Purple Orchid Tree
Purple Orchid Tree Information
The purple orchid tree is a popular plant for many reasons. It is used as a shade tree or to decorate an otherwise boring landscape. From the end of winter until mid summer this plant produces the most beautiful blooms and these flowers have a magnificent fragrance. The purple orchid tree is considered to be one of the most attractive flowering trees available.
This unique plant can grow up to 20 feet in height and it is closely related to the caesalpinia pulcherrima or the peacock flower. It has larger light green to golden leaves and they are heart shaped. They are 4 inches in diameter and they resemble a cow’s hoof. The showy flowers have 5 petals. One petal is rounded and the rest are oval shaped with signature points on the top. The rounded top petal is a shade a purple, with darker purple stripes. The rest of the petals are a lighter purple with blue shading. The bloom has white to pale yellow seed sprouts that come out of the middle of the flower. The purple orchid tree produces these beautiful blooms at the end of winter and they appear even before the leaves start to grow in. The blooms are larger and be as big as a full 5 inches around.
Purple orchid trees can be naturally found in china, India or Vietnam. But they can be grown just about anywhere. They are tolerant of cold temperatures but if the temperature goes below 25 degrees for a long extended time, it can harm or even kill the tree. During the winter months the leaves will fall from the tree and this isn’t a cause for concern, as long as it isn’t happening because of frigid cold temperatures.
These plants like acidic soil. So it may be a good idea to fertilize the soil before you plant the tree. You can purchase the right fertilizer from your local garden center and mix it into the soil. If you already have a purple orchid tree, it will benefit from fertilizer. But it is better to add it to the soil before planting the tree. This plant will not do well if the soil has too much lime or salt in it. You can purchase a soil test kit to find out if your soil is right for the purple orchid tree.
This plant loves full direct sunlight and does best when it is planted in an area that gets at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day. All flowering plants and trees need sunshine to produce healthy foliage and pleasant looking blooms. But it will not harm the plant if it does get a bit of shading. For example, if it is surrounded by taller pine trees, it will not harm the tree. During extremely hot summers, it may be good for this plant to receive a bit of shading.
Watering is easy with the purple orchid tree. But when the plant is young make sure that you do not over water it. With any tree that has not fully matured, the delicate roots can be damaged by too much water. In the summer months this plant requires more water than in the winter. But make sure that the soil is dry and sandy before watering. You should only have to water this plant once every 1 to 2 weeks.
It is recommended that you do not place the purple orchid tree close to any other plants. It is an invasive plant, which means that it can easily spread into other areas and take over or kill neighboring plants.