I'd second Erythrina, and if you sowed a bunch of seeds in one spot, that's what you'd get. They are a small to medium sized tree, a variety of flower shapes, some evergreen and some deciduous. The thorniness is a put-off for a residential yard. If you check out scrolling through the link below you will see there are a variety of seed colours not all are red, many look very much like a bean. The tree is leguminous. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=erythrina+seeds&rlz=1C1CHMO_en-GBAU532AU532&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=AmmRUYPSEoa6iAeZtYEo&ved=0CD8QsAQ&biw=1280&bih=907

I did a little research trying to find references to Erythrina uses, and find that the Encylopedia of Psychoactive plants has this to say about Erythrina americana: When describing the ritual uses of Erythrina americana, a tree known to the Aztecs as tzompantli ("skull frame"), Rätsch indicates that, in pre-Columbian Mexico, its narcotic seeds may have been administered to Aztec sacrificial victims before they were disemboweled and butchered. He also cites historic records collected by Victor Reko indicating that the red seeds were sometimes consumed in colonial Mexico as an intoxicant because they produced "immoderate gaiety, then confused speech, wobbling as if drunk, and a heightened libido." The drawback was that, as Reko states, "The intoxicated person then fell into a deep sleep, from which they usually did not reawaken." "Skull frame"? Wow! Maybe there is a reason for its presence along the Calzada de los Muertos!

Most reference sources suggest that Erythrina crista-galli is better in zones 8 on up, but it probably can be overwintered if well mulched and given good drainage in winter. This species is South American, and is considered one of the hardiest large shrub/small tree species. Certainly summer heat will not phase this plant one bit, but it does like to grow along rivers and swamps in habitat, or it is best with summer water. Is not Erythrina herbacea native in the Carolinas? It is certainly fairly common in the Gulf Coast states. If E. x bidwillii is hardy enough to be grown as a die back perennial in your area, this is in my opinion the most beautiful flowered of all the Erythrinas, and also loves the heat. It flowers beautifully here in the San Francisco Bay Area by the time it finally heats up in late summer, but is much more abundant in bloom in hotter inland valleys or southern California, where it can become a small tree. I would guess that you probably won't have this plant get attacked by all the insects that destroy the flowers on Erythrina species in south Florida, as it doesn't sound like you have the critical mass of plants to attract the pest borers, beetles and caterpillars that can decimate them. We're lucky that way here in San Francisco as well, not enough of them in the landscape to keep the pests alive here year round. Some of the South African Erythrina species such as E. caffra and E. lysistemon are glorious down in southern California in mid winter bloom. We can also grow the Mexican E. coralloides here, which I also quite like, but it doesn't tend to bloom while deciduous or have the massively thick trunks of some of the South African species. Cool plants, and they all love hot summers, without any doubts.

I dunno, doesn't sound good! Haven't grown that one, but had one of it's parents, E. herbacea, for many years. Unlike x bidwillii, it was fertile and I would find seedlings all over the back yard. I never removed them, but they never grew into mature shrubs and would disappear after a few years. An absentee owner next door, after repeated warnings from the HOA, hired some day workers to clean up his property, without telling them where the property line was. They cut my shrub down and it never returned. A combination of drought and the past winter temperatures colder than we have experienced in several years, may have been too much for your plant. I lost several old, established plants/shrubs and had tremendous dieback on a huge number of shrubs and trees.