It's a Tree that Hummingbirds Love!

I have known about Tecomaria capensis or Cape Honeysuckle for a long time. It is called "Cape" honeysuckle as it refers to the Eastern Cape of South Africa where it is native. When I drive around many people use this robust plant for a hedge, unfortunately, this usually entails chopping off all of the flowers to maintain a strict geometry. 

As you know I love hummingbirds! If a plant description says anything about the plant being popular with hummingbirds, I will probably try to grow it. That is, except for Tecomaria capensis because it has the small problem of wanting world domination. It is a known aggressive spreader, it roots at any node touching the ground, spreads by runners and seeds, and it can get out of control quite easily and that scared me away from trying to grow it in my garden. 

Well I found the perfect solution for my garden. This is normally a vine-like shrub, but it can be trained as a standard tree! Perfect! I have grown this in a large pot for over a year now and am very pleased with how well it grows and how well it blooms. No way can it spread because it is in a pot on my deck, so the hummingbirds get their flowers and I don't have to deal with taming this wild beast. It just blooms all of the time! After a big bloom period, I trim the branches to encourage more dense branching and it doesn't miss a beat. Soon it is putting on more flower buds. This a veritable hummingbird feeder 365 days of the year!

Tecomaria capensis 'Riot Red' tree                                                           S. Reeve

While the regular species has bright orange flowers, and there is also a yellow-blooming hybrid, there is a new selection with rich red flowers called, Tecomaria 'Riot Red'. Not only are the flowers a very beautiful color, but the flowers themselves are much larger than the species. The flowers occur in short terminal racemes (at the ends of branches). 

Tecomaria capensis 'Riot Red' flowers                                                                                                S. Reeve

As you can see from the photo this flower is perfect for hummingbirds. Although, it is pollinated by a different bird in South Africa called a Sunbird which is a little larger than a hummingbird. Unlike our hummingbirds, they cannot hover and must land on the plant to sip nectar. Here is a photo of a Greater Double-collared Sunbird from Anne who writes a blog called, "Something Over Tea."

Greater Double-collared Sunbird                                                                                                    Anne

What is curious about these flowers is no matter how the bunch is oriented on the plant the flowers will always move to an upright position. Here is a photo of this. The raceme of flowers was hanging down but all of the flowers have flipped over to be in the correct positions for effective pollination by an upright bird. The stamens of the flowers are didynamous or occur in two pairs of matching stamens. Didynamous stamens is a characteristic of the Bignoniaceae family. The stamens and pistil curve over the back of the flower and end up on the roof of the flower, positioned so that if a bird sticks its head into the flower looking for nectar, the stamens brush pollen onto the back of the head of the bird for transfer to the next flower visited. Mother Nature sure is clever and efficient! The tubular flowers are synsepalous and sympetalous (fused) with five lobes and a zygomorphic petal arrangement which means bilaterally symmetrical.

Upright flowers of Tecomaria capensis                                                                                           S. Reeve

I am very pleased with this plant so far. It gets a pan of dishwater every few days and seems to be doing well in spite of that. Honeybees visit it too. 

Oddly pinnate compound leaves                                                                                                       S. Reeve

The leaves are oddly-pinnate and occur in groups of five to thirteen. The leaflets, and compound leaves are always arranged oppositely. The seeds occur in two rows in long capsules and they each have two wings that help them disperse in the wind. Even though this plant can climb like a vine it does not have tendrils. It can be remarkably drought tolerant but likes regular water. It is hardy to 20-25 degrees. It can freeze and come back from the roots. Mulch well if you live in an area that freezes. This plant is very invasive in the right circumstances and has escaped cultivation in many areas around the world, so research this aspect if you are interested in planting it. By putting this aggressive spreader in a pot I turned this into a carefree plant that the hummingbirds and I can both enjoy.