Bauhinia monandra - Pink Orchid Tree - 10 seeds

Bauhinia monandra, commonly known as the Pink Orchid Tree, is a small, fast-growing, evergreen tree or shrub that grows from 3 to 15m in height and 0.5m in diameter.  Originally native to India and China, the Bauhinia is now grown widely throughout the world in warm climates where the minimum temperatures do not drop below - 5°C. 

It has smooth, grey bark can become scaly and reddish brown on older trees, the leaves of are shaped like butterfly wings, rounded, and split one-third to one-half their length, forming two equal lobes.  The large, five-petaled, orchid-like flowers occur in short racemes; four of the spoon-shaped petals are pink and dotted with red or purple markings, while the fifth petal is mostly red or purple and range in size from 6 to 10cm in diameter.

Bauhinia monandra blooms in 3 to 4 years and can flower and fruit throughout most of the year although best flowering occurs in Spring and Autumn - this pink flowering species is one of the harder to obtain!

Bauhinia is easy to grow from seed and usually shows good viability with a high percentage germinating readily. The seeds should be soaked in aerated water for 1 - 2 days and then planted in a good compost and kept well watered in a shady place until the seedling emerges.  Alternatively they germinate well placed in a plastic bag with wet sphagnum moss and then placed in a good composted potting mix, once the first leaves are visible move the pot to a place with plenty of light and do not over water.

Bauhinias are light loving plants which can grow rapidly so you must need sufficient space for them to grow and they are not suitable to be kept indoors.  They should be kept in a deep pot and if the weather is dry and windy, add more water if the plant shows any sign of wilting, plant out in their permanent position after the danger of frost has passed.

10 premium quality seeds shipped on receipt of cleared funds.