The Desert Bird-of-Paradise, or Yellow Bird-of-Paradise as it is sometimes called - Caesalpinia gilliesii has got to be my hands down favorite plant to use in the landscapes I design. I mean, if I could get away with it I'd love to use this plant in every landscape I design! Ah, but sadly this is neither practical nor desired in a number of cases.
One thing I certainly appreciate about the Desert Bird-of-Paradise is the versatility that this plant offers. Left alone to grow on it's own without any care or pruning and she can become a wonderful natural screen, growing easily to 6 to 10 feet in height and spread. Desert Bird-of-Paradise can work quite well in many various design styles such as Mediterranean, Southwestern, Asian or even tropical due to it's exotic look. For the gardener that enjoys taking care of the plants in their garden there are definitely certain rewards in taking care of the Desert Bird-of-Paradise. It takes bloom pruning effortlessly and in fact, just like any Rose bush, the more it is pruned the more blooms it will produce. It's extremely cold hardy to 5°F and even lower in some areas where is can be protected.
Desert Bird-of-Paradise is extremely attractive to, and sought after by hummingbirds; so much so that I have seen hummingbirds fight each other over them! So if you are a lover of hummingbirds in the garden (and who isn't?) then you'd enjoy having these in your landscape.
But the most delightful reason to have the Desert Bird-of-Paradise in your landscape is the obvious benefit in water use as this plant is extremely drought resistant, and very heat tolerant. In fact there is absolutely no need to provide this plant with ANY direct irrigation - none! Desert Bird-of-Paradise is a welcome addition to any xeric garden and has a high tolerance for saline and alkaline soils. So in short there seems to be very few negatives and a tremendous number of positives regarding the Desert Bird-of-Paradise.
No comments:
Post a Comment