Orange Geiger - Cordia sebestena

[aztropic]

Flowering season just starting for my orange geiger tree growing in the Arizona desert. Wondering if anybody else grows these outside of Florida or Hawaii? Intense orange bloomer!

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[flplantguy]

A favorite of mine but i think i may be too far north. I want to try anyway though.  And white geiger is a smal dunk here pretty much.  South Texas i bet could grow some beauties, maybe even San Diego in a hot spot?

[bubba]

Scrawny one:

[Silas_Sancona]

Looks great Scott! ..Was awaiting word on how it did through this past winter. Need to get a hold of some fresh seeds again. Wasn't our " cold " that killed mine.



Agree w you @flplantguy .. While  more of a challenge in this part of the U.S., ( Probably benefit from being grown to 10-15gal size before being planted out ) i firmly believe these could succeed in the right spot in favored areas of S. Cal. / San Diego Co. esp.. 

Mine, a unexpected survivor that popped up in a pot after moving here, ( Another i'd bought while still in FL pooped out that first winter for whatever reason ) did well until i didn't water it enough during one of our infamous, pre -monsoon heatwaves.

Yea, i kept it up on the patio / under the canopy of a large Mesquite ( ..because of our heat / sun intensity / size ) and it would look rough after a cooler winter / would suffer some tip die back, That said, it would snap out of it and continue to add size /wood at a steady pace once things warmed up again in Feb / March..

Are grown in both Baja and Hermosillo ( ..and likely other areas of Sonora, / N. Sinaloa,  Mexico ) and survive the heat / sun in both areas. While cooler in winter than both areas just referenced, were hotter, drier and generally get less rain than further south  ..Maybe as much  ..or slightly more... than Baja Sur ( Cabo, Loreto, Todo Santos, La Paz / Cabo Pulmo ) so they obviously can handle " dry " heat..

There's another red-flowered Cordia that is almost as common -maybe more so- from the same areas of mainland W. Mexico i want to try here as well.  Might be just as touchy ..but grow-able, or perhaps is just a touch hardier..

 C. lutea ( the yellow flowered sp. ) have been grown in near coastal S. Cal w/ out issues  -that i'm aware of.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Silas_Sancona

[bubba]

Picture is worth...

[hbernstein]

15 hours ago, bubba said:

Scrawny one:

That isn't an Orange Geiger, Cordia sebestena. It's a Peregrina, Jatropha integerrima. Different family.

[aztropic]

2 hours ago, hbernstein said:

That isn't an Orange Geiger, Cordia sebestena. It's a Peregrina, Jatropha integerrima. Different family.

It's all good.😄 Jatropha also grow well here in the Arizona desert.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

Here's a red flowered Jatropha I passed in a garden center just now.  

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

Nice seed set on the orange geiger! Will start a few new ones for the fun of it! 😄 

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

First batch of seeds are now ripe,with a second flowering on the way.  

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

Fruits AND flowers!

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[Barry]

I planted some seeds recently doing good. I haven’t grown these for awhile. But like the constant blooming.

[aztropic]

Round 3!  

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

Looks like another successful pollination. Humming birds are attracted to this extremely electric orange color when in flower. Thanks Hummers!

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

Blooming a little earlier this year. Tons of buds to come. It spent the entire winter outside with no protection,so looks a little ratty at the moment. Also started a few seedlings from the seeds it produced last year. I believe it is also the only flowering specimen in the entire state of Arizona. People just don't grow,what they don't know...🤷‍♂️ 

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[Meangreen94z]

Beautiful.

One of my Cordia boissieri is in flower.

[aztropic]

Another year growing completely outside in Arizona without any protection. This year,it did completely defoliate due to a couple light freezes,but is just starting to grow again now. Orange geiger is definitely hardier than people give it credit for...

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

Just a couple weeks later and,voila! Another year of success with orange geiger growing in the Arizona desert.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

 

[ahosey01]

Funny you updated this thread because I just found one of these at a nursery today and bought it.  Have wanted one for a while.  Would be cool if it would hybridize with the locally native Cordia boisseri.

[aztropic]

2 hours ago, ahosey01 said:

 Would be cool if it would hybridize with the locally native Cordia boisseri.

I'd hate to lose any of the intense orange color in the flowers by crossing with the white flowers of boisseri. This orange is so hot, it literally burns your eyes! 😄

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[Fusca]

On 4/26/2025 at 1:36 PM, aztropic said:

Another year growing completely outside in Arizona without any protection. This year,it did completely defoliate due to a couple light freezes,but is just starting to grow again now. Orange geiger is definitely hardier than people give it credit for...

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

Scott, how light of a freeze zapped it?  30°F?  We occasionally dip down to 27°F - I wonder if that would kill it.  My Delonix regia that I grew from seed came back from consecutive 27° winters but a third 27° low might have finished it off as it hasn't come back yet...

[ahosey01]

17 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Scott, how light of a freeze zapped it?  30°F?  We occasionally dip down to 27°F - I wonder if that would kill it.  My Delonix regia that I grew from seed came back from consecutive 27° winters but a third 27° low might have finished it off as it hasn't come back yet...

An old Weslaco Ag Station Bulletin from 1942 I found lists these as about as hardy as a Jacaranda.  Keep in mind these are native all the way up to like the central part of Florida's east coast.  My thought here is defoliation due to cold is different than it is in Delonix.  Expect these plants have developed to do this occasionally since Florida does get blasted once in a while.

[aztropic]

4 hours ago, Fusca said:

Scott, how light of a freeze zapped it?  30°F?  We occasionally dip down to 27°F - I wonder if that would kill it.  My Delonix regia that I grew from seed came back from consecutive 27° winters but a third 27° low might have finished it off as it hasn't come back yet...

Yes. Maybe 3 nights in the 29-30F range. This is our typical winter low. Most winters,it holds a couple sad leaves at each tip. This past winter,it dropped them all. Once it warms up,new growth is vigorous with buds and beautiful lime green leaves. No geiger beetles here like in South Florida to chew them up.👍

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[ahosey01]

1 hour ago, aztropic said:

Yes. Maybe 3 nights in the 29-30F range. This is our typical winter low. Most winters,it holds a couple sad leaves at each tip. This past winter,it dropped them all. Once it warms up,new growth is vigorous with buds and beautiful lime green leaves. No geiger beetles here like in South Florida to chew them up.👍

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

I suspect its performance in RGV vs. AZ could be kind of like one of those bottle palm in CA things... ultimate lows aren't the problem as much as the cooler sustained temps are.  IDK though I'm not that smart lol

[Austinpalm]

@ahosey01 there are some blooming near the intersection of Laguna Blvd. and Georgia Ruth St on SPI.  Were planted last year.  Do not believe they dropped all their leaves this past winter.  I think the low this year on the island was around 36F.  They had nice bright flowers on Saturday.  I would like to find Cordia dodecandra.  It has similar orange flowers and makes edible fruit.

[mnorell]

I'm growing this in Rancho Mirage, in the Palm Springs area...and have learned that it will just fade out/melt over winter in a northern exposure but in a southern exposure it does just fine (I have even raised seedlings that were fine over winter when warmed by the southern sun in winter). The real enemy here to their appearance is wind. I ordered a decent-sized plant from Florida and got it in the ground early last year, it grew beautifully (just a bit too young to flower) and was completely gung-ho until an unusual fall wind event smacked it and really ruined the appearance of nearly every leaf. I left those mangled leaves on over the winter for photosynthesis and they held very well despite their less-than-beautiful appearance. But the plant is back in business and with a beautiful new crown of leaves, and the old ones now gone. I had these trees in the Florida Keys and grew to love them there (they were literally bursting with blooms just weeks after Hurricane Irma laid waste to the entire area!). So I'm elated to know they can do well in the desert southwest.

[aztropic]

Seeds planted last year in a community pot were transplanted into individual 1 gallons this spring and are taking off, for the next generation!😀

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona