Palo Verde Season 2022

[Silas_Sancona]

It's that time of  year again.. As the Sweet Acacia fade to apple green, and the heat cranks up, Golden clouds of Palo Verde burst into bloom across the landscape.. 

While most years are great, for some reason, the trees seem very vibrant this year. Certainly a nice backdrop looking across the street from the living room at the moment.  In a couple weeks, the curtain will close on their turn on stage as the next group of desert trees gears up for their show.. 

Yes, they can be messy, and limbs can break easily/ uproot easily if watered too much / pruned abusively but,  the Sonoran Desert, and surrounding parts of the U.S. and neighboring Mexico wouldn't be the same without them.   

Enjoy..


                                                                                                          ** This year's display is dedicated to the people and nation of Ukraine.. **

Blue Palo Verde, Parkinsonia florida







What large and minimally abused specimens can look like when not constantly hacked up:








Palo Brea, Parkinsonia praecox, just starting to light up










Foothill / Little Leaf Palo Verde, Parkinsonia microphylla.. White banner petal is a often dead give away to the species..





Although some trees produce smaller, overall pale yellow flowers w/ no color distinction between the Banner and other parts of individual flowers.






Not 100% sure on the cultivars but likely X Desert Museum ( the most popular / widely planted " named " cultivar ) there are also a couple other cultivar selections that look similar, and are planted fairly often around town.















Randoms..  ..a few more later..








 

[Silas_Sancona]

Pretty praecox..


















Tortured souls..

[JasonD]

What a beautiful set of photos. Thank you for contributing this post. I hear that some palo verdes are fragrant. What are you smelling? Does one species stand out in its fragrance?

We see 'Desert Museum' planted in hotter parts of the Bay Area, and we grow a small number at the wholesale nursery I work for in Fallbrook, San Diego County.

I wish more desert trees were adapted to our cool, (supposedly) wet winters. Best we can do reliably is Acacia stenophylla, a nice desert-looking tree. Its beanpod fruits are constricted between the seeds, looking like hanging chains. 

One of my favorite desert trees is Cercocarpus ledifolius, a mountain plant that takes forever to get any size and probably would not like our mild winters.

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, JasonD said:

What a beautiful set of photos. Thank you for contributing this post. I hear that some palo verdes are fragrant. What are you smelling? Does one species stand out in its fragrance?

We see 'Desert Museum' planted in hotter parts of the Bay Area, and we grow a small number at the wholesale nursery I work for in Fallbrook, San Diego County.

I wish more desert trees were adapted to our cool, (supposedly) wet winters. Best we can do reliably is Acacia stenophylla, a nice desert-looking tree. Its beanpod fruits are constricted between the seeds, looking like hanging chains. 

One of my favorite desert trees is Cercocarpus ledifolius, a mountain plant that takes forever to get any size and probably would not like our mild winters.

Thanks Jason..  I'll have to sniff agin, but didn't really notice any with a fragrance ..though i thought flowers on X Desert Museum might be fragrant.. 

  Have heard of P. praecox and remember seeing P. microphylla for sale via some nurseries around San Diego ..maybe in the L.A. Basin as well?  Regardless, think those two could do well ..roughly as far north as the south and east bay.  Know there are ( ..Unless they got removed since i saw them several years ago ) several Desert Museum specimens in a shopping center in east San Jose ..Kind of over by Raging Waters and Eastridge Mall ..If you're familiar w/ that side of San Jose.. I'll have to see if i can find the exact location via street view again.  Have pictures of those when i wandered to where they're located after someone had brought flowers into where i worked at that time, but they're on an old hard drive somewhere.

Keep a eye on Acacia stenophylla.. Something here has been killing them around town, ..essentially,  larger trees suddenly start dying off ..kind of like Fire blight, except ..whatever it is eventually kills the tree. Another thing i noticed is in a couple places near man made lakes, seed will sprout  -everywhere..

I am also surprised more desert-y stuff from this part of the region hasn't been promoted more in the Bay Area.  Before i left San Jose, i planted some common stuff you see here in a small, curbside area at a neighbor's house ( Actually came out here to get the plants ) ..From the Street View, everything is still there, 9 years later...

There's a couple Mountain Mahogany ( Cercocarpus ) species here ..one grows up at a spot i've been looking over ( When you have an opportunity, feel free to check out the " Sacred Ground " series of posts i put together in Ohana Nui ) since last fall.  While it is pretty hot and dry up there, " heat " up there is more like what the east bay experiences, than what is experienced here right next door to Phoenix.  Foothills also see both more summer and winter rainfall ( when it actually rains, lol ) winters are fairly mild up at Oak Flat ( elevation straddles 4K ft ) but they can see a couple inches of snow every once in awhile..

If the repeating cycles of mostly dry ..and relatively  mild winters / warmer spring - type of weather pattern is something that becomes more the norm. rather than an uncommon anomaly out there in the coming years, think you'll see more desert- adapted things showing up in landscapes.. 


As it is, think plants from middle elevation spots in the Catalinas / mountains and flatter plains of S. AZ could handle milder parts of the Bay Area ..as long as they were treated like natives and not like stuff that was watered all the time.  Have been hearing Quercus oblangifolia,  Arizona's   " Blue Oak " has been planted more and more out there, and seems to be thriving..  So far at least.


If Acacia stenophylla does good there, Texas Ebony may be another great tree i think could do really well in the Bay Area.. Bet it might actually grow a touch faster and bigger there w/ the more consistent humidity.. While they do like heat, summers in most of the bay area should be adequate, and think they're actually slowed down a little here during the summer due to the constant 107-115F heat we see before Monsoon Season sets in ( if it does ) and takes the edge off the heat / raises humidity.. 

 

[Peter]

Fantastic photos Nathan! 

[richtrav]

Jason, it’s kind of cheating but there’s the Chilean “palo verde” Geoffroea decorticans which naturally occurs in a Mediterranean type climate.

Speaking of ebonies, in the mountains of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas there’s a wonderful little mini-ebony Pithecellobium elasticophyllum (now a Painteria) that should do well in California, it should not need the tropical heat that Texas ebony wants.

We can’t grow the Medusa-like form of Vachellia schaffneri from the high Mexican plateau here at all, it quickly dies in the heat and humidity of summer. But the Huntington has an absolutely perfect specimen of it, at least they used to. 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

On 4/11/2022 at 12:24 PM, richtrav said:

Jason, it’s kind of cheating but there’s the Chilean “palo verde” Geoffroea decorticans which naturally occurs in a Mediterranean type climate.

Speaking of ebonies, in the mountains of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas there’s a wonderful little mini-ebony Pithecellobium elasticophyllum (now a Painteria) that should do well in California, it should not need the tropical heat that Texas ebony wants.

We can’t grow the Medusa-like form of Vachellia schaffneri from the high Mexican plateau here at all, it quickly dies in the heat and humidity of summer. But the Huntington has an absolutely perfect specimen of it, at least they used to. 

 

Surprised that form of V.  schaffneri isn't a fan of S. TX. heat /  humidity.. Figured that would be among the more ideal places for growing big specimens... Other than Boyce, haven't seen any other specimens around town, though i know it has been offered for sale by a few nurseries here.

As for Geoffroea decorticans,  it is a great tree, and would definitely be a good trial candidate for the Bay Area. Only consideration i'd make would be ..don't plant near waterways.. Had heard it can seed itself fairly easily in such areas, and noticed numerous seedling- sized trees near the big ones planted near Queen Creek at Boyce ( can see a few growing near the Tung Oil Tree i photographed there )  Also likes to sucker.. Though i've only noticed that occurring around a few, well watered specimens here.

[Silas_Sancona]

Some Habitat shots..

Parkinsonia florida











One of just a few P. microphylla that had open flowers..





P. microphylla ( lower left, at the foot of the wash for sure) Specimen at the top of the wash, on the right i'm not 100% of.. May be P. florida.



As mentioned in the " Walking w/ Hedgehogs " thread,  specimens out in the desert east of Florence are ..roughly.. 2 weeks from really starting to flower.. Some were budded, others just starting to form them.

That said, within roughly 2 - 4 miles of Florence, along the highway headed east, and in the open desert between Chandler and Florence, Blue P. V.s are going off.. Noticed Mesquite are following a similar pattern also.



Some big P. praecox at peak bloom along the way home.. Pretty incredible how far away you can see these flowering while driving.  Trees in the Center Divide in Picture #1 are Sissoo.

[richtrav]

3 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Surprised that form of V.  schaffneri isn't a fan of S. TX. heat /  humidity.. Figured that would be among the more ideal places for growing big specimens... Other than Boyce, haven't seen any other specimens around town, though i know it has been offered for sale by a few nurseries here.

As for Geoffroea decorticans,  it is a great tree, and would definitely be a good trial candidate for the Bay Area. Only consideration i'd make would be ..don't plant near waterways.. Had heard it can seed itself fairly easily in such areas, and noticed numerous seedling- sized trees near the big ones planted near Queen Creek at Boyce ( can see a few growing near the Tung Oil Tree i photographed there )  Also likes to sucker.. Though i've only noticed that occurring around a few, well watered specimens here.

No it does horribly here, I’ve even tried growing what look like intergrades between schaffneri and farnesiana and they don’t make it past a few inches. V. rigidula can be used as a substitute if you don’t water it. I actually have a Parkinsonia hybrid from Arid Zone Trees that looks halfway decent this year, the best it’s ever looked. And Tabebuia nodosa is putting out a pre-growth flowering this year, it usually blooms best in May or June. 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by richtrav

[Silas_Sancona]

8 minutes ago, richtrav said:

No it does horribly here, I’ve even tried growing what look like intergrades between schaffneri and farnesiana and they don’t make it past a few inches. V. rigidula can be used as a substitute if you don’t water it. I actually have a Parkinsonia hybrid from Arid Zone Trees that looks halfway decent this year, the best it’s ever looked. And Tabebuia nodosa is putting out a pre-growth flowering this year, it usually blooms best in May or June. 

 

Interesting...  Would have never thought V. schaffneri  was sensitive to those conditions..

V.  rigidula is pretty much bullet proof.   There's a park down the road that has 2 specimens. 1 looks like how you often see rigidula treated here, as a large " bush ",   and a specimen that is a large tree, ..which i actually thought might be the Medusa- like  form of V. schaffneri  until it flowered.  What's odd is i've yet to see it form pods, ..or maybe i check on it too late after they have been shed..

You remember which hybrid you picked up from AZT?
 

[richtrav]

I can’t remember for sure, maybe Justin called it clone #5? It looks like a praecox-florida hybrid, it has no retama in it. 

[RyManUtah]

This Ferocactus (?)  got put in the ground at the end of winter. What I thought I collect seed from (locally, in Utah) was Ferocactus cylindraceus - now I’m wondering if it’s something else entirely. 
Regardless, a pleasant surprise at this size: 

[RyManUtah]

Apologies everyone, I had the wrong thread loaded. 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, RyManUtah said:

Apologies everyone, I had the wrong thread loaded. 

Gotta love when that happens..  As for the Cactus, got a picture or two of the body?..  Flowers definitely doesn't look like a Fero.

[RyManUtah]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Gotta love when that happens..  As for the Cactus, got a picture or two of the body?..  Flowers definitely doesn't look like a Fero.

Sure thing. I wouldn’t wager but i’d guess some type of Sclerocactus - “glows” red when wet. Fruit was collected off the ground of Blake’s Lambing Grounds eons ago. 
 

[Silas_Sancona]

20 minutes ago, RyManUtah said:

Sure thing. I wouldn’t wager but i’d guess some type of Sclerocactus - “glows” red when wet. Fruit was collected off the ground of Blake’s Lambing Grounds eons ago. 
 

Ryan, ..Think you nailed it.. Looks a lot like this species:  https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/148445-Sclerocactus-parviflorus  ..Just not sure which subsp. would be closest to you ( Not that it really matters ).

 

[Tom in Tucson]

6 hours ago, RyManUtah said:

Sure thing. I wouldn’t wager but i’d guess some type of Sclerocactus - “glows” red when wet. Fruit was collected off the ground of Blake’s Lambing Grounds eons ago. 
 

My guess Echinomastus (Sclerocactus) johnsonii 

Nice looking and well grown.

Hi 88˚, Lo 42˚

[Silas_Sancona]

@JasonD,

Was able to find the pictures of Parkinsonia X .. likely " Desert Museum " ( At least some.. Others looks like they lean more P. aculeata dominant < if not pure P. a.  ) i tracked down in East San Jose back in 2012.. 










Can't say how much they've grown since ..but are still at the same location ( Scattered in planters around the parking lot of an HD  ) when i checked a few weeks ago via street view.

[Marie Nock]

What a beautiful post!  Thank you for taking the time to take the marvelous photos and the time to post them so we could enjoy!

[Hillizard]

A native bee headfirst in a flower of my 'Desert Museum' Palo Verde tree. This tree should give some of my understory plants (incl. palms) the light shade they need.

From https://calscape.org/Cercidium-'Desert-Museum'-(Desert-Museum-Palo-Verde)

"This is a hybrid palo verde tree that has its origin in three parent trees: Parkinsonia microphyllum, Parkinsonia floridum, and Parkinsonia aculeata. One great attribute of 'Desert Museum' is that unlike other palo verdes, it is thornless' the better to show off its smooth green trunk and branches! It has long thin, lime green leaves that are divided into tiny leaflets. 'Desert Museum' palo verde boasts a longer bloom time and larger flowers than other varieties, showcasing 1' bright yellow flowers in spring and summer.
Cercidium 'Desert Museum' gets to be about 25' to 30' high and wide, but can be pruned to be kept smaller. The filtered shade offered by 'Desert Museum' is typical of palo verdes, just a light covering that allows many other kinds of plants to grow beneath it.
This tree can be affected by powdery mildew near the coast; it is much better suited for the warmth and dry air inland. Like its parent plants, 'Desert Museum' loves blazing full sun and is impervious to heat; it can take wind, poor soil and temperatures down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a trouble free, fast growing tree and can reach its full height in as little as 3 to 5 years. Once established, needs only occasional watering at the most, and none in many circumstances. Since it is a sterile hybrid it will not reseed.
A great small to medium sized tree for xeriscaping and attracting birds to your garden, 'Desert Museum' is a gem for any desert or low water garden."