Yes, I have one I grew from seed, it's now about 25ft tall. :o)

Katkin, how old is your Poinciana? The one I have is about 8 feet tall and is basically just a stick. I am hoping that it fills out. I just planted it.

I would say it is between 7 and 8 years old and has been blooming for 3 years. It might have bloomed sooner but the hurricanes stripped it bare. It took a year to leaf out again. ;o)

Do these trees lose their leaves in the winter?

Hi
I removed mine several years ago due to lack of space.. Wonderful tree IF you have the room. They tend to spread rather than grow upwards. Producing very dense shade,.
They also tend to be brittle though they snap rather than tip over in high winds.. Another bad habit is the seed pods. It's possible to get sterile varieties eliminating that problem.. Obviously don't plant it too close to structures or walkways as they do get enormourmous lol gary

Yes, they do spread outward, but I just prune off what I don't want, that is hanging too low. Taking out some of the branches makes it less dense. Mine doesn't go completely bare in the winter, but in colder areas it will. Mine provides dappled shade for my bromeliad bed. Most of my flowering trees produce pods, so I am used to picking them up when I weed. I think the yellow one gets taller, if I remember right. Trini1, do you know?

I'm not sure they grow anywhere that it freezes, no? Aren't they very sensitive to the cold? I don't remember ever seeing one in the Orlando Area, near the beach further south, say in Melborne I have seen them, I believe.

Tom123, I have heard that they will die if the weather drops below 30 degrees. Thank you everyone for all the tips.

Katkin, I don't know as mine is in the ground about 2 1/2 years. But is was grafted. I plan keeping it short. In the islands, they keep them trimmed in some yards and I plan on doing the same thing. I don't like anything over 25-30' personally.

Thanks Trini, I am with you, and have no problem pruning plants or tree to the size I want. Sort of like bonsai. lol

The royal won't grow where it freezes, you are right Tom, I meant I stay a bit warmer then in land and that keeps it from loosing all it leaves. Even my jacaranda only looses it's leaves for about 2 weeks the end of Feb. Many times there is a frost, right here in PSL, but I don't get it, because I am on a canal. :o)

trini
I found that if severely pruned they didn't flower nearly as well. I have (had a white variety that I grew from seed) in a pot for 10 years never a flower. About a year ago I gave it to a neighbor with more room. While it has grown a bit no flowers and I fear it may be permanently stunted. I'm sure 5 years is more than enough for flowers. Don't you?? gary

Research seems to indicate you need to be in Zone 10 or 11. The tree is very fast growing, will bloom after about 5 years, usually in June, is usually spectacular in bloom, goes bare or nearly bare for about three months usually, in hurricanes will lose it branches but not fall over, is messy, creates dense shade in the summer which will cause the underlying grass to die, the seed pods have small hairy fibers, use gloves to gather them. As indicated, it grows more out than up, you need a lot of room for this tree.

I have a mature RP in my yard in Melbourne. it thrives here grows very well and flowered for the first time 2 years ago,at first just a few clusters of red flowers,then last year fully half of the tree was covered in dense flower clusters,this year I'm back to just a few bunches of flowers ,it is a very messy tree and drops leaves all the time not just in response to cold or drought,do not plant one within 5o feet of your swimming pool!!!!! all in all it is so pretty in flower that it's worth the extra work cleaning up after it

They grow beautifully down here in 10b/almost 11 but I don't have room for one. Really true specimen trees that make the difference between a boring corning and a spectacular one.

But for my space, I have a dwarf ponciana/pride of Barbados. And it is my joy. I got it barely a foot tall three years ago from a garden sale and it's now 12-feet high and actually beginning to throw some shade. It doesn't spread and have that beautiful canopy that the royals do, but it has a much, much longer bloom season. Here in Miami, it's hot if the Royals are blooming and vice versa. Meanwhile, my dwarf is threatening to bloom for a full year straight. I have lots of butterflies in it and the occasional hummer.

It is not naturally a tree, but takes to being trimmed into a tree easily. And it grows quickly and easily from seeds. If space is an issue and you want to try a Pride of Barbados instead, send me an email for seeds susannahnesmith (at) yahoo.com

susannah

I have a seedling grown this year, one of only two that came up from 6 seeds I had. One seedling died. My neighbor has one she grew from seed, and it's frozen back almost every year until last year. We're in zone 9b. About 75 miles south, they seem to do fine. Hers died back almost to the ground and then came back as a multi-stem during a really bad cold spell when it was small. It's beautiful, but doesn't really bloom well here. We think it's because it's too cold in the winter.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I bought one that is pretty tall, probably 7 feet, but only has three branches, probably was pot grown too long. I wonder if I should trim off the top to try to make it grow more branches..? Any suggestions?

Don't bother trimming the tree until next summer. At that time you will be better able to tell where you need to trim it, and it will probably be the lower branches. They are very hardy, I wouldn't worry about it.

Just a quick note, Susannah, I've got a seedling from the seeds you sent me growing right now that is about 2 ft tall and is blooming as I type this in. I was really surprised that it would bloom this quickly. Thanks again for the seeds.

Mike

Susannah, email sent, thank you.

I was suprised to see a few trees in the east Orlando area that are quite large and last years cold barely fazed them.I had also heard that freezing would kill them but they are looking great,even saw one with flowers in the spring, must be luck.

Susannah, I have 3 of the Pride of Barbados growing now in small pots from the seeds you sent. Thanks so much for the seeds. When they bloom, what color will they be? Can I keep them in pots or should I put them in the ground when they get bigger?

Katkin, I also still have the ones you gave me, thank you. What color are they again? I do hope I can keep them in pots so I can put them on my paver patio.

Sharon, the seeds and seedlings are the orange/yelow, solid yellow and pink/yellow. :o)

Mike,
Glad they took! They are crazy happy bloomers.

Shar, the ones I sent are red with a touch of yellow on the edges. Basically red. I saw a hummer in mine last week, and it's really petering out for the year.
Susannah

Kathy and Susannah, can I keep them in large pots when they get big so I can keep them on my patio? They will get lots of sun there.

The royal poincianas held up fine here where it was 28ish and a little lower in parts of st. pete two weeks ago. There are lots of big trees around here. I hear a bunch died in 82, but they havent been killed off since. Mine is only 2 years old and isnt even going to drop all of its leaves from that cold snap. i have seen a few around that are a little more exposed that are going to have complete leaf drop early.

Nurseries outside of Zone 10 sell poincianas but they are stricly a Zone 10/11 tree. Temps of 45 or less will affect poincianas and cause defoliation. I'm borderline 9b/10 and my poincianas have struggled, one died in last year's freeze. I'm giving up on them and planting trees more appropriate to my zone.

I planted a little Royal Poinciana 4 years ago, got the 12" plant from the Edison-Ford Estates nursery here in Fort Myers, FL. It is growing like crazy but never, never a single bloom. In a sunny, open spot in sandy soil. Advice?

Call me for pictures of mine. It is 55-60' tall. I made a book of it. (407)466-5024

We lost 2/3 of our RP tree in a storm tonight....I was wondering if anyone knows if it will grow new branches as would a ficus tree?

I bought a Royal Poinciana at the Edison Estate about 16 years ago. It was in a paper cuo. It is now about 20 feet high by 35 feet wide. It would probably be taller but I have had it professionally shaped. I have replanted it twice as it overgrew the area. I have protected it the few times we had cold, I live in North Fort Myers, and one year, when it was about four feet tall, I built a frame work, put a plastic tarp over it and put a floodlight in it for the overnight drop in temp. I didn't know what else to do but it worked. This year I have gathered seeds and now have eight seedlings about a foot high. I am going to keep them potted until after any cold weather and then plant a few and give the rest to friends. They are beautiful trees and worth the little extra work. Jay

Please change to "paper cup", Sorry.

I have 10 of them on my lot - they provide incredible shade and and have a wonderful canopy. All of mine are 6-8 years old and very mature. The biggest problem is the ongoing maintenance. They are fast growers, so substantial pruning is needed every 8-12 months, and expect a fair amount of droppings of leaves and small branches on a regular basis. I do have a larger than average number of them, but, on average I have to atleast once a week blow off all walks on my property of a substantial covering of leaves.

My feeling on them is mixed, they're gorgeous - just don't replicate what the last owner of my house did by covering the entire lot with them.

I planted seeds a friend brought from Bermuda. He said they grew as shrubs. I potted them last February and all sprouted. I gave some away and kept three. They started flowering in the small pots so I put them in the ground last month. Not sure if they are trees or shrubs but I'm guessing they are Poinciana bushes.

Just beautiful! Bright flowers which are visited by butterflies and hummingbirds. I'm worried they could be trees, but intend to keep them under control if necessary. So far I love them.

Jane

Jane that is probably a dwarf poincianna, "calespinia". I am sure I haven't spelled that right, but maybe you can still look it up from that. That isn't a tree, royal poincianna.

Jane that's a dwarf poinciana . They are a tree but of small stature . and you can keep them pruned to almost any size have grown one in a pot and kept it under 6 feet for over 20 years flowers continuously as long as it's warm. They also come in a solid yellow as well as a pink color Only complant about them is they produce endless seedpods but very small compared to regular poincianna lol . One more complaint. some people refer to them as bird of paradise and I think that name is already taken ??lol gary

So, roughly how quickly (from seed) do these things (Caesalpinia) begin blooming? Reason I ask is, of course, I wish to possibly use these the same way as I use popcorn cassia up in these parts-as a long-blooming "annual" in summer display planters and beds. That latter plant is almost too good to be true. Okay, these were young plugs, not seeds, but our contract grower got some p. cassias in whenever they got them-all came from somewhere in Florida-and potted them on in the greenhouse. By the time we planted them out in late may, they already had blossom buds forming, and went on to bloom all summer long with no interruption. Pretty awesome.. If the Caesalpinia can do roughly the same, it 'll be on my list for 2016.

+oM

Thanks Gary, I was afraid it was going to be a monster tree, lol! I thought it was going to be a bush. Wondering if I can keep it small as I'm running out of space.

This bush/tree started blooming from seed in 6 months! It was in a 4 inch pot and had buds. Thats when I stuck it in the ground. Lots of thorns!

Its really pretty. The flowers are so bright but now are forming seed pods.

Thanks,

Jane

Jane

The largest I've seen is located in a housing addition. Guessing around 20 feet both ways . I keep mine as a semi dwarf potted in sphag . Rececently removed about 50 percect as it was blown down by the winds I'm always looking for ways to keep my plants smaller as I ran out of room years ago.

They will flower from seed at a very small size and age just the opposite of royals(deloix ) Had a white form of one that I kept in a pot while I managed to keep it under 8 feet it never flowered. Gave it to a neighbor ,put into the ground and fear it;s permanently stunted Though it has grown still has not flowered after 15 years . Now I'll never know if it really is white lol gary

Thanks guys. There's always a degree of risk involved in having starter plants of these tropicals shipped up to a greenhouse in Wisconsin in say, early March. Any one bad occurrence-sitting on a cold loading dock for ten minutes too long, etc. can bone up the process. But it sure can be exhilarating to get some unusual (to these parts) species to perform well during the warm summer. And I'm thinking more and more that this might well be the one to compliment the Cassia didymobotrya that I definitely intend to use. Quite similar in general aspect, foliage, etc. yet quite different flowers......perfect!

+oM

ps.....all of this if I can get them!

Gary, why in sphag? I put mine (2) in the ground in pure sand. I don't water where they are.

Jane

Jane

It originally was a "bonsai" experiment . Went through a stage of dwarfing a whole bunch of trees lol I was able to keep it under two feet for many years

The sphag allows root pruning at any time and the use of a very small container . After the hurricane wrecked a bunch of them I went back to regular culture except for DP a powderpuff tree and several ficus

Decided to allow the DP to get much larger so it's planted in a pot within a pot surrounded with aroids next to the garden pool . Still want to maintain it under 6 feet ,the reason I kept the method, and the ficus MUST be kept under control lol Certainly not necessary to grow DP they do fine in florida sand . i just like to grow about 6 times more plants than I have the space for and the dwarfing method helps a LOT!! gary

Gary, can't you just plant the oversized stuff on the neighbors yard, lol.

+om

Wisconsitom

I did that within two years of moving here At that time I had very easy going neighbors lol Entire neighborhood is peppered with remains of some palm seed experiments . One neighbor still has 12 of the original 20 coconuts . as well as a royal poincianna, ,jacaranda .several cassia ,plumeria and I'm mostly to blame for the mexican petunias lol Gorgeous when they all flower at once in a kind of op art way especially the groups among the crotons Limitless color and form !! lol gary

I thought I remembered you 'fessing up to having done so in a previous thread. Hence my heckling. lol!

+oM