Early Royal Poinciana bloomer and others

[bubba]

Our cold February has caused questions about the effect of early or later blooming of these beautiful trees. I was very surprised to see an early bloomer:

[bubba]

Overcast day so color is hard to see:

[bubba]

This blooming RP is in juxtaposition to it's close neighbor, which is still barren 

[bubba]

Some other bloomers. I am not certain what they are and any assistance would be greatly appreciated:

[bubba]

Color is hard to see:

[mnorell]

Bubba, your first "unknown" photo is the lovely Bauhinia monandra, a very underutilized tree in SoFla. The second one is harder to tell exactly which species, but likely a Cassia. The paleness of the flowers makes me think it is probably Cassia bakeriana, which has become somewhat popular in SoFla in the last 20 years or so. If not that, it could be a pale form of the Cassia javanica/nodosa/renigera complex. Or possibly a pale form of the hybrid Cassia x nealiae, the 'Rainbow Shower,' which has been a popular tree particularly in Hawai'i, where it was hybridized in the mid/late 1910s by David Haughs. (And it is a hybrid of Cassia javanica x Cassia fistula.)

[bubba]

Thank you Michael! The early blooming RP is a real conundrum. With our cold event in early February, I never suspected an early bloom.

They must be really confused. Plenty of barren RP's all over. It will be interesting to see what happens with them!

[bubba]

Updated shots after initial overcast:

[bubba]

[bubba]

Some others with a clearer day:

[bubba]

[bubba]

A new bloomer:

[bubba]

[bubba]

[bubba]

This guy is really taking off. I have noted an incongruency. Specifically, the Royal Poinciana's that have held their leaves seem to be blooming. That stated, the Royal Poinciana's that have lost their leaves and look like sticks do not show any hint of bloom:

[bubba]

Closer shot:

[bubba]

One additional leaved I saw today just starting to bloom:

[bubba]

This is the stick neighbor of the heavier bloomer. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for these stick Royal Poinciana's to bloom this year: 

[aztropic]

My first RP has just started its bloom cycle. The second one always follows, and I can see that it has tons of buds!😊

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[bubba]

My guess is that our stick trees may not bloom until June. With your mild winter, most kept their leaves and are already rolling!

[96720]

Bummer I guess mine isn’t going to bloom this year!!

[bubba]

I am going to guess that the stick RP's will actually have a more vigorous bloom this year but latter than normal. Although they look like dead sticks, you can see the beginning of green growth at the tips and the beautiful red will come soon thereafter. I have never seen them not bloom and generally the warmer the winter, the less vigorous the bloom.

[aztropic]

1 hour ago, 96720 said:

Bummer I guess mine isn’t going to bloom this year!!

Like all the farmers say, "There's always next year". It was an unusually warm winter in the Phoenix area, and it pretty much decimated the stone fruit crops in the valley. We have 3 apricot trees, and a nectaplum, and not a single flower on any of them for the first time ever.🤷‍♂️

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[96720]

Mine never lost any leafs I thought that was weird!! But no blooms maybe I over water my jacaranda doesn’t bloom and neither does my delonix!!! Beautiful tree anyway!!

[aztropic]

Too lush and green! I think this species needs to experience some winter drought to put on a good flower show. I only water mine once a month December through March, plus whatever may fall from the sky. 🤷‍♂️

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[96720]

Mine will probably never bloom it’s on drip and gets the same water as everything else!!’ Still a pretty tree!!’

[aztropic]

2 minutes ago, 96720 said:

Mine will probably never bloom it’s on drip and gets the same water as everything else!!’ Still a pretty tree!!’

Yes. They make a great dappled sunlight underneath that could be a beneficial spot for some shade loving plants. 👍

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[mnorell]

29 minutes ago, aztropic said:

Yes. They make a great dappled sunlight underneath that could be a beneficial spot for some shade loving plants. 👍

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

Delonix regia is one of those trees that would seem to be a great nurse-tree...however I think the roots are so greedy, or perhaps there is a little bit of allelopathy going on...I always noticed in the Florida Keys that pretty much nothing would ever be growing underneath the Royal Poincianas in people's yards (including mine) except for one plant...Pothos! For some reason almost every Poinciana you will see there has a happy, huge-leafed Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) climbing up into its boughs. I always wondered if this was just a cultural "thing" for people to companion-plant, but I never really explored why. But otherwise the ground will likely be perfectly empty from the trunk out to a certain point. I think I have noticed the same in Miami but can't swear to it...all of this I've noticed is just casual observation and I may be proven wrong, or there may be exceptions for one reason or another...also my own impressions could be tied to the highly basic substrate (pure calcium carbonate) in the Keys. But it's something that always stood out to me. Have you successfully grown anything under your trees in Arizona?

[Silas_Sancona]

9 minutes ago, mnorell said:

Delonix regia is one of those trees that would seem to be a great nurse-tree...however I think the roots are so greedy, or perhaps there is a little bit of allelopathy going on...I always noticed in the Florida Keys that pretty much nothing would ever be growing underneath the Royal Poincianas in people's yards (including mine) except for one plant...Pothos! For some reason almost every Poinciana you will see there has a happy, huge-leafed Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) climbing up into its boughs. I always wondered if this was just a cultural "thing" for people to companion-plant, but I never really explored why. But otherwise the ground will likely be perfectly empty from the trunk out to a certain point. I think I have noticed the same in Miami but can't swear to it...all of this I've noticed is just casual observation and I may be proven wrong, or there may be exceptions for one reason or another...also my own impressions could be tied to the highly basic substrate (pure calcium carbonate) in the Keys. But it's something that always stood out to me. Have you successfully grown anything under your trees in Arizona?

Unless intentionally kept clear,  Stuff grows under 'em fine here...










No issue with being crowded,  either,  ..or so it seems..  Squeezed from both sides a bit? = Might be how this one attained the " largest sized specimen observed locally to date " status.

Go ahead,  find me one that is ..taller / wider,  locally..

[bubba]

Update on the Florida RP's. The first initial bloomer is officially nearing critical mass. More interestingly, the stick RP's made major moves in 24 hours. Some are just green and some are blooming sticks:

[bubba]

Close up:

[bubba]

Stick tree with bloom:

[bubba]

One went virtually green overnight with only a few blooms:

[bubba]

Another former stick tree that went green with a few blooms overnight:

[bubba]

More intermediate stuff:

[bubba]

To Michael's point, for reasons unknown, in Florida not much if anything grows under these Florida RP's. Dry season during the cooler months may have something to do with it. Hard to believe that the Western RP's will not bloom. Az must have some special sauce!