Caesalpinia gilliesii

[John in Andalucia]

This is a stock photo to show the flowers, but does anyone else have one of these? Very easy to grow from seed, they have a woody, vine-like stem that grows to 5 or 6 feet with a canopy of fern-like leaves. I can't wait to see the flowers on the one we planted in our garden. We purchased a 6ft specimen last Autumn and saved the seed pods, and I have about 80 little ones growing. I'm also wondering if they can be pruned specially to keep the canopy lower. Any advice?

[LJG]

You can really prune these down in fall to get it to grow less leggy. I do not have that plant but have Caesalpinia pulcherrima and ferrea. Caesalpinia pulcherrima likes to be heavily pruned. I have seen many Caesalpinia gilliesii planted here in SoCal as people use them for xeroscape. The nicest ones are those pruned up to force more growth. If not pruned they become a leggy shrub in my opinion.

[John in Andalucia]

Len,

Our only one is all stem to about 5 feet. It's staked in the ground, but you just know it would keel over without any support! I have around 80 young plants, so I will try nipping the tops off a few this Autumn and see how they take shape. Thanks for the info.

[Peter]

Just saw this one at the LA Arboretum yesterday-best I've ever seen here.

[John in Andalucia]

Hey, now that's beautiful! Now I know what to aim for. Thanks Peter, for posting.

[simona]

I have grown the "Desert Bird of Paradise" from seeds and it's really fast growing!

[John in Andalucia]

Hi Simona,

I see your Caesalpinia gilliesii is nice and low to the ground. Wow, they do grow fast, too! I still have a bagful of seeds so I might germinate another batch to check the viability. I germinated around 80 and here's a photo of them today, at nearly 5 months old.

[simona]

I don't think you'll have any problems after 5 months, John.

They not only grow fast but seeds also germinate quick (2-3 days).