Mexican bird of paradise

Texans love this plant, and certainly with reason. Could any flower be more stunning?

Hats off to the City of Allen for using this plant in hot places like busy road medians. I took these photos on Exchange Parkway near their high school football stadium and the new HEB grocery. Thousands of people every day enjoy these plants. It’s been this way for many years.

Exchange Parkway in Allen, just east of US75, with the Allen High School football stadium in the background. Growing in the foreboding median, this planting has been in bloom since early summer. All images are clickable for larger views.

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Details to learn…
If you’re going to grow it, you need to know it:
• Mexican bird of paradise. Other names: Red bird of paradise. Dwarf poinciana. Pride of Barbados. And its botanical name: Caesalpinia pulcherrima.

Just to prove my case, Lynn and I drove back to the median where we’ve been admiring the Mexican birds of paradise plants in bloom all summer, not only this year, but for many years in the past. This, another of my infamous “through-the-windshield” photos taken just two days ago, stands as evidence. This is a tough place to be a plant (Exchange Pkwy. at Andrews, just east of US 75 in Allen). Sorry about the photo quality (looks like a 1950s postcard), but I don’t dodge high-speed traffic like I used to.

• Root-hardy to Zone 8. (May come back from roots in the I-20 corridor.) Zone 9 may lose its leaves. Zone 10 may be evergreen shrub. (I’ve tempered those predictions after February 2021!)

Even this plant’s foliage has a tropical flavor.

• Needs full sun, good drainage.
• Grows to 6 to 8 ft. tall and wide, but not as large in North Texas due to shorter growing seasons.
• Blooms best when given good garden soil, regular feedings and frequent waterings.

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Bees abound (a great thing!) when you have Mexican bird of paradise blooming.

• Popular with honeybees and colorful butterflies.
• Available in nurseries in late spring and summer, once they begin to get their summer tropical supplies.

A Facebook friend posted this photo she had taken of a beautiful Monarch butterfly caterpillar on her Mexican bird of paradise. A showy plant deserves an equally showy visitor.
Posted by Neil Sperry
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