Royal Poinciana (Delonix Regia)

[bubba]

Wow! Love that color! I took a picture of a bright one down in Key Largo in June:

[bubba]

Beanie Backus, Florida artist and mentor of the Highwaymen:

[Silas_Sancona]

Neighborhood R>P... Had flowers on it up until the 2nd of November..  Hard to see in this shot but loaded w developing pods.. Added about a dozen more since the summer. Will be interesting if they hang tough though the "cooler" months.



Extra:

Papaya in the same yard, still alive despite the cool-ish mornings lately ..Several fruit developing on it as well.

[chinandega81]

Despite the coolness, all that bright sun warms the plants up in the day time. With all this early cool weather in the season, I suspect it will be warmer at the traditionally coldest time of the winter.

[Silas_Sancona]

6 minutes ago, chinandega81 said:

Despite the coolness, all that bright sun warms the plants up in the day time. With all this early cool weather in the season, I suspect it will be warmer at the traditionally coldest time of the winter.

We'll see what happens of course,  but, ..here at least,  i have similar thoughts on how this winter may progress.  On the fence when it comes to whether or not we'll still see a morning or two close to freezing right around sunrise before mid Feb. though.  

While some moan about it, cool-ish mornings have been nice..  ...Just enough "cool"  to slow things down a little and bring out some "traditional" fall color on some stuff you might only see muted color on ( before the leaves drop ) most years.   Just enough warmth in the afternoons too to keep tender-ish things content and other stuff flowering.

If there is a quick cold spell where lows flirt w/ freezing on a few mornings between now and mid Feb., cooler mornings so far this month have helped harden things off ...which would lessen any possible damage experienced on those mornings, ...if that should occur at all. 

Definitely keeping an eye on how the Papaya fares.

[johnnymak]

Neighbour's tree putting on a good show.

[Silas_Sancona]

End o' Winter update on the 'Hood Tree.. 

Many more seedpods on it than i'd thought.. 

Trashed are any assumptions that Royal Poinciana can't form pods here.  Will have to see if that neighbor will allow me to snag a couple pods to see how the seeds themselves look / if they'll germinate.




Not sure on exactly when it went in, but found a picture of the same tree i'd taken back in June of '16.  ..so it will be 8 this year.




Didn't get a picture but while beat up, the Papaya still looks decent after all the cool / wet of this winter. Fruit on it but wouldn't call them ripe / good. 

[greysrigging]

Near my house suburban Darwin . Oct is peak flowering month.

[Silas_Sancona]

A few  new  neighborhood Royal Poinciana  to add to the ever expanding list of specimens nearby.. 

2 specimens just a couple houses from each other.

Monster is specimen #1. Not quite sure what the weepy tree is in front of it. Foliage has a  Spondias / Neem look to it. Neem are rare, but cultivated here.. Mombin / Spondias are very rare but, considering how close we are to Sonora proper / a fair amount of folks here having family ties to that area / Areas of Mexico nearby where Mombin is widely cultivated,  have little doubt there are specimens around.   Not far from the house, so i'll have eyes on it soon.   

Can see the 2nd, much smaller R.P. on this block near the white pickup / light post at the lower left corner of the street view shot.



2nd, smaller specimen a couple houses down the block



...R.P. #3 ...and another Cassia fistula ( Left side of the driveway ) specimen..



New to the " Neighborhood specimen list " #4 ( ...and 5 ).  2 in this yard.  Not sure why the smaller one on the right looks somewhat bare compared to the bigger one.



.. A few larger, established Plumeria near the first two R.P specimens also...

Edited March 18, 2024 by Silas_Sancona
edit

[Silas_Sancona]

Allmmoossttt  time for the Royal Poinciana to crank up..

Some interesting results from this past winter..

Closest to the house " neighborhood "  specimen?   completely un-fazed by what nipping nights we had this year and budding, quickly..









Contrast this to a pair of specimens a few blocks north ( The " New to the neighborhood R.P. list " specimens from my last post ) that look like they got nipped  ..that or someone decided to give them quite a haircut.




**  Not pictured **  One of two i've documented a few blocks to my east also looks like it got nipped good ..green and filling out,  but lost it's canopy.  " Sister " specimen half a block from that one?  ..trimmed back, but otherwise un- harmed. Established Plumeria specimen a couple doors down from the " got nipped " R.P?  perfectly fine.  Same yard exposure / positioning for both plants.  🤷‍♂️

Guess i'll have to get shots of them for record keeping..



About time to wander over to where the big specimen to my west is located to see how it and the nearby Plumeria are looking too. ( First and last streetview shots in my last post )

[bubba]

Saw them starting in late April. They are slower this year. Likely because of the large rainfall experienced in this super El Niño. No cold and many have remained fully green this year, not loosing their leaves. Super dry “dry season” usually results in the best results in S. Florida.

[mnorell]

I’ve been paying attention and have visited perhaps a half dozen this past week out here from Rancho Mirage to La Quinta. None in flower, none apparently budding. Looks like most held a full crown this winter and are flushing on top of the older leaves which is troubling in contemplating any potential for good bloom this year. I wish people would turn off the irrigation and winter-stress them more here so they bloom well. Not hopeful but will keep my eyes peeled as we move toward June.  At least the Spathodeas (my own young tree and a larger tree a couple of blocks away) have been blooming nicely for the past month out here. 

[Than]

Yesterday I accidentally decapitated my 2yo delonix; It ruined my mood for a while but then I reminded myself that it is not going to make it outdoors here anyway, so...

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, Than said:

Yesterday I accidentally decapitated my 2yo delonix; It ruined my mood for a while but then I reminded myself that it is not going to make it outdoors here anyway, so...

Know for sure ...like with 100% accuracy... they won't survive there?  decent chunk of folks who say the same " They won't grow here "  thing about them here..  ...and yet i have seedlings off my neighborhood tree.

Never say never.

[Than]

9 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Know for sure ...like with 100% accuracy... they won't survive there?  decent chunk of folks who say the same " They won't grow here "  thing about them here..  ...and yet i have seedlings off my neighborhood tree.

Never say never.

Ofc we can never be sure but I am not near the sea so chances are slim. Well, at least it was decapitated early in the season, so I hope it will still grow enough till October.

[Silas_Sancona]

30 minutes ago, Than said:

Ofc we can never be sure but I am not near the sea so chances are slim. Well, at least it was decapitated early in the season, so I hope it will still grow enough till October.

170 miles from the house to Puerto Penasco on the Gulf of CA / Sea of Cortez ..Or 320 miles from here to a beach in San Diego..

Now - October = plenty of time to push new growth..

Growing two other Delonix sps ( decaryi and pumila ) in pots left outside all year from seed since 2018. Not a shrug, even after one of our cooler / wetter winters.  Don't personally know of anyone else growing either sp. here, ..Outside at least.

 

[Than]

On 5/10/2024 at 7:33 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

170 miles from the house to Puerto Penasco on the Gulf of CA / Sea of Cortez ..Or 320 miles from here to a beach in San Diego..

Now - October = plenty of time to push new growth..

Growing two other Delonix sps ( decaryi and pumila ) in pots left outside all year from seed since 2018. Not a shrug, even after one of our cooler / wetter winters.  Don't personally know of anyone else growing either sp. here, ..Outside at least.

 

As the map shows San Diego is at the same latitude as central Morocco, much more south than Greece.

[Silas_Sancona]

8 minutes ago, Than said:

As the map shows San Diego is at the same latitude as central Morocco, much more south than Greece.

Morocco, or Japan.  Doesn't matter either way..  In a warm 9B+ area of the world?   Try it. Will probably grow.

[bubba]

Early signs of life in late April this year but once again, the wet super El Niño had an affect on the vibrancy of the Delonix Regia/ Royal Poinciana. These were in the ER Bradley Park in PB:

 

[bubba]

Not sure what I am doing to cause redundancy!

[bubba]

Wanted to post some updates of the local Delonix regia and their blooming status in PB as of May 23, 2024. Some are becoming more vibrant but some appear to have missed blooming altogether this year. I can only surmise that our wet and overly mild dry season is responsible:

[bubba]

[bubba]

[bubba]

[bubba]

[bubba]

Delonix regia are getting close to max here:

[bubba]

[aztropic]

Maxed out here in Arizona too. 

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[bubba]

Az whatever you touch explodes in an incredible way!

[aztropic]

1 hour ago, bubba said:

Az whatever you touch explodes in an incredible way!

 

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[bubba]

Throw in some Yellow Poincianas. Not much in the way of vigorous blooming this year:

[bubba]

[bubba]

[Mangosteen]

My bloomed last summer, but never woke up this spring. Its dead after about 15 years.

[Silas_Sancona]

6 hours ago, Mangosteen said:

My bloomed last summer, but never woke up this spring. Its dead after about 15 years.

Bummer.  Wonder what happened / killed it..