Heres the pic
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looks WAY messy, but all the cool stuff is

Gosh- couldn't they have found a better name for it????

But yes, it's very pretty! the blooms look (from the photo) like wisteria, only in negative coloration. I'll have to look that one up.

GT-Very pretty. Might wait 'til I move. This time of year I just want to nursery hop, dream and plant. It'll have to wait for the next house ;-))

Aguane,

Which nursery did you see the tree. I have been wanting to get one for a while now. By the way the seed pods are exremely poisonous.

... and you might want to be a bit wary about its hardiness, looks like it may be right on the edge. Will your new home be in a warmish zone, do you think?

Thanks Ya'll. I saw 3-5 plant shrub size at Home Depot at Cactus and Cave Creek... don't know the price. They're not good about that. When I move... I'll still be in 9Phx. so I think I'd like to try one. I think its very beautiful. My Poodle Bert is good about not eating stuff he's not told is food. Thanks and I think its really a pretty tree/shrub.

I just bought one at Home Depot.Just couldn't resist! Also, saw them at Lowes but, they were higher priced.
I liked the tree better than the bush.

This tree may be marginal in the Phoenix area due to it's tropical nature and low tolerance to frosts. There is one growing on campus at the University of Arizona. Here is a link to a photo and ethnobotanical notes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heritage Trees - Golden Shower Tree (Cassia fistula)

Here are some pictures I took back in July of 2003 of the Cassia fistula at the U of A.

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It flowers best after a USDA zone 10 winter. Which is what PHX has been averaging for a while now.

The December of 2003 freeze dropped the U of A down to back to back nights of 26F. The top 1/3 of the tree was burnt back. As of today it's back to the size you see in my pictures.

It's truly a jaw dropping sight when it's covered in flowers. Cassia fistula is another tree that I highly recommend for those want to show off PHX's subtropical climate.

Lee

Oh sure, Nancy (sunnyaz), you come back over here when awgs is shut down. I see how you are.

Saw one at Summer Winds this afternoon.
I think I'm coveting this tree.
Soooooo beautiful.

I'm still looking for one of these tree's. Has anyone seen one locally, in the past 3 or 4 days?

Easy

I also am looking for one. I have been to the old Summer winds on Thunderbird and several HD & Lowe's locations.

I've been to the Summerwinds on Country Club, just north of Elliot, and they do not have it. I'm not finding anything but seeds available online.

Easy

The one I saw at Summer Winds on Tatum last weekend was not in the tree section ... it was by the pond on the north side of the building. Heavy with yellow clusters.

I just ordered some seeds...guess if I want one that's the only way I'm going to get it ;) The seeds were available on Ebay.

Easy

My neighbor has one and its just started blooming.
Doing very well and looks beautiful.

Gemfire

I found a supplier for a plant version of this, instead of seeds. If anyone is interested, please email me. They are a very reliable company, but Gardenweb will not let me post the link to there website here. :(

Easy

I found this at bakers. It is small and in smaller pots. Not sure how quick these grow.

Make sure it's the right cassia, cassia fistus. I've seen lots of cassia senna in garden shops in the past few weeks. They are "not" the same plant.

Easy

Ooops, Casia Fistula not fistus :)

Easy

The pots said Fistula but I will double check befroe I buy one. Thanks for the warning.

People in cooler climates, don't lose hope! I have a Golden Shower Tree (I prefer to call it by it's other name, Golden Chain Tree, so it sounds less gross!) in my yard that is well-established and I live in Connecticut! We've lived in the house for 5 years now and it blooms every year and produces its seed pods every year.
It's not as full as some of the pictures I've seen on here, but it's still very pretty!
Just wanted to share that it can be grown in other than tropical climates!

Hold up! I don't want anyone in zone 5 running out after reading this and ordering a cassia fistula (don't know that they would see this, of course being the az forum, but who knows) Knowing the cassia would not survive zone 5 I looked up golden chain tree and it is indeed hardy to zone 5 but it's also an entirely different tree. But that is one fantastic tree, though- far prettier than the cassia, Lynn.

This shows the folly of using common names. Cassia fistula is only one of several Cassias that goes by the common name "golden rain tree". If you asked for a "golden rain tree" at a nursery, they might give you C. multijuga or C. excelsa. The "Golden chain tree" referred to above is Laburnum watereri, a temperate tree that would not survive in the desert.