mimmosa tree- I think, small little flower puffs ornageish pink -grows some what like an umbrella.

Sorry I typed to many M's Mimosa

i was thinking maybe mimosa but the ones i saw online didn't quite look the same. i guess these guys just did a good job of pruning. it's a shame, because i really like the trees, but the mess and seedlings they produce is too much for my garden. if it was planted in grass i wouldn't care, but I don't have much of that. oh well, i can still drive by and enjoy them from down the street :)

Huh.... wouldn't that be a little tall for a Mimosa? Unless they get bigger here than in Tennessee - there, they top out at about maybe 10-12'.

With all of the ferny-leafed trees we have, it's difficult to guess without a pretty close up picture of the bark and leaves. I was thinking Lysiloma, but that would be pretty darn tall for one of those, too.

If you get *really* curious, you could ask.... =)

i thought mimosas were fast growing to 20-30ft in the low deserts? or maybe i was reading in regards to florida... everything grows bigger over there. Who's from Tennessee? I grew up there!

Looks like a Jacaranda

Took a few photos of two other trees in the area. I don't think these are Jacarandas, they have red-orange trumpet like flowers in clusters. very similar to cape honeysuckle, but more red. here's the photos...

another shot, note the flower cluster on the bottom left of the tree

close up of the foliage, very much like Jacaranda

different tree, but same kind. it's hard to tell in the photo, but there's another red-orange cluster of trumpet flowers in the top right of the tree. in person, these blooms are as bright as the Red BOP in late july

gulmohar tree? does it have a better spring flower flush?

Looks to me like royal poinciana

i'm guessing it is Royal Poinciana after comparing the photos. I don't ever remember seeing them blooming as profusely as the images on Google, but the flowers and foliage are identical, so that has to be it! Now I just have to do a little research to see how much trouble they are to grow in my own yard lol. I read that they use them as street trees in Yuma, and I'm only an hour west of Yuma and in a lower elevation, so it seems they should be an easy one to get going around here

Very cool - I hope xicadesilva sees this thread, now that s/he has finally gotten a R. Poinciana in the ground. That'll teach me for saying they didn't grow here
>groan

Technically, PC, xill is not "here". Seems to be in the CA desert "west of Yuma". So, you're not wrong, just out of place, lol!

that's correct, i'm in the El Centro, CA area in the low desert between San Diego and Yuma (Brawley to be exact). we have warmer winters than phoenix since we're about 50ft below sea level here. I think the historic low for my area was 28F but that was about 50 years ago. I stay on the AZ forums since there's so much activity in here and pretty much everything that will do well in Phx will do well here too. Not true about the San Diego forums, their climate is more closely related to LA with milder summers and colder winters

Whew - thought I'd been *way* off on that one, and have been scratching my head trying to figure out why we don't have tons of these beauties. Thanks for the clarification, before I started leaking gray matter .... = )

Hey Xill,

I am in Calexico, which is also in the Imperial Valley, west of Yuma. There are many Royal Poinciana trees on this side of the Colorado River as well. They are planted sporadically from Indio on down to Mexicali, with them being the most common in Calexico. There are quite a few in Downtown Yuma as well, and throughout th city too. Mexicali has a ton. Some are even quite large-2 stories tall-but the never seem to flower as majestically in the desert as they do in more humid and temperate climates. That pobably has to do with the colder winters and being overwatered, since people want evergree trees...but this reduces flowering. So it's a trade off.

I hope you plant one in Brawley, do you have any good recommendtions for a nursery in the Valley?

Nice to meet you chinandega81. Now that I know what these trees are, i'm noticing them around here alot more. funny how that works isn't it? I exercise at Cattle Call park here in Brawley nearly everyday and I never noticed that the street was lined with baby poincianas on one side. But it's true that i've never seen them bloom much at all (i would have noticed a bright red tree lol). but the foliage is beautiful and very lush just the same. i think i will plant one soon.

for the nurseries around here, there's only two that I know of other than Lowes and Home Depot. One is here in Brawley, called "Green Patch Nursery". I was there a few days ago and they have several poincianas available. The other is "International Palm Growers" in Calexico. Green Patch specializes in more green and lush types of plants and flowers and they have a fairly good selection of tropicals. IPG specializes in palm trees but they also have a great selection of xerispace plants like agaves cacti. They also have the largest selction of bougainvillea anywhere in the valley. Both nurseries have lots of trees to choose from in many different sizes. Everything from palo verdes to ficus nitida to mulberrys. Of course either nursery could also order just about anything you'd like, and both places are run by the owners, who are very knowledgeable about everything they sell, unlike the big box stores or large nurseries with large staff. I visit both nurseries quite a bit. The contact info for each is below:

Green Patch Nursery
254 South 8th St
Brawley, CA 92227
(760) 344-9975

International Palm Growers
552 Barbara Worth Rd
Calexico, CA 92231
(760) 357-5152

Thanks for that info. I didn't know the Palm nursery east of Calex. sold non-palm trees.

Last week I planted a 2 foot tall Royal Poinciana in a full sun location, surrounded by a cement patio, sidewalk and Street. Territory I would normally reserve for only a Mesquite. But would you believe with these +110 temperatures since planting, it has been putting on new growth like crazy? Forget shock or sunscorching. I am so impressed. I hope this keeps up throughout the rest of the summer as we are just getting started.