Mexican bird of paradise

Year-round

Mexican bird of paradise is a fast growing, heat loving shrub with fragrant yellow flowers from spring through fall. It is native to Mexico and the far southern tip of Texas, not to the North Texas area, but it handles our full sun and dry spells well once it settles in.

• Plant it in full sun. It flowers best with 6 or more hours of direct sun a day.
• Give it room to grow 8 to 15 feet tall and equally wide, or train it into a small multi trunk tree by removing the lowest branches as it grows.
• Water deeply once or twice a week for the first growing season to help roots establish, then taper off. Established plants tolerate long stretches without rain.
• In heavy black clay soil, plant it high on a slight mound or work in compost so water drains away from the crown. In the sandier soils west of the metro, plan on watering it more often through its first summer.
• Expect leaf drop and possible dieback to the ground in a hard freeze. It usually resprouts from the base once the weather warms.

Summer

Once established, this shrub is one of the more heat and drought tolerant choices for a North Texas front yard, and it keeps blooming through the hardest part of summer.

• After the first year, established plants need only occasional deep watering, roughly every 10 to 14 days, during 100 degree stretches with no rain.
• Watch first year plantings closely in July and August. Their roots are not yet established, so they still need weekly deep watering.
• Flowering continues through summer into fall. Deadheading is not required since the spent blooms are not showy enough to bother removing.
• Skip fertilizer during peak summer heat. Feeding a heat stressed plant can push weak new growth that wilts in the afternoon sun.

Fall

Fall is a good second planting window for this shrub, and it keeps flowering into early fall as temperatures cool.

• September through October is a good second planting window. Cooler air and still warm soil let roots establish before winter.
• Blooming tapers off by October and stops with the first hard frost, usually around mid November.
• Hold off on any major pruning in fall. Cutting now can push tender new growth that a freeze will kill.
• Rake and remove fallen leaves and spent flowers from the bed as the plant slows down, so the area does not look neglected going into winter.

A clean, leaf free bed with no fresh pruning cuts keeps the shrub reading as tended, not neglected, as it heads into its dormant winter look.

Winter

This shrub is only marginally cold hardy in North Texas. A hard freeze can kill it back to the ground, but the roots typically survive and it resprouts in spring.

• Before a hard freeze or arctic outbreak, cover the plant with a frost cloth or an old blanket down to the ground. Do not lay plastic directly on the foliage.
• Mulch 3 to 4 inches deep over the root zone before the first hard freeze to protect the roots even if the top dies back.
• If stems blacken and go limp after a freeze, leave them in place until spring. They help insulate the crown, and cutting too early can expose it to the next cold snap.
• Wait until new growth appears at the base in spring, then cut all dead wood back to just above the live growth.

A blackened, freeze damaged shrub can look dead and out of place through winter. Visible fresh mulch and a frost cloth used during cold snaps signal it is a deliberately kept planting, not neglect.

Spring

Spring is the best time to plant this shrub in North Texas, after the mid March frost date, so roots have the whole growing season to establish before next winter.

• Plant after mid March once the danger of frost has passed.
• New spring growth from any winter dieback usually starts low on the plant. Wait to prune out dead wood until you can see where the live green growth is coming from, generally by late April.
• Water newly planted shrubs 2 to 3 times a week through spring while roots establish.
• The first flush of butter yellow, fragrant flowers typically opens in April and continues into early summer.
• Mulch 2 to 3 inches deep around the base, kept a few inches back from the stems, to hold spring moisture.

Winter dieback can leave bare, cut back stems going into spring. A tidy mulch ring plus visible new leaf growth read as an intentional, tended planting rather than a dead shrub.

Year-round

Mexican bird of paradise is a fast growing, heat loving shrub with fragrant yellow flowers from spring through fall. It is native to Mexico and the far southern tip of Texas, not to the North Texas area, but it handles our full sun and dry spells well once it settles in.

• Plant it in full sun. It flowers best with 6 or more hours of direct sun a day.
• Give it room to grow 8 to 15 feet tall and equally wide, or train it into a small multi trunk tree by removing the lowest branches as it grows.
• Water deeply once or twice a week for the first growing season to help roots establish, then taper off. Established plants tolerate long stretches without rain.
• In heavy black clay soil, plant it high on a slight mound or work in compost so water drains away from the crown. In the sandier soils west of the metro, plan on watering it more often through its first summer.
• Expect leaf drop and possible dieback to the ground in a hard freeze. It usually resprouts from the base once the weather warms.

Summer

Once established, this shrub is one of the more heat and drought tolerant choices for a North Texas front yard, and it keeps blooming through the hardest part of summer.

• After the first year, established plants need only occasional deep watering, roughly every 10 to 14 days, during 100 degree stretches with no rain.
• Watch first year plantings closely in July and August. Their roots are not yet established, so they still need weekly deep watering.
• Flowering continues through summer into fall. Deadheading is not required since the spent blooms are not showy enough to bother removing.
• Skip fertilizer during peak summer heat. Feeding a heat stressed plant can push weak new growth that wilts in the afternoon sun.

Fall

Fall is a good second planting window for this shrub, and it keeps flowering into early fall as temperatures cool.

• September through October is a good second planting window. Cooler air and still warm soil let roots establish before winter.
• Blooming tapers off by October and stops with the first hard frost, usually around mid November.
• Hold off on any major pruning in fall. Cutting now can push tender new growth that a freeze will kill.
• Rake and remove fallen leaves and spent flowers from the bed as the plant slows down, so the area does not look neglected going into winter.

A clean, leaf free bed with no fresh pruning cuts keeps the shrub reading as tended, not neglected, as it heads into its dormant winter look.

Winter

This shrub is only marginally cold hardy in North Texas. A hard freeze can kill it back to the ground, but the roots typically survive and it resprouts in spring.

• Before a hard freeze or arctic outbreak, cover the plant with a frost cloth or an old blanket down to the ground. Do not lay plastic directly on the foliage.
• Mulch 3 to 4 inches deep over the root zone before the first hard freeze to protect the roots even if the top dies back.
• If stems blacken and go limp after a freeze, leave them in place until spring. They help insulate the crown, and cutting too early can expose it to the next cold snap.
• Wait until new growth appears at the base in spring, then cut all dead wood back to just above the live growth.

A blackened, freeze damaged shrub can look dead and out of place through winter. Visible fresh mulch and a frost cloth used during cold snaps signal it is a deliberately kept planting, not neglect.

Spring

Spring is the best time to plant this shrub in North Texas, after the mid March frost date, so roots have the whole growing season to establish before next winter.

• Plant after mid March once the danger of frost has passed.
• New spring growth from any winter dieback usually starts low on the plant. Wait to prune out dead wood until you can see where the live green growth is coming from, generally by late April.
• Water newly planted shrubs 2 to 3 times a week through spring while roots establish.
• The first flush of butter yellow, fragrant flowers typically opens in April and continues into early summer.
• Mulch 2 to 3 inches deep around the base, kept a few inches back from the stems, to hold spring moisture.

Winter dieback can leave bare, cut back stems going into spring. A tidy mulch ring plus visible new leaf growth read as an intentional, tended planting rather than a dead shrub.