The genus Erythrina is a pea relative (Fabaceae) whose species usually grow in tropical or subtropical locations. Those of you on the West Coast or in Hawaii may know erythrina as the "coral tree".
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Here in the Southeast US we have a few Erythrina selections that display some cold tolerance and grow as dieback perennials. Each year the erythrina stems shoot up from the ground and are laden with terminal flower clusters...a hummingbird and butterfly favorite.
Erythrina prefers full to partial sun and hot temperatures but is otherwise not very picky. The leaves of erythrina have a mind of their own, and will change orientation throughout the day in order maximize their light interception (science nerds call this heliotropism) . Erythrina combines well with other drought-tolerant hummingbird/butterfly plants such as buddleia or lantana. When you are ready to buy coral beans for your garden, check out our selection of cold hardy erythrina for sale.
Since 1988, Plant Delights Nursery has been the choice of serious gardeners and plant collectors looking for the best and rarest perennial plants. We are pleased to have received the Perennial Plant Association Retail Award in 2011, the American Horticulture Society Commercial Award in 2002, and to have been selected as one of the Best Mail Order Plant Sources - Garden Design Magazine 2010. Welcome to our family of plant lovers!
In the early 1840s at Australia's Camden Park, under the watchful eye of William Macarthur, our US coral bean, Erythrina herbacea, had some unsafe sex with the South American Erythrina crista-galli. What they were doing there together is still an untold story, but what resulted from the impregnation is one helluva offspring. Erythrina x bidwillii emerges from the ground in late spring to form a 6' tall x 8' wide mound of arching stalks adorned in giant pea-like foliage. From June until October, the stalks are topped with 20" long arching spires of bright red, lipstick-like hummingbird preferred flowers...so incredible it's hard to describe...likes it hot and sunny...an AWESOME specimen! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
If you need a good pea in a dry climate, then Erythrina herbacea is just what the plant doctor ordered...just don't take it orally. Calling home from NC west to Texas, Erythrina can be found in dry, desolate roadsides and fields. To survive these conditions, Erythrina herbacea makes a huge underground storage root, so plant it where you want it to stay. In late spring, the 3' tall green spikes of three-lobed leaves emerge upward. Soon after the leaves unfurl, the terminal 4' long floral spikes, adorned with bright red "fingers," strut their stuff...a hummingbird favorite. If your town is too small for traffic lights, hang the flowers upside down in each intersection...voila, redneck stop lights. Hot and dry and you've got the growing conditions figured out. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
.jpg "Epimedium wushanense (Wushan Fairy Wings)")
.jpg "Erythrina x bidwillii (Hybrid Coral Bean)")
