Golden Rain Tree Dazzles in Summer
Tara A. Spears
I’ve been dazzled by the bright clusters on a neighbor’s tree for the entire month of June. Every summer I am impressed by these lush subtropical blooms that perk up the dropping jungle foliage at the end of the dry season. Although in Florida these are considered nuisance trees due to the huge number of seeds and volunteers* that spread throughout a neighborhood from just one tree, I love them in the wild. The north side of La Penita has quite a few on the way to Las Varas and they are interspersed through Guayabitos. * Volunteer is a term for plants that shoot up from a parent tree- they volunteer to grow without being invited.
According to horticulturist Jacob Wright the Golden Rain Tree is able to grow in full sun locations that are plagued by poor soils or tough growing conditions where other trees fail. With its wide canapy the golden rain trees (Koelreuteria spp.) make excellent choices for shade trees. Overall good in windy sites, trees pruned when they are young ensures they develop with a good structure to diminish any losses during thunderstorm winds. For most luxurious growth and flowering, plant them in moist, well-draining soils in a lawn and mow off young seedlings that sprout.
Of the three subspecies, the warm climate one is called Chinese Rain Tree which yields bumper crops of seeds that germinate readily, hence you need to be careful where you plant it.
Golden Rain Trees provide fast-growing shade to gardens and add floral color in summer when other popularly grown landscape trees are green. They are striking when in full bloom, and the papery seeds provide ornamentation on the tree, and if cut and dried they make good floral arrangement fillers.
These trees also demonstrate a remarkable tolerance for less than ideal growing conditions, handling drought, wind, heat and an array of nutrient poor and various pH soil types. They are popular for urban areas needing a tough shade or street tree.
The prolific seed production of Golden Rain Trees potentially causes weediness in landscapes because their seedlings sprout all over. Most worrisome are the bouganvillea golden rain tree and the Chinese rain tree, as they attained noxious or invasive weed status in Australia, Florida and Hawaii. But here in rural Mexico it has plenty of space to coexist with the jungle vines and trees.
If you do choose to plant a golden Rain tree in your yard, just monitor your lawn and edges of native ecosystems to eradicate volunteer tree seedlings. The beauty of this spectacular tree outweighs the side effects.