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31.5.11

The Flowering of Gulmohar/ Flame of Forest

The Close up of Gulmohar Flower
The Gulmohar Tree better known by many as the flame of the forest. Its origin is from foreign country though this tree has adapted itself well to the Indian climatic conditions. Many gulmohar trees can be seen on roads and come summer the trees are laden with red flowers. The view is very beautiful especially if you can see it from above or far off. The red flowers look like a sheet of red covered over the green leaves of the tree.
Having a dream of planting Gulmohar hardly did I know that it grows into a beautiful huge tree. My success in growing a gulmohar in a container was all well worth when the plant bloomed and gave red flowers, The green tall tree branch transformed  into beautiful red bursts of colour this May.

Buds at Night on Gulmohar Tree

The Opening of First Bud on Gulmohar Tree

Close Up of Gulmohar Flower
 The flower is very beautiful with a red and orange coloured single petal. and red petals. There are five petals and each flower is a master piece created by God. You wonder how the detailed colouring is done and how minute the leaf seems. Many artists are inspired by the gulmohar flower and paint using this as a reference for floral paintings.
Beautiful Gulmohar Flowers
Very famously known as 'the Red Flame of the Forest' this is a very strong, tough tree.
The plant flowering had become a rarity. Planting this for many years I had lost hope to see any blooms on it. Finally My Husband and I had decided to let go of this Gulmohar plant if this does not bloom this year, and what a wonderful sight it was to see the small buds erupt from nowhere!
Vigorous searching on the internet and googling did not show any tips for flowering of the gulmohar. Guess it is natural process and one never thinks twice to observe the trees and they bloom naturally on their own. After five years this plant has bloomed. The maturity period of any gulmohar tree would be five years and then it will flower. In this period the plant has shed its leaves many times. The whole tree would go barren and only the stem would remain. Again the tiny leaves would emerge. I had trimmed the tall branches to keep the plant in reasonable size as I have heard that Gulmohar grows into huge trees.
Tips for Growing in Container: Keep trimming the tall part to encourage growth sideways. My gulmohar plant has two big stems and small branches. Watering requirements are like any other flowering plant and they can tolerate direct sunlight. If you want to see the flowers and enjoy the beauty of red and orange colour flowers wait for five years!
Close Up of Gulmohar Flower

Gulmohar in the Sun
New Buds of Gulmohar

With immense joy the vermilion coloured blooms boastfully sway and give a great show from above, as I see helicopters coming by over our terrace, it is almost like a magical fantasy! There is magic in my little space under the sun! my Terrace garden!
Interesting posts on Rizwana's Garden Care Simplified Blog-
Cinderella story say it with flowers!
How my Gulmohar bloomed step by step photographs
First Gulmohar blooms and making natural colours
The sleeping leaves of Gulmohar! do plants sleep?
Happy Gardening from Rizwana! Sharing practical container gardening tips with my Google Blog Garden Care Simplified since year 2010 to encourage growing plants, improving the eco system and environment and adding fragrances and colours through exotic flowers in your life!
All the Best from Rizwana!
A Healing Artist selling original Reiki healing art @ The Red Pilgrim's Soul Perk^Up Healing Art You Tuber The Red Pilgrim Dedicated since year 2000 towards spreading health wealth and joy through my Reiki symbol healing paintings!


48 comments:

  1. Hi, My name is Usha and I live in Mumbai. I too am a (dare I say it) terrace gardener. Thank you for your post on the gulmohar. I have one which is 3 years old and has not yet flowered. I read on one web-site that prolonged drought conditions aid flowering of this amazing plant. I have a question for you - Does your plant have leaves similar to that of a full grown tree?

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  2. Hi Usha
    Very nice to have connected with you. Hope to share more about your garden.
    Yes my tree is beautiful, only during some periods does it go barren, that is when it is growing taller. Here the tree leaves go yellow and shed, you also may have got the same experience.Then fresh new green leaves start coming.
    Yes the leaves are same as that of the original tree. As for flowering I have tried all things, but it seems it takes its time!and you have waited long , give your tree some more time.
    Happy Gardening!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, I also have planted 2 Gulmohar trees in my garden 2 year ago, but the growth of them is not all that great, Can you suggest me some watering tips or some medicine to make sure it has good growth, or the type of soil/cowdung needed. I m not a regular member here, can you please reply to me on Faisal1noman@gmail.com.

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    2. Hi, I also have planted 2 Gulmohar trees in my garden 2 year ago, but the growth of them is not all that great, Can you suggest me some watering tips or some medicine to make sure it has good growth, or the type of soil/cowdung needed. I m not a regular member here, can you please reply to me on Faisal1noman@gmail.com.

      Delete
    3. Hello Faisal, you have to wait five years at least to see the blooms if everything goes right!
      You can trim the top branches of the stem and add cowdung to help the plant grow healthy.
      Hope this helps! All the Best from Rizwana!

      Delete
  3. Hi Rizwana,

    Thank you for your response.
    Yes I have gone through the cycle of shedding leaves. The first winter (even though Bombay does not have a proper winter) it lost everything and was just a barren stem. My dad actually told me that it was quite dead and I should give up on it. My ma on the other hand just said let it be and then suddenly in march we saw new leaves. Since then its lost its leaves every winter and come back every year.
    Am waiting eagerly for its flowers.

    Do you have more plants? What are they? Put up some more pictures. Would love to share.

    I will put pictures of mine on my blog-page

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  4. Hi Usha,
    I have many plants in this little space under the sun, which I am lucky to have.
    Many are ornamental plants, feng shui plants and some exclusive varieties.
    Yes it would be nice to share knowledege and experiences.

    ReplyDelete
  5. HELP...I have a Gumohar (I think that's what its's called though we call it Flame of the Forest) which I personally planted in my garden..it's grown into a beautiful tree, sturdy & healthy, about 15-20 ft. , about 6 yrs. old but never flowered. Recently in an effort to encourage it to flower I pruned & trimmed it, also used several fertilizers but still no luck. Could anyone give me some tips on how to encourage it to flower..I'm getting rather frustrated! My name is Kadir Deen & am Malaysian living in Kuala Lumpur.

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  6. Hi Kadir,
    it seems you are really in anticipation to see some blooms!. Gulmohar or flame of the forest is a tough tree and does not require much care.
    Give some time to your tree. It seems you have fertilised and trimemd it then wait for the spurt in growth.Usually the tree goes barren before giving out flower buds.
    The reason here may be sometimes for pollination, flowering and fruit plants need similar trees of same breed to pollinate and give flowers. This may be the case with your gulmohar tree if there are no gulmohar trees in your surrounding area.if you can, plant another one next to it,
    All the Best

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  7. Hi Rizwana..thanks for your response. What's frustrating is about 6 kms. away at my golf club there are about a dozen flame of the forest trees which look stunning as they're all in full bloom. You're quite right, mine is the only tree in my area. I guess pollination is a problem.
    Will take photographs of my tree & the trees in the golf club & forward to you.
    Take care.
    Cheers.
    Kadir

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kadir,
      waiting to see your flame of the forest tree, do upload pics

      Delete
  8. Hi Riz,
    I'm so bad with some things..my skills with the computer is so basic..I don't know how to post the photos here. In fact I sent them to you via my email but as yours is a "no reply blog" they wouldn't have gone through! Will ask my kid how to post the photos here.
    Have a good weekend & take care!
    Kadir

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love your post.... quite informative
    How do i join it to receive regular updates???
    Do visit my blog on culture and travel :
    thevoiceofthezamorin.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks Anonymous for the lovely comment and coming by my blog on Gardening Simplified.
    I love your blog,must say very good one.
    All the Best!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello, Nice post on Gulmohurs. However, the Gulmohur is NOT called the 'Flame Of The Forest'. Flame of the Forest' refers to the Spathodea tree, which is a tall tree, with cup like orange flowers and buds filled with water. It also has pods which are boat-shaped. Juvenile pods are green, but on maturity they turn brown and crack open, releasing seeds into the air. The seeds are dispersed by air and have white frills around them. If you look up 'Spathodea' or Flame Of The Forest (google is amazing) you'll find what I'm talking about. <3 :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you Gullies for sharing this information here on Garden Care Simplified, yes I am very bad at names, but I do love my plants full on! and yes GOOGLE is amazing!
    Take Care and All the Best!, keep sharing!
    www.razarts.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Razwana,
    I am new entrance to this beautiful world of gulmohar treees. I have bought one which is one year old with sturdy one with fer branches of leaves on top and is about 3and half feet. I want to keep it small. Where do u think I should cut if at it has to be? Or how do I keep it at this height ? Will be glad if can share ur thoughta

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  14. wrong info!! flame of the forest is palas and not gulmohar.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hello Anonymous, welcome to garden Care Simplified!Palash tree has different types of red orangish flowers, check Google! God Bless from Rizwana!
    www.razarts.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mine just blooms after 3 years. But flowering is only on one branch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harry, thats so Awesum! isnt it beautiful, the blooms, first blooms give so much happiness!Yes even our tree would give flowers on single branch, it was because we had it in container. maybe after few years as the tree grows larger with many branches it will give out plenty of vibrant blooms. All the Best from Rizwana!

      Delete
    2. Hi Rizwana,
      I'm Kailash from Pune & I have a fully grown beautiful Gulmohor tree. Since last week, some sort of weird noise is coming from some branches. Is any branch going to break-off or has the tree totally become weak...it,s approx. 5-7 years old.

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    3. Kailas, Oh please do check the branches, but usually they are tough. There may be bird babies! I was so surprised to see rat babies in one of my containers!
      If not then see signs of pests, borders and other insects too make sounds and are never visible soon to the eye.
      But may eat up the and bore holes in the trunk.
      All the Best from Rizwana!

      Delete
  17. Thanks for that...but I am very much worried 'coz the tree is adjacent by our bldg. By the roadside. If any branch accidently falls on any vehicle passing by... that'll be a major issue. Hope
    the tree lasts longer though...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh my of course once our neighbors plant container fell from the terrace and of course id damaged the car terribly!good that they had their car insured, but this risk is always there, please do take the extra precautions to check out the branches before rains!we have our terrace garden surrounded by metal fence/grill and green cloth for protection, for our container plants.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Rizwana Ji,
    Thank u so much for the information provided here. I would like to know whether it will flourish in rainy climates of Kerala.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Manoj, Yes of course I have seen Gulmohar trees in Kerala when I visited ! They grow well.

      Delete
  20. Thank you very much for liking my blog Manoj, All the Best from Rizwana!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank you for the feedback Rizwana Ji.
    I have collected the seeds and going to plant it. Can you please guide me the steps to be followed.
    Thanks in advance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Manoj, I have bought a ready baby Gulmohar, but yes it can be grown easily from cuttings, tried this and WORKS GREAT! . Just like other plants- Seeds are dried in sun for few hours and then planted in container at least six inches wide.Add some cowdung with the soil, this helps early sprouting. Hope this helps!

      Delete
  22. i have 18 years old gulmohar bonsai but the tree doesn't bloom please guid me
    thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Jameel, Bonsia has their own precautions and rules, maybe some measured fertilizers and trimming would help! Hope this helps!

      Delete
  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi,

    I have a Gulmohar tree of 5 years old planted near my house. Till Feb 2016 it was good. Even we saw tree blossom initially with few branches on 3rd year and more on 4th year as well. But from past 6 months after feb, leaves started falling and it has become bare tree. Now and then few small leaves or scion used to come, but birds eat off that. From last month it has become infertile.

    Could anyone suggest is it the normal process cycle of tree. Because I am scared since neighbors say its dead take off the tree, as they worried of there vehicles.

    Also, 1 year back government has repaired the pit which was 1 meter distance from tress, during the process they might have trimmed the root. Did this affected ?

    Please advise if any ways to make the tree fertile, with any fertilizer or cleaning of mud around the tree or putting cow dung or any other options ?

    Thanks in advance,
    Santosh Kumar J

    ReplyDelete
  25. Oh that is sad, Santosh, yes usually when any construction takes place they dig up the surrounding areas and even add cement and other liquids that kill the tree.
    The trees are strong and can sprout even from small cuttings. Of course if they are not killed literally by adding acid, like most times people do.
    Its winter and I think it may be a natural process of leaf shedding and as spring comes it will sprout.
    In our society the Bu idlers did the same but they have not cut it. Cutting huge trees brings loads of bad karma, it comes some time or other back.The dry white tree stands since past fifteen years,dried small extending stems have been removed as there is risk of breaking and dropping. what more , people have put different climbers and creepers plants there and it is happily growing with the support of the dried tree!
    I think you also can get the extended branches trimmed and observe, I am sure the Gulmohar will spring back to health! Praying and wishing for the Best!

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  26. I have planted 3 Gulmohar , love this tree so much. Can we do something for grow faster?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WOW! I love this! The Gulmohar grows pretty fast without any care, but the first flowering takes five to seven years.

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  27. Hi
    My gulmohar tree is 2 years old and it is growing tremendous. But no flowers yet. What should i do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Unknown, Gulmohar usually takes 3 to 5 years to give flowers. Soon you may get to see the vermilion blooms. continue caring for and loving your Gulmohar!

      Delete
  28. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. Land Management

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hi, I got my gulmohar planted 7 yrs back. It gave flowers last year April for the first time after I almost gave up. But again no luck this year. Is this normal or shoud. I add some fertilizers or something.

    ReplyDelete
  30. 7 years, Guddu, yes it took time to flower,my Gulmohar flowered in five, I did not add fertilizer. After that, It brings so much joy to see the Gulmohar vermillon colour flowers. Chakra healing. Yes, some plants don't flower every year. But if you wish you can add cowdung,it works best. Avoid addition of fertilizer in rainy season.as sunlight is low and plants don't take too well to additional changes. Hope this helps! Happy Gardening from Rizwana!

    ReplyDelete
  31. We have a very old gulmohar tree in our garden which used to flower, but unfortunately it has stopped flowering from almost 2-3 years. Can you share what needs to be done or has it over matured and will no longer flower?

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hello, I really don't understand this behaviour of some trees. Gulmohar, takes time to begin flowering. Yes, the Gulmohar tree may not give flowers every year. I think it also needs another Gulmohar besides or in nearby vicinity. I have not researched much on pollination. You may add cowdung or some flower booster. I added cowdung, and that helped

    ReplyDelete
  33. Large Tarpaulin are made with high-thickness woven upper layers for most extreme strength and adaptability, and are covered with low-thickness on both sides. These Large Tarpaulins accompany aluminum, steel, and metal eyelets and have a meter of span space on each of the four sides with supported fixes and creases. These large tarps are generally used to cover the heaps of carts or trucks.

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