Propagating Erythrina Bidwillii

I would like to propagate my Erythrina bidwillii which grows into a very large shrub every year in my zone 8 garden before the frost kills it back to the large caudiciform-like base. I have had no luck after multiple attempts at stem cuttings. Does anyone know the secret?

A great person to contact would be David Rodriguez, with the Bexar county ext. office. I know he's awfully knowledgeable about Erythrinas. His email is dhrodriguez@ag.tamu.edu

Huh... have you never gotten seeds off of it? I had one once, but I can't remember seeing any.

No, I have never seen any seeds on any of my three shrubs.

For what it's worth, I have Erythrina christa-galli seeds that germinated in a week on a mat under grow lights.

I'm assuming your shrubs have flowered- maybe if you put a ventilated bag (cheesecloth or the like) over the bloom once it's faded, then you'll be sure to get some seed. They're about the size of a pea.

I don't think this one produces seeds, and since it's a cross between E. crista-galli and E. herbacea, I'm not sure what the seeds would turn out to be even if it did happen to make a seed or two. I think if you give it a little protection over the winter like mulching it or something it ought to come back. It's listed as hardy to zone 9, but if you read some of the comments in Plant Files, there's someone even in zone 7b who says it comes back for them. It will die back over the winter, but then it comes back in spring, so maybe you just need to give it more of a chance--I don't know how quickly you gave it up for dead?

My plant is in my zone 8 garden and it behaves like a perennial - dies back to the giant above-ground root base in winter and then grows like crazy as soon as temperatures get above freezing consistently at night. So I can keep them alive, I just cannot grow from cuttings

Watch out, ecrane! This is how it happens! You may wind up with a totally unidentifiable Erythrina like my Senna (Plant I.D.)... Talk about frustration!!!

Were the Erythrina christa-galli seeds easy to start? I have 3 I am getting ready to start.