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Friday, May 23, 2014

Talk about a late comeback!

How long would you wait for a plant to recover after a harsh winter?  This year many of my plants have been slower than ever to bounce back.  None has been slower than the Anacacho Mexican Orchid tree in the front garden, shown below after we planted it last fall.



After seeing the Anacacho Mexican Orchid tree in a post from Pam at Digging and admiring it in gardens around town like this one along a sidewalk in our King William Historic District south of downtown I knew I had to find a place for one of these beautiful Texas native trees.


And I found just the right place.  This area under the oaks looks very shady and it does get dappled sun/shade much of the year.  That is it's shady until August when the afternoon sun comes over the house and nails this spot like a laser beam.  I lost several plants before getting a clue.  Abutilon turned to toast, what was I thinking?  The yucca shown here worked until it was shredded by a buck "antlering" it and I decided to move it to the back border.


It was time to plant a tough native.  I did my homework and found it grows well in both sun and shade.  Its pretty and airy form makes it perfect for viewing out the front windows.  Just imagine how it would look filling that blank spot in this view from the front door.


The delicate flowers stay in bloom most of the summer.  It's listed as a spring bloomer on most sites but the photo below was taken in October.


It's hardy in San Antonio and evergreen most winters.  Turns out that part about "most winters" is key to what happened this year.  I probably should have waited until spring to plant so it could get a better head start on winter cold.

Like most of the U.S. our winter was colder than normal, way colder in fact.  The little Anacacho Mexican Orchid lost all its leaves.  It showed no signs of life in early spring so I knew it would have to come back from the roots and I decided not to give up.  Not even after seeing a mature one in full bloom on a garden tour in Austin in early May nearly two months after our spring warm up began.  By then I was so bummed I managed only this quick shot of it while one of Master Gardeners consoled me with a reminder not to give up yet.


I even took some encouragement from Diana of Sharing Nature's Garden when she posted on Facebook several weeks ago about pulling up her Anacacho Orchid only to find that it was sprouting from the roots.  But I finally decided to throw in the trowel yesterday when I looked again and saw no sign of sprouting.  It's nearly summer and we've been warming up for three months!


I made a note to pick up a replacement on my next visit to the nursery.  This morning while watering some new plants nearby I glanced over, reminded that I needed to take it out to make way for the new one when....

Can it be?  Why yes, that sure looks like the root is sprouting in several places around the base.  Yay!


Might take a while before it blooms, but I'm so happy to see it survived the great winter of 2014 which means it can take whatever we throw at it in our crazy South Texas weather.

So the little orchid tree gets to stay and I can go back to protecting it from antlering.  Which means the silly tomato cage will return later this summer.

You talkin' about me?


Yes, you!

Note:  After Pam commented below I realized I must have a Mexican Orchid tree and not the Anacacho so I have made a few edits to my post above.

31 comments:

  1. Oh yes, we've had a lot of plants take their time in coming back, but the ones that survived made me happy to know that if they can make it through this winter then they'll come back generally every winter. I just had ginger sprout in the last few weeks and I'd almost given up on them. Our Texas olive, which was putting on new growth even up until early December, got hit hard and we thought it was completely toast. Our local nursery owner told us to give it a bit more time and sure enough it has come back from the roots. I can't believe it!

    The orchid tree looks interesting....how much does it seed? My only experience is with the tropical orchid trees in Florida that seed *everywhere* and even though this one is a native(ish) I'm still hesitant to orchid trees.

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    1. It has taken longer for so many plants this year. In my rocky, limestone clay yard it's a bonus if anything comes up from seeds and I haven't heard of that being a big problem.

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  2. Oh yay! I was hoping all the way through this post that it would pull through. So happy for you! I still have some perennials that are no-shows, but I'm trying not to give up yet. Most pulled through, but a couple of new ones are taking some time, which makes sense. I love the foliage on that tree!

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    1. It's still warming up where you are so hopefully when you get into summer a few more of those perennials will take off.

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  3. It's so wonderful when you discover something like that! I'm glad the tree turned the corner. Best wishes in keeping your horned friends away.

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    1. We enjoy them most of the time but the damage they can do is a problem.

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  4. So glad your tree came back. I just recently realized that my Melianthus major has returned from the roots as well. I truly thought it was a goner. So what did I do just a few days later? Why, step on the new growth, of course! I think it survived my clumsiness as well though. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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    1. Oh no, at least it can send out more growth from those roots. It's not been an easy year for gardeners so far.

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  5. Interesting tree, hasn't heard of it. People find it hard to believe we don't have a deer problem in Helotes. I think they're all in your part of San Antonio!!

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    1. It's a great native tree. The deer in our neighborhood migrate along the creek system and have been penned in by development over the years. I am surprised you don't have deer out there as I see them near the roads on the way to Bandera.

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    2. Maria, it turns out I have the Mexican Orchid which is still a good tree for our area.

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  6. This spring I had an established Anacacho tree out back that had been overgrown by mustang grape, overshaded by aggressive privet invaders and the only branch that had any blooms (or very many leaves) was hanging low down over a path we'd be using regularly in the cooler weather. I took a deep breath, cleared its canopy, and pruned the bejabbers out of the rest of it. It has slowly but surely come back, though I may have missed any chance for blooms this year. Bottom line is these little trees are fighters and I'm so glad you didn't give up on yours. After hearing and reading all these "surviving adversity" stories I'm looking around my spaces with an eye towards planting another. Ha - they'd make a great name for a sports team, yeah? Go Anacachos!

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    1. That is a great name! The tree is name for the Anacacho Mountains just SW of San Antonio and it seems the towns in that area have chosen traditional animal mascots.

      I'm glad to hear these stories and I know it will do well after this. I'm sure it will need to be pruned into shape when it gets reestablished.

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    2. See my edits because it turns out I don't have the Anacacho after all!

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  7. Shirley, I love your orchid tree story!! I had one myself this year. Exactly the same type of situation. I was REALLY hoping mine would come back since I had grown it from seeds I collected from my husband's aunt's tree. It's now a shrub rather than a tree but I think that's what happens when they freeze to the ground. We have always just called ours an orchid tree, and the blooms are orchid-like but my leaves are a bit more heart shapped. Maybe a different variety???

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    1. It turns out I'm the one who was confused about varieties!

      You probably have the Anacacho orchid while I have the Mexican orchid. Very similar but different in their bloom times and cold tolerance.

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  8. That's awesome! I lost a lot of plants but had a few surprise me by not dying. I'm not familiar with this tree at all but it's definitely a beauty. Sounds like a smart choice for a tough spot. :o)

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    1. It's been a slow year watching plants try to recover but I'm glad some of yours are coming back.

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  9. We've had several trees die and then come back from the roots over the years. In every case, the new growth shot up to the full height of the original in just a season or two and showed every sign of being twice as vigorous.

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    1. I'll look forward to a more vigorous tree.

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  10. Glad to see your efforts weren`t in vain. Great documentation, Shirley. Great deer pic !

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    1. No hunting allowed in my neighborhood Randy!

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  11. Well worth protecting this beautiful tree which has proven itself to be a tough survivor too!

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    1. I'm enjoying the comeback and it's a keeper.

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  12. I'm glad to have inspired you to plant a bauhinia. They are such lovely trees. But I think yours is actually Mexican orchid tree (Bauhinia mexicana), which has much larger leaves than the Anacacho (Bauhinia lunarioides). The Mexican is more vulnerable in freezes but generally returns. Incidentally, I'm STILL waiting for a fall-transplanted Anacacho to return to life. It had already leafed out when that late hard freeze zapped it, and now it's majorly sulking, as bare as midwinter. But when I scratch the bark I see green, so I'm holding out hope. Meanwhile it seems more than a little ridiculous to have a bare tree in late May when temps have been in the 90s. Stop sulking already, orchid tree!

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    1. Looks like you are right Pam. That explains some of my confusion about bloom times and cold tolerance. I edited my post to clear that up.

      It turns out to be the better choice for the site because it is slightly smaller than the Anacacho and we will (eventually) see those white blooms from the front window all summer.

      Thanks Pam!

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  13. Well isn't that wonderful! I just recently discovered new growth on a Disporum which I'd given up on. Not only was it hot by the horrible cold but then stomped on by the fence builders.

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    1. This has been a spring of discovery when it comes to waiting on plants to come back. Now that the fence is in it should be safe.

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  14. So happy for you! Sometimes we just have to give the plants whatever time they need, and I must admit I have dug up a few plants that I have given up, just to realise they were not dead at all, and quickly put them back in the ground again. The longest I have waited for a plant to come back again from ’the dead’ was 7 years. I had a single Trillium luteum that broke while in flower. That means the plant won’t get nutrition back to the roots to emerge the next year and it will spend many years underground collecting nutrition from the soil before finally emerging again. In my case it took 7 years. It came back last year, the stem broke again, just like last time , probably by a cat or a fox– now I am expecting to see it again in 2020!!

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  15. It was a strange winter and a stranger time for plants returning from roots. I am still finding surprises

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  16. My bauhinias have been taking a while to get going this spring. One is still lagging behind. I actually expected them both to grow faster than they have been, but I've been warned against giving them extra water to encourage faster growth-- apparently they'll grow like crazy, but the new wood is extremely weak and prone to injury. So like you, I am gonna have to cultivate patience as well as a tree.

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