Guaiacum sanctum. (Lignum vitae)

[aztropic]

I've been growing these tropical hardwood trees in Arizona for a few years now.Surprisingly,they don't seem to have any problems surviving our winters and look to be a good candidate for in ground planting. (saw lots of these in the wild on a recent trip to the Dominican Republic) Collected some seeds there, to start a few more.Always look forward to their pretty blue spring blooms!

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Silas_Sancona]

Agree... Have had no issues w/ G. sanctum ..or the supposedly more tropical G. officinale here..  Sits outside, all year ( under the Mesquite )

Post winter look going into summer.. Repotted into this 7?  10? gal last year..  Will likely re pot my officinale this year..



Noticed that younger foliage on smaller G. sanctum specimens looks similar to our regionally native Guaiacum, G. coulteri.. but leaves get wider the older G. sanctum plants get.



Besides the flowers, bronze-ish purple new foliage is a bonus too.. Officinale will sometimes flush similar colored new foliage also.. Most of my coulteri specimens flush bright apple green new  growth..



Foliage of G. officinale for comparison.. Notice many places in FL. get the two confused/ sell miss -labeled plants... Happened twice before i found the real deal.. Don't trust seeds unless you're 100% sure where they're coming from.

[Hillizard]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Noticed that younger foliage on smaller G. sanctum specimens looks similar to our regionally native Guaiacum, G. coulteri.. but leaves get wider the older G. sanctum plants get.

Foliage of G. officinale for comparison.. Notice many places in FL. get the two confused/ sell miss -labeled plants... Happened twice before i found the real deal.. Don't trust seeds unless you're 100% sure where they're coming from.
 

Nathan: If you know of a mail order supplier of Guaiacum coulteri (Sonoran Lignum-vitae) I'd love to get my hands on some seeds or even a small plant!

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, Hillizard said:

Nathan: If you know of a mail order supplier of Guaiacum coulteri (Sonoran Lignum-vitae) I'd love to get my hands on some seeds or even a small plant!

Still have your plants.. Won't be going anywhere either ( the plants, lol ).. Only sources i know for bigger specimens would be looking into any nurseries up your way who might be willing to order/ do order from Green Desert down in Indio. that said, their plants will be a little pricey ( think 15gal and 24" box were listed in their current availability when i checked last week ). 

Now that the new portion of the 202 is open, planning to get back up to Glendale sometime over the next few months ( or sooner ) to collect more seed.. My biggest produced a few seeds last year but most were malformed. Did get the few that looked good to germinate though. Hoping it ..and the next biggest.. will produce a better crop this year. Heat this week should really help kick them into gear. One planted out front is already budding. Crossing my fingers the biggest of the two seed-grown specimens might flower this year also..

You know i'll post when they flower..

[Hillizard]

2 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Still have your plants.. Won't be going anywhere either ( the plants, lol ).. Only sources i know for bigger specimens would be looking into any nurseries up your way who might be willing to order/ do order from Green Desert down in Indio. that said, their plants will be a little pricey ( think 15gal and 24" box were listed in their current availability when i checked last week ). 

Now that the new portion of the 202 is open, planning to get back up to Glendale sometime over the next few months ( or sooner ) to collect more seed.. My biggest produced a few seeds last year but most were malformed. Did get the few that looked good to germinate though. Hoping it ..and the next biggest.. will produce a better crop this year. Heat this week should really help kick them into gear. One planted out front is already budding. Crossing my fingers the biggest of the two seed-grown specimens might flower this year also..

You know i'll post when they flower..

Thanks Nathan! Looking forward to seeing the flowers. If/When you're back here, I'm sure we can make a trade of some special species!

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, Hillizard said:

Thanks Nathan! Looking forward to seeing the flowers. If/When you're back here, I'm sure we can make a trade of some special species!

Oh trust me.. as soon as the summer has passed, and the stay at home advisories have been lifted/ things are a little more back to normal, ..it's go time,.. all around.. Your plants will only be a little more mature..

[bubba]

Not certain how old this local is but the wood makes steel look weak:

[Silas_Sancona]

Its starting... ( to quote Bubba )

First Guaiacum coulteri flowers of the season.. Tree out front is first this year.. Biggest potted specimen out back is right behind it.. and loaded w/ buds.. G. sanctum if flowering also. Will take a few pics tomorrow..

[Hillizard]

Beautiful!! Sky blue color!

[Peter]

What a colour!

[Manalto]

It's both a beautiful color and a beautiful colour!

Blue is really striking in the landscape, maybe because of its rarity. I also like Vitex for that reason.

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Manalto said:

It's both a beautiful color and a beautiful colour!

Blue is really striking in the landscape, maybe because of its rarity. I also like Vitex for that reason.

Agree..  Blue complements many things and makes anything warm colored pop in the landscape. 

Like Vitex also.. Unfortunately here, they look great ...for about a minute.. before the heat knocks them back a bit. Would like to find a few of the larger- leaved species from roughly the same area of South America where Jacaranda mimosifolia originates. Another, V. mollis, from Sonora and Sinaloa supposedly produces tasty fruit. Watched a video about making Jam/Jelly from it.

[Silas_Sancona]

Some cooling hues on a sizzling Wednesday afternoon..  Flowers on the planted specimen out front kind of faded a bit in the heat.. A break from the sun thru the afternoon here keeps the color of individual flowers from washing out on the potted specimens.






Same applies to Guaiacum sanctum. Notice the size difference of the flowers on it compared to G. coulteri ( above ).. If it cools off a bit / gets cloudy ( as is currently forecast ) by Sunday, may check on the bigger trees on the northwest side of town.. imagine they should be flowering heavily atm also.




 

[Hillizard]

3 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Some cooling hues on a sizzling Wednesday afternoon..  Flowers on the planted specimen out front kind of faded a bit in the heat.. A break from the sun thru the afternoon here keeps the color of individual flowers from washing out on the potted specimens.






Same applies to Guaiacum sanctum. Notice the size difference of the flowers on it compared to G. coulteri ( above ).. If it cools off a bit / gets cloudy ( as is currently forecast ) by Sunday, may check on the bigger trees on the northwest side of town.. imagine they should be flowering heavily atm also.




 

Thanks for sharing.  I'll revisit these cool images later on this week during the upcoming heatwave! 

[Cedric]

Stunning thing, wonder if it likes summer rains heat and humidity!?

[Silas_Sancona]

28 minutes ago, Cedric said:

Stunning thing, wonder if it likes summer rains heat and humidity!?

Yes, the main 3 species, G. coulteri, officinale, and sanctum are native to warm/ hot, summer rainfall areas of the drier tropics..

Coulteri originates in near coastal western Mexico ( Sonora, south to roughly Guatemala ) The other two originate in South Florida/ Caribbean basin.  Two others, G.  angustifolium ( West and southern Texas / neighboring Mexico ) and ..not currently seen in cultivation.. G. unijugum ( Eastern cape region of Baja Sur ), extend the genus' range into slightly drier/ colder areas ( G. angustifolium ). 

Both G. coulteri and angustifolium have shown adaptability outside of preferred habitat. Two Caribbean species haven't been grown enough ( as far as i am aware ) outside that region / Florida to know just how adaptable they might be.  Pretty much why i brought both w/ me here to AZ when i left FL. That said, they are in pots.. since i'll be moving back to CA. asap. Conditions there will be the real test for those two species.
 
 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Silas_Sancona
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[Cedric]

Thanks for that. It would make a stunning pot plant as they're so slow growing. Unintentional bonsai. Are they all so slow growing? I like the colour on yours, absolutely. Definitely going to be looking out for one. Our rainfall is astronomical in the rainy season, dry season it's cooler with very little rain. Think I need to start with quite a large one.....I like the fact they flower even as little trees too. 

[Cedric]

Oh oh, it might not like the cold in California!? Maybe you should leave it with a dear freind. Or ship it straight to me 

[Silas_Sancona]

14 minutes ago, Cedric said:

Oh oh, it might not like the cold in California!? Maybe you should leave it with a dear freind. Or ship it straight to me 

Coulteri should do fine.. Started some my specimens from seed collected here, when i lived in the S.F. Bay Area. Others won't leave my side, unless someone wants to offer me enough money for a new vehicle, and  a healthy down payment on a house, ..sitting on 10 acres of land.. Would likely have more, of each by then, lol..

[Silas_Sancona]

Bump!
While not much is flowering atm, the G. coulteri out front decided to smother itself w/ another flush of flowers. While flowers on it are a little paler, due to full sun exposure/ watering it a little less, than the potted specimens i keep under more canopy out back, Still that perfect "Desert Sky Blue" No odd ball white flowers this time.