Indian Coral Tree
Erythrina x bidwillii
This magnificent Indian Coral Tree can be a large shrub or small tree. The blooms appear on large arching racemes that can be 2 to 3 feet long. The blooms are a bright true red which did not upload well. (San Antonio, Tx.)
Looks like it might attract hummingbirds with that bright red color! Thanks for sharing it with us...I never heard of it before.
It does. The racemes are huge. I have a great closeup of one of them, but when it uploads the true red is all messed up and it looks ugly. I did not complete the upload. I am going to take another photo in different light. Thanks for your comment.
I will watch for the closeup. The handrail in the photo does suggest that the plant is larger than it looks.
My pictures are posting many days after I upload them, are yours?
I will email you the closeup I have. The PDB queue is log jammed with uploads.
Okay, email it to me and I can see it more quickly.
I have been sending in 5 pics a day and maybe 1 or 2 are posting...guess I better slack off for a bit.
The worst thing happened...I finally took the plastic off the sweet olives and duranta and situated them in a cool area of the yard. The very first night a chipmunk or something ate off every smidgeon of growth. Makes me feel sick! There is a very vague chance that something will sprout from the roots, so I am hoping...
The firespike and plectranthus are still coming along real well.
The Chinese violet seedling turned out to be a red yucca that had gotten into the pot...I thought it looked funny. Now I have 6 of the red yuccas so I will share some of those with friends. The red cyclamen babies look real good, too, and so does the Peruvian lily. The Brazilian Flame is starting to set flower buds, I am really looking forward to seeing them open!
I have have had something eat my plants to the soil level before too. I always feel so sad. If they don't sprout out, I will send you another cutting from the sweet olive. I would send a cutting from the duranta, but it is still small. I am happy to hear that the others are doing so well. The Brazilian Flame is liked by grasshoppers so if you see a few holes in the leaves, you may have to dust it with Sevin dust which is the only thing that I have found that keeps the grasshoppers from eating them up. Usually I don't use chemicals, but sometimes I have to.
Thanks for the advice, Hazel.
I am still sick over losing the rooted cuttings, partly because of all the trouble you went to sending them. And then they were the hardest to root, too. When I think of all the plants that varmint could have eaten instead...
I put out some raw peanuts as an alternative food and they were all eaten up the next morning. But I hate to have to do that all summer!
Last year field rats were eating all of my plants to the soil level in my back yard to obtain water. One day a huge beautiful cyclamen. The next day totally chewed off at the base. The didn't eat the whole plant. They chewed the stems.
This message was edited Sep 2, 2009 3:55 AM
are these flowers of this plant frangrant or not ?
I am sorry to be so late in answering your question. I do not recall the blooms having any fragrance and I can not find any reference stating that the blooms are fragrant. If I can locate one in bloom, I will smell the blooms so I can answer your question from firsthand experience.
Hello Hazel,
I have two erythrina bidwillii and they have done so well here in central Texas. They have survived lows in the teens and are just beautiful!
Hi, there. I hope all is well with you. I did not realize that they can withstand such low temperatures. How did they handle the heat this summer?
They did very well - even with the drought we have had and the high temperatures. The largest one I have gets no shade - full sun all day long and, to say the least, that is hot with temperatures in the double digits. The other one is newer and does get some shade. I have to tell you that the firespike that you sent me several years ago is still doing great!! It's one of my favorite plants.
I wish that had a place to plant a Erythrina x bidwillii. It is a great plant even when not in bloom. I am so happy that the firespike is still doing well for you. Mine began blooming early this year. I guess with all of the hot weather in July that they thought it was August. We have had 2 good rains the past few days ... the best ones in 2 years. My plants are very happy with the cooler weather and the refreshing drinks. Take care.
You always have the "neatest" plants!! Every time I see something new on Dave's Garden I know it is from you. I was wondering if you tried the new Calliope Dark Red geraniums this year. Jimmy Turner at the Dallas Arboretum swore that they would take the Texas heat. Well, he was absolutely right. I have several large hanging baskets of them facing due west with that hot afternoon sun beating right down on them and they are beautiful. Next spring you should try them - I think you will like them. Take care.
Ann
No, I haven't tried them. Thanks for the info. My geraniums look awful right now
