Bauhinia divaricata

[Cindy Adair]

While touring a wonderful wholesale Palm nursery (with an IPS member friend) in Florida, a flowering non Palm tree near their office caught my eye.

It was Bauhinia divaricata which I had only seen in photographs before.

The next day I visited a favorite rare plant nursery and I saw the tree for sale and happily bought it.

On my trip to Fairchild I snapped a photo of their tree in bloom and today I planted mine on my Puerto Rican Finca. What fun!

Lots of Bauhinias here and I know many self sow but I can likely dig up and trade the seedlings here.

Who grows this one? Share your information and photos please.

[raimeiken]

That looks pretty cool. How much cold can they take?

I have four Hong Kong orchid trees, B. Candida (white orchid), and B. Galpinii.

They all do alright here even with the occasional below freezing temps. But they do need lots of iron supplement because of our high ph soil and water.

[Cindy Adair]

Sounds like you have a nice collection of Bauhinias! As to cold tolerance I know Miami has them and that it does very rarely get into the thirties there.

I hope someone on the forum can better answer your question but I know I would give it a try if the other related species flourish.

On my PR farm it doesn't go below the sixties. After 32 years in Virginia enduring winters into the teens or lower I am delighted to never experience frost again!