Re: Anyone growing these trees in USDA zones 9/10?
- To: "Medit-Plants"
- Subject: Re: Anyone growing these trees in USDA zones 9/10?
- From: W* G*
- Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 09:09:54 -0400
On 1/04/01 4:15 AM david feix (davidfeix@yahoo.com) wrote:
>I was looking through a web site on south Florida
>trees, and it got me to thinking of some trees that
>are rated as hardy in USDA Zones 9/10, but that I have
>never seen growing here in California. I was wondering
>if they are being grown here, and if so, what are the
>local conditions,(winter highs/lows and summer
>highs/lows? Here is my list:
>Bolusanthus speciosus
>Tabebuia caraiba(syn argentea)
>Cassia fistula
>Anyone growing any of these in California or other
>Mediterranean climatic zones, and can offer advice?
Not Mediterranean here, of course, but T. caraiba and C. fistula are
commonly seen throughout the West Indies.
There is one B. speciosus ('African Wisteria') on my property grown from
seed collected in Kenya that is now ten years old, 6 metres (20 feet)
high, and blooming occasionally, and a few other trees on this island
from the same seed lot that I distributed to friends. Not demanding of
cultivation, but not as spectacular when in flower (blue/purple) in this
ever-warm climate near sea level as it is when growing at higher
elevations in East Africa. A nice, rough-barked, pest-free small tree
that affords light shade but not one that I would plant again.
One handsome African tree that does very well here and fruits abundantly,
as long as there are both male and female trees since it is dioecious, is
Harpephyllum caffrum, the South African 'Kaffir Plum'. Is this grown at
all in California and other Medit climates?
William Glover
Nevis, West Indies
