Xanthostemon chrysanthus

[Ntheastpalms]

I was out in the garden on this beautifull Autumn morning & I could'nt resist taking a couple of photos of one of my favourite Aussie native plants the Golden penda (Xanthostemon chrysanthus).

The bright yellow clusters of flowres are favourites for bees & native honey eater birds.

[Ntheastpalms]

while I had the camera out a bit more colour was around

Laccospadix australasia

Dypsis sp "dark mealy bug" I really like these palms & will have a group planting of six or so one day.

[Ntheastpalms]

and a couple more while I'm at it

Plumeria sp

and a hybrid cattleya orchid

[tropicbreeze]

We have 5 native Xanthostemons, X. paradoxux is the most common. It's also a favourite with nectar feeders.

[peachy]

Good photos and great plants. I wish my Golden Penda would flower more often, didnt even try this year. But then neither did my Frangipanis even though every other plant in the state was covered in blooms. Keep up the good work.

Peachy

[bahia]

Absolutely gorgeous tree!

The photos of this plant in bloom made me just have to try growing it here in the San Francisco Bay Area several years back, but I lost my plants while still only 3 years old from seed; I suspect they don't much like our cool winters. I've been keeping my eye on a specimen container plant of the Xanthostemon chrysanthus at Annies Annuals Nursery in nearby Richmond, California which I know to be going on 6 years old now, but it has never bloomed yet either, and seems to get frozen back slightly each winter when temps dip below 32F/0c. I'd love to hear of anyone successfully getting this to bloom here in northern California, I know they grow and bloom it in south Florida, where it even blooms while quite small. I wish it were as easy to grow as Hymenosporum flavum, which is as easy as pie here locally, and will even bloom out of season some years with multiple bloom periods throughout the year instead of just May/June-early summer. If this plant were as easy to grow here in California as in south Florida, I have no doubts it would be as popular a flowering tree as Metrosideros, Eucalyptus ficifolia or the South African Calodendron capensis, which also seems to be a difficult tree to get to bloom here in the San Francisco Bay Area,(I've never seen one blooming here locally, just in southern California).

[bahia]

No one growing the Golden Penda here in California? I was hoping to hear some success stories about this tree, it is so beautiful in bloom...

[fastfeat]

Matt--

Excellent photos! Thanks much.

Bahia--

This is not easy to grow in SoFla, as it doesn't like alkaline soil. Probably better on the Gulf side (and maybe Orlando?) where soils aren't as alkaline.

I haven't seen it in SoCal yet, but I'm sure someone has tried. Soils shouldn't be as much an issue as with Florida.

[sick1166]

nice