Q. I saw a royal poinciana tree in Fort Lauderdale, and I would like to grow one. Will it grow in our area (Clearwater) and if not, why not? I have plumerias in my yard, which do quite well. - P. Balco
A. The royal poinciana (Delonix regia) is a real showstopper with its red and orange bursts of color in early summer. Unfortunately, it's extremely cold sensitive and not a good choice for the Tampa Bay area. But you can always give it a try; just be prepared to protect it during freezing temperatures. That's manageable when the tree is young, but it's a fast grower that can stand 40 feet tall and 60 feet wide.
"Be prepared to be disappointed. It's an exercise in futility," warns Bob Albanese, a horticulturist at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo, where a beautiful specimen was severely damaged last winter and removed after more damage from last month's storms.
If you do plant a royal poinciana, choose a protected spot in full sun. Give it plenty of room to grow. It is fairly salt-tolerant, drought-tolerant and pest-resistant. When winter comes, be ready to protect it from the trunk up. Create a greenhouse effect by using a blanket over the plant, then plastic sheeting. You should do the same on your frangipani (Plumeria spp.), which tolerate the cold better, but still can suffer damage.
Albanese suggests taking a 6 to 8 inch long cutting from your frangipani in the fall to keep indoors. That way, if you lose your plant during a freeze, you can start another. Let the cutting callous for a few days, then place it in potting soil. You could also pot both plants and bring them indoors during cold spells.
I keep a potted frangipani in the garage all winter, where it sits dormant until March, when I return it to the patio. Keep your pruning shears handy because you'll need to bonsai both to rein in growth.
Better cold-hardy trees with magnificent color include the trumpet tree (Tabebuia) with yellow, pink and purple varieties; lavender to purple jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia); crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica hybrids) in white, pink, purple, lavender or red; and yellow poinciana (Peltophorum dubium).
- Yvonne Swanson is a freelance writer in St. Petersburg and a master gardener for Pinellas County. If you have a garden questions, e-mail floridian@sptimes.com put Garden in the message window; or write: Yvonne Swanson, Garden Writer/Floridian, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.
