Honey Mesquite Deciduous Variability

[Xerarch]

So here it is January 30th, and honey mesquite is supposed to be deciduous according to the literature. But it doesn’t seem like it’s just that easy, many around here are indeed bare right now, but many are not, I mean like maybe half of them still have a lot of leaves. See a couple photos below, one bare, one leafy.  The ones that have leaves behave like Chilean mesquite, which are semi-deciduous. It doesn’t seem like they would have to hold on too much longer before leafing out again. 
 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, Xerarch said:

So here it is January 30th, and honey mesquite is supposed to be deciduous according to the literature. But it doesn’t seem like it’s just that easy, many around here are indeed bare right now, but many are not, I mean like maybe half of them still have a lot of leaves. See a couple photos below, one bare, one leafy.  The ones that have leaves behave like Chilean mesquite, which are semi-deciduous. It doesn’t seem like they would have to hold on too much longer before leafing out again. 
 

Same thing here.. See some w/ about 3/4th of the leaves gone on some, others that are -for the most part- still green. Bare ( -er ) ones seem to be located in neighborhoods where it gets a touch colder than the nearly evergreen specimens. All planted appear to be the thornless / near- thornless variety. Only see the really thorny ones at a couple parks.

  ( = Chilean Mesquites ) are still green as can be, Same w/ my big mystery Mesquite in the old yard. It will drop more of it's leaves right as it starts pushing new ones soon. That said, it has shed nearly all of it's leaves, weeks before pushing new ones during our cooler / wetter winters.

[amh]

Temperature is a major factor in whether or not the mesquite lose their leaves. The issue could just be local differences in climate.

Edited January 30, 2022 by amh
lose not loose

[Xerarch]

For reference, both of these pictured and many more, both full of leaves and not, are in the same park, so no difference in climate. They are the few thorn/no thorn variety, we have not been below freezing this year. 

[amh]

17 minutes ago, Xerarch said:

For reference, both of these pictured and many more, both full of leaves and not, are in the same park, so no difference in climate. They are the few thorn/no thorn variety, we have not been below freezing this year. 

Could be natural variation or they came from different sources. I've noticed major differences in thorns in the wild throughout the state. I'm in a colder area, so all the mesquite are bare, but the trees in southern Bexar can be green all winter.

[Swolte]

Interesting! Mine started losing their leaves after freezes but is still very young (and I have the 'prized' no-thorn variety). They were one of my most hard-to-find varieties of trees a few years back. Been hunting for one of those for years. I believe it is only grown in Arizona.

[Silas_Sancona]

5 minutes ago, Swolte said:

Interesting! Mine started losing their leaves after freezes but is still very young (and I have the 'prized' no-thorn variety). They were one of my most hard-to-find varieties of trees a few years back. Been hunting for one of those for years. I believe it is only grown in Arizona.

I think.. some other nurseries outside AZ grow them ( unless they're sent to those nurseries at a small size from that certain nursery here )  Regardless, is supposedly propagated via cuttings, vs. from seed ( though i have seed off thornless trees to try  - to see if they end up thorn less as well.  )

Of all the Mesquites, inc my mystery beast at the old house, Like Honey the best for foliage, which looks the most tropical of all the sp..

One thing to keep in mind w/ these trees.. As mentioned in the past in a general thread on these trees,  Leave the foliage where it drops ( unless on your patio, roof,  ..other hard surface you don't want leaf- cluttered )  GREAT boost of nitrogen for other things starting to resume growth in spring.. Would be great for adding to compost bins as well.

[amh]

39 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

One thing to keep in mind w/ these trees.. As mentioned in the past in a general thread on these trees,  Leave the foliage where it drops ( unless on your patio, roof,  ..other hard surface you don't want leaf- cluttered )  GREAT boost of nitrogen for other things starting to resume growth in spring.. Would be great for adding to compost bins as well.

Yes, this 100%.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, amh said:

Yes, this 100%.

Should ad, only thing i'd try to keep the Mesquite " duff " off is potted Cacti.. Quite a mess to try and clean up after, and seemed to provide a little too much N.  for them.. Esp the Echinopsis / Trichos. 

[Silas_Sancona]

 One of the larger " Thornless " P.  glandulosa  specimens around Chandler..  Hard to tell by the picture, but takes up a pretty good amount of space.  Aloe ..something.. ( didn't look at the name plate ) below it to the right.

[PALMS&BLE’Sutah]

Sorry to add to this so late, but I’ve been noticing the same exact thing with P. glandulosa in my area as well. I live in St. George, Utah (zone 8b/9a) and I’ve noticed most years about 40-70% of the cultivated Honey Mesquites stay mostly evergreen/semi evergreen. These evergreen specimens also seem to most commonly be the thornless variety. The native Prosopis gladulosa that grows in southwestern Utah has thorns, and tends lean more on the deciduous side most years.
 

These pictures where taken on February 18th at the Red Hills Desert Garden in St. George, Utah. This specimen is a thornless variety, and is pretty heavily leafed out besides a few areas. 

Edited March 2, 2022 by PALMS&BLE’Sutah

[Xerarch]

1 hour ago, PALMS&BLE’Sutah said:

Sorry to add to this so late, but I’ve been noticing the same exact thing with P. glandulosa in my area as well. I live in St. George, Utah (zone 8b/9a) and I’ve noticed most years about 40-70% of the cultivated Honey Mesquites stay mostly evergreen/semi evergreen. These evergreen specimens also seem to most commonly be the thornless variety. The native Prosopis gladulosa that grows in southwestern Utah has thorns, and tends lean more on the deciduous side most years.
 

These pictures where taken on February 18th at the Red Hills Desert Garden in St. George, Utah. This specimen is a thornless variety, and is pretty heavily leafed out besides a few areas. 

Impressive that that keeps so many leaves there in St. George as I know you get hard freezes there.  I was wondering if the semi-evergreen habit was aided by lack of freezing temps, guess not.  It just so happens that I was poking around that Red Hills Desert Garden on Google Earth the other day.  Looks like a cool little place but couldn't see too much from Google.  I guess it should have a decent micro-climate there with the south facing wall of red rocks behind it while sitting up above the rest of town that should keep it up above the coldest air sinks.

[Silas_Sancona]

A few pictures as local Honey Mesquite wake up from their winter nap.. New green foliage -on anything- is always nice, but the particular shade of green on these seems to stand out among most trees planted here.

[amh]

The mesquite in my area just started leafing out this week; no more freezes this spring.