Myrtle) will bloom best if trimmed way back after the growing season is over because the new growth is what produces the best blooms during the following blooming season.  However, I have no clue whether the Brazilian Red Cloak works the same way.

 

Experts, please chime in with an answer to Matt's question.

[Really full garden]

14 hours ago, Sandy Loam said:

I recently started reading up on pruning the Brazilian Red Cloak.  The authors seemed to discourage any pruning because it would take a while afterwards for "bloomable" foliage to grow back again.  However, I don't know the answer to this question and can't wait to hear from the experts on PalmTalk.  Some trees (like Crape Myrtle) will bloom best if trimmed way back after the growing season is over because the new growth is what produces the best blooms during the following blooming season.  However, I have no clue whether the Brazilian Red Cloak works the same way.

 

Experts, please chime in with an answer to Matt's question.

Because of severe wind damage almost every year I have to prune mine by 50%. When I lived in Houston Texas freezes did the pruning for me and the plants came back every year always in full bloom late summer or early fall.

[Silas_Sancona]

Matt ( in OC), 

Would agree w/ Scott, these are pretty easy going as far as pruning goes.  As far as i know and have experience with, most Acanathaceae plants will flower without issue after being trimmed. Like Scott mentioned, these often put on lots of new growth after being cut down by a hard but not fatal frost in colder spots and are budding again by mid/ later summer. Ofcourse, the warmer and/ or more humid, the more rapid the new growth.. I remember how quickly they could become massive, almost small tree-ish sized shrubs, in Florida.

As nice as the weather is out there,  I myself might wait until say March, when temps start warming, and any threat of possible cold damage has passed to trim though since spring/ summer warmth is what spurs the best growth. 

As nice as your specimen appears to be, I would likely just give it a minimal haircut ( cut out all spent flower stalks), maybe tidy it up around the base a bit, but not too much.  It appears to like it's location

BTW, if you have friends, neighbors, etc who have taken interest in it, save some cuttings, and start new plants.. really easy to root in some shade when it is warm.

[Matt in OC]

7 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Matt ( in OC), 

Would agree w/ Scott, these are pretty easy going as far as pruning goes.  As far as i know and have experience with, most Acanathaceae plants will flower without issue after being trimmed. Like Scott mentioned, these often put on lots of new growth after being cut down by a hard but not fatal frost in colder spots and are budding again by mid/ later summer. Ofcourse, the warmer and/ or more humid, the more rapid the new growth.. I remember how quickly they could become massive, almost small tree-ish sized shrubs, in Florida.

As nice as the weather is out there,  I myself might wait until say March, when temps start warming, and any threat of possible cold damage has passed to trim though since spring/ summer warmth is what spurs the best growth. 

As nice as your specimen appears to be, I would likely just give it a minimal haircut ( cut out all spent flower stalks), maybe tidy it up around the base a bit, but not too much.  It appears to like it's location

BTW, if you have friends, neighbors, etc who have taken interest in it, save some cuttings, and start new plants.. really easy to root in some shade when it is warm.

Great info from all, thanks. I had to do some pruning in late summer due to the encroachment on the walkway and it seemed to keep on chugging. I’ll leave it for the rest of winter and see how it goes. Thanks again!

[Palms1984]

Wow! I can't believe people have a difficult time having this plants flower. I have had one for 20 years. My friend up in Oakland gave me a cutting when I lived in the SF Bay Area and it had huge flower as a two foot plant (in the SF Bay Area).    I now live in San Diego and I have several that flower all the time.  The more sun the longer it will flower.  The best flowering time is during fall.  

[Matt in OC]

Well, our recent Santa Anas took care of a lot of pruning for me. It looks ragged now and I'll clean it up in early spring.