PlantFiles: Desert Bird of Paradise, Yellow Bird of Paradise
Caesalpinia gilliesii

This plant is extremely drought tolerant. There is an abandoned house in Chowchilla that is completely overgrown with these shrubs. It looks like it might have all started as one or a couple of shrubs, but they have reproduced and now almost block out the whole house. All of that with no water in the summer whatsoever (the house is abandoned) and we get less than 10 inches of rain a year. It's in bloom nearly all summer long.

I planted one of these last year in a spot which was so hot, dry and sunny that the last thing I tried there shriveled to nothing in a week. This species did well, though, with not even any dieback. It leafed out later than most other things in the garden this spring, but now looks healthy and has some flower buds. I did have to take a little dead foliage off early in the spring, but other than that it seems to need almost no care, not even regular watering. I haven't had any seedlings yet, but one of my neighbors has had many from her plant. A treat for the desert gardener.

This exotic invader is a native of Argentina, but has become naturalized in the Desert SW of the US now. It's NOT native to the USA and naturalizing doesn't change this fact.

As far as my experiences go, I bought one of these from a nursery in Albuquerque, NM years ago(more than 15 years ago). Some don't like it because it spreads somewhat aggressively by seed in the SW US(hence how it became naturalized), but up here in Eastern Kansas it doesn't produce nearly as many seedlings because of the colder winter temperatures here I suspect. It's suffered from some winter die-back from time to time, but nothing serious in the years I've had it. It's been through temps as low as about -10ºF and still flowered the next year. Similar to the notes from some in Oklahoma, it's not as big here in Kansas as it gets out in warmer parts of the SW US, but it's still a nice 4' or so tall here. I'd say from my experience, if planted in a well drained soil in a hot and dry area this plant is hardy to zone 6.

My mother called the Spanish Rose. I have several, have always liked them. Also I try to keep only drouth tolerant plants. I live near Amarillo. There is a tiny annual version of them that grows wild. I have never seen one more than about a foot tall. I saw a few today while plowing my wheat ground. The flowers and seed pods are usually less than an inch long. Just a miniature version.

This plant, the Desert Bird of Paradise is a gem of a plant. Here's why . . . First, if you love reoccuring blooming plants then you'll love this one. The Desert Bird of Paradise begins to bloom early spring and on into late fall. What a gorgeous sight it provides all summer. Second, it is one hardly little feller. It can withstand blazing heat, high winds, and little water. Personally, my experience in southern Nevada and northern Arizona with this plant makes it one of my all time favorites. Third, it is a prolific plant. From one plant, I have collected hundreds of seeds which has led me to grow over fifty of these beauties. Fourth, the Desert Bird of Paradise is beloved by bees. They love the pollen this plant produces. In the evening, one plant can have over 100 bees on it going ape over the pollen. From my observations, the pollen produced from this plant must be something very special. The bees are telling me this. Fifth, it never sheds any leaves or makes a mess like say bamboo does . . . Sixth, it seems to grow under many types of geographic zones. My recommendation . . . get this plant and make it a part of your life!

Very lovely, has a delicate, pleasing scent to the flowers, and is very easy to grow. Usually starts flowering on the second or third year of it's life. For fullest appearance and fastest growth, start watering it after the last frost. It can survive drought and complete neglect, but it won't flower if it doesn't think there's enough water. On the flip side, once it starts flowering, it will keep on flowering so long as there's water - right up until the first frost sends it to sleep for the winter. Careful not to water too much - it will produce so MANY flowers that the mess from the old flowers that fall off will get caught in the branches and actually weight it down to the ground. ;-) Generally speaking, it likes to grow wide and shrubby, but you can train it to grow upwards by trimming lower branches and branches that are growing down. Don't trim too many branches, however. Use prudence in trimming. A sealer should be used on cut branches, to keep the bugs from infecting cut branches - spray paint works fine. There's a species of green caterpillar in my area of the country (Southeastern New Mexico) that eats holes in the buds and prevents them from flowering. Fortunately, the plant is poisonous, and the caterpillars aren't very active because of the poison - you can spot them pretty easily trying to hide along the flower stalks and just pick them off with your fingers. When the seed pods dry, they pop open under tension, tossing little frisbee-like seeds up to thirty feet away (farther, if you managed to get yours to grow tall). Once they start to brown, a hot summer's day will send the seed pods popping like popcorn, scattering seeds everywhere. Kids love watching this happen, and waiting for pods to pop makes a good lesson in patience. But don't let the seeds pop 'em in the eye, they sting! The seeds are very fecund, lots of volunteer seedlings, you may have to pull them up before they get too big if they're growing somewhere you don't want them to. If you don't want to be bothered, wait until the pod has formed and is about as long as your pinkie, then while it's still green, grasp it near where it joins the plant and gently twist to pop it off without harming the flowering stalk. Alternatively, if you want to collect the seeds and don't want to hunt for them in the grass, you can pluck the seed pod when it turns brown and before it pops, but you have to watch the plant carefully to catch the pod at the right time. Little seedlings can be transplanted, but you have to dig very wide around them, they're quite tender and easy to acidentally kill - often, accidentally stepping on a seedling is enough to kill it. Once the plant gets about three or four feet tall, however, it's very hardy and quite difficult to kill. If you have one that's already wide and shrubby, it can be trained to grow upwards into a small tree, but it takes years of patience - binding and supporting the branches on one that's already shrubby doesn't work for me, I just ended up with really funky branches. Trimming branches that aren't pointing upwards is about the only way I've found that works to turn a shrubby one into a more tree-like one - wait until a branch is about as thick as your finger before deciding whether or not to trim it, however, because the smaller branches can (and do) turn upwards once they start to flower. The best time to use binding and bending to train them to grow up to be a tree is when they're just a single stalk, about as thick as your pinkie. Use supports and bind the bends in the stalk so it points upwards, and by the time it gets to be about as thick as your thumb, it'll be well on it's way - in about ten years it will reach anywhere from nine to fifteen feet high, depending on how you cared for it. Of course, you can just let them grow however they want. If you do, what you end up with after about ten years is a bush anywhere from five to eight foot tall that's about five or eight foot wide and just covered everywhere with brilliant yellow flowers that smell great.

a local nursery sells this tree/shrub iv seen pictures of it but in person the flowers were not that attractive but is very airy and graceful also i have seen it around town and i'm sure it self sows

These grow native in New Mexico. In fact we always called them New Mexico Bird of Paradise. As a child I thought that was not only because they are native, but their colors of red and yellow are the color of our state flag!

Grows great out in the desert (Lucerne Valley, CA). With abundant watering - every other day - I get blooms like crazy, and they are just beautiful. And after the first bloom of the season, I cut back the plant and got some more blooms.

The only downfall I have is the huge amount of bees that swarm around the flowers when in bloom. So be careful if you're allergic to bees, they're all over the flowers!

I've started collecting the seeds from the pods right after they pop, and I'm currently soaking them in water to see if I can be successful at starting from seed. In just two days in the water, about 50% of the seeds have already swollen up three times the size.

I live in the high desert and have seen it growing here and in Palm Springs. I had 4 large bushes, but the seedlings pop up like crazy. Pruned one into a great shade tree that dogs couldn't destroy. It is listed as an invasive species by many organizations (just google it with the word invasive...). Pretty flowers but very twiggy throughout the fall and winter (ugly). I would not recommend this, it has a horrible taproot and likely will compete with natives. At least do your neighbors a favor and cut the pods off.

I have found this plant growing in NorthCentral & Northwest Central Oklahoma. One friend of mine has had hers 30 years growing on a clay-shale type hill open to sun, wind, etc. and it is still there. She swears the folks she got hers from had some on their home place for some time prior to that, hers was a wedding gift. There is one, besides mine, growing on a nearly abandoned lot in Enid, Oklahoma which the current family member who owns the place says was a gift also.....60 years ago. Neither of these are the size of some I have seen on the internet, however, they are seldom watered, not pruned, nor pampered in any way and still bloom from early summer to September or later. Here they go naked in winter and redress come spring. I had my sister-in-law bring me one from Whiteoak, Texas in 2004, let it stay in unheated to very low heat greenhouse that winter, planted it out April or May of 2005 and it took off well with 12 or 15 flowers on a straggly but apparently happy plant. Am anxiously waiting to see what happens this Spring as I gave this plant no extra winter consideration other than two or three waterings as we have not had any moisture to speak of for nearly 7 months now and it is end of Febuary, 2006. Cheryl Nelson, Enid, Oklahoma

When I purchased 2 of these plants last year I was very unimpressed, however this year they have had a chance to become acclimated to their new surroundings and are in their second bloom cycle this year. I absolutley love the flowers.

This plant is a naturalized plant in New Mexico. In my area it is somewhat agressive. My neighbor planted two and now there are more than a dozen growing in the vacant lot between our homes. A beautiful flower that attracts hummingbirds.

There are a couple of these plants left on our ranch in an area that does not get ANY supplemental watering, and they are very healthy. Our annual rainfall runs between 8 and 20 inches a year. They were planted about 50 years ago by my father-in-law, so being well-established probably contributes to their sturdiness. My main point is, though, is that this is in zone 6! We tried to transplant a couple of these but had trouble getting enough of the root, which runs VERY deep, and we were unsuccessful. Two years ago we bought three from a nursery and placed them in our yard, where we water them lightly. They bloomed beautifully last year and are starting to green up this year. Back to the zone thing though: we generally get a few zero-degree nights a year, and occasional below-zero temps, although rarely long-lasting. So don't be scared off because of the hardiness zone rating listed for this plant.

I am growing this tree in my yard in Oro Valley, AZ (north of Tucson) and it's doing very well. It is blooming at fairly regular intervals. No complaints whatsoever.

Survives nicely in Zone 7 with only minimal dieback in winter. Repeat bloomer throughout summer!

The Desert Bird of Paradise is a Nturalized Texas Native. One of the most beautiful when in bloom.
The flowers are amazing and last a long time, I love this tree.

The Desert Bird of Paradise is one of my all-time favorite xeri plants -- I've even transplanted them in my garden and when one went into shock, I kept working with it and in a very short time, fully recovered and bloomed anew the following season!

I did not know they grew in warmer climates than Zones 7 and 8, but rest assured, they do very well in Zone 7, and as far north as Placitas (on the northern most tip of Albuquerque). It is a deciduous in that zone, and very tolerant to shaping after blooming. Mine grew to be about 6' tall and I drip irrigated 2x weekly during summer and it did very well with the 2 gallons it received then.

I will be anxious to try growing it in Zone 9! Thanks, everyone for sharing your experience!

I planted two Caesalpinia gilliesii about 4 months ago; they are now 6 feet tall and take the Arizona (U.S.) heat really well.

I planted them in a mix of potting soil, sand, and clay. I water them deep about twice a week. I also found that adding nightcrawlers (worms) to my soil has really worked well.

Very showy flowers all summer long, and the seeds (look like bean pods) are easy to sow directly in the ground.

These are the easiest and most rewarding plants to grow! All types attract hummingbirds, bees, wasps and white flies and their eggs.

I think there is slight confusuion regarding the names and genus of these plants as well: C. gilliesii is mostly known as "Bird of Paradise" or "Desert Bird of Paradise". There are also C. mexicana "Mexican Bird of Paradise", and C. pulcherrima "Dwarf Poinciana" or "Pride of Barbados".

All are quite drought tolerant but only C. gilliessii and C. mexicana can take the harsh heat of the Southwestern deserts. Can take most any type of soil as long as it drains well and does not hold too much moisture A soil pH of 6.5 is deal. These plants are attractive enough to stand alone and held out as specimen plants, or attractive when grouped or layered. You have to be a real garden moron not to do well with these!

We live in northern california, where we have seen only four Desert Bird of Paradise plants growing; we're very glad to find this site with the information on how to start our own tree.

We're happy to find others with interest in this beautiful specimen; we will let you know how well we have done with the information we found here.

The first "Texas Bird of Paradise" that I remember was about 60 years ago by the milking barn where the only water it got was rain. I loved it then and still do. I have one in my yard now. Once it was chopped down to the ground (by mistake) and it came right back up. It's easy to start from seed, and tolerates neglect very well. I didn't know that the seeds were toxic--thanks for that info.

I purchased this plant as a Honey Mesquite last fall but when it bloomed turned out to be a Desert Bird of Paradise.

The plant seems to be very deer resistant: it is not caged and has had no deer nibbling, and we are Hill Country outside Boerne with LOTS of deer. The flowers are georgous and very long lasting. When we are gone and it doesn't get watered it, still does fine even though it's only been planted 10 months.

This is a nice specimen plant for full sun- it can be used in xeriscape gardens, but prefers to be watered and flowers better if watered. This is particularly true once replanted (found out the hard way by not watering one much after planting it). For me it is a deciduous plant (zone 9b). I have no experience with it being invasive here in California, but I suppose it's possible. Most invasive plants tend to be less so here in the desert. There is one growing along a roadside in the San Fernando Valley that i doubt was planted there on purpose.. it gets mowed down every summer when the city mows the weeds along the roadside, and every spring it shows up again... so it's definitely a resilient plant. This place it's growing never ever gets watered yet it looks lush and happy (before getting mowed to the ground, of course).

I have this plant through out my yard. Some are trained to grow into trees and others are mixed with Caesalpinia pulcherrima (Dwarf Poinciana) as nice bushes. Being from Texas, I grew up referring to Caesalpinia gilliesii as a "Texas Bird of Paradise" and Caesalpinia pulcherrima as "Mexican Bird of Paradise".

This plant is very easy to grow. I have only grown from planting seed in the ground in late winter or early spring. This is one of my favorite plants for xeriscaping.

Has a pleasant aroma when blooming.

The Desert Bird of Paradise is more of a bush rather than a tree due to its slow growth. The plant is a native to South America.

Branching is irregular; the leaves are light green in color with pinnately compound shape. Leaves are ferny or lacy and feathery in appearance. The flower is sulphuric yellow in color with dark pink to redish stamen in a racemen form. The plant has a tropical feel - very showy.

The Desert Bird of Paradise is popularly use in landscaping: along streets, also good in xeriscaping. Plant performs great in the heat. Tolerates drought and dry soil but will respond well to occasional watering. Prefers well drained soil. Prune almost to the ground in the winter if necessary to improve form.