Grow and Care for Flame of the Forest

Grow flame of the forest in full sun, on soil that drains, where a hard frost will not hit the tree. Flame of the forest is Butea monosperma. It is not Ixora, the shrub sold as flame of the woods, and it is not a royal poinciana.

Give it full sun, soil that drains, and a frost-free site

Flame of the forest wants full sun and a hole that still drains. Water a new tree through the first couple of years, then ease off. Let the soil dry toward winter so the leaves drop and the orange flowers open on bare wood. [1] Flame of the forest is a slow deciduous tree, about 30 to 40 feet tall and wide in the open, with a crooked trunk and three leaflets on each leaf. Give it a frost-free site. A hard freeze kills the top. A wet winter pocket rots the roots, and a winter that stays too wet, too dry, or too cold can skip the bloom. [2]

1. Choose full sun and soil that drains. A dark, wet pocket is the usual cause of decline.
2. Leave about 30 to 40 feet for a rounded crown. This is a specimen tree, not a patio shrub.
3. Water through the first couple of years. After that, water only in a long dry spell, and let the soil dry toward winter so the tree can bloom.
4. Keep it out of a hard freeze. If frost will hit the bed, grow it in a pot you can move.

Grow it in a pot you can move if frost will hit

If a hard freeze will reach the bed, keep the tree in a large pot with mix that drains, and move it under cover before the first hard frost. Water while it is in leaf. Ease off when the leaves drop.

1. Use a large pot with a drainage hole and a mix that drains. A saucer of standing water rots the roots.
2. Set it in full sun outdoors for the growing season.
3. Move it to a bright, frost-free room or a greenhouse before a hard freeze.
4. Do not expect a 30-foot canopy in a pot. This is a way to keep a young tree alive, not a houseplant shrub.

Plant with the flare at grade

If you are keeping a nursery tree, set the root flare even with the surrounding soil, in full sun, on ground that drains, out of the wind, and where frost will not hit it. A buried flare stays wet, and an open, windy bank splits the crooked crown. [3]

1. Dig a hole as deep as the root ball and about twice as wide. Set the flare at grade, not buried under extra soil.
2. Backfill with the soil you took out. Mix in a little compost if the native soil is poor, then water to settle it.
3. Keep mulch off the bark. Water through the first dry season, then ease off.
4. Leave about 30 to 40 feet for the crown. Do not plant it where a hard freeze is routine unless you can move a pot.

Sow a soaked seed

Start a new tree from a fresh seed. Soak it in warm water overnight so the hard coat can take up water, then sow it about an inch deep in a mix that drains and stays warm. Sprouts often show in about 10 to 12 days. [4]

1. Use a fresh seed. Soak it in warm water overnight, or nick the coat if it still feels hard after the soak.
2. Sow it flat, about an inch deep, in a mix that drains. Keep the mix warm and just moist, not soggy.
3. Move the seedling to its final hole, or into a larger pot, once it has two or three sets of leaflets. The taproot does not like a late disturbance.
4. Do not wait on a cutting. Seed is the usual start. Root suckers can make extra plants, but do not spread them into a bed you cannot watch.

Prune after the flowers drop

Cut after the orange flowers drop, while you can still see the framework. Take out dead, broken, or crossing wood, and leave the next season's bloom wood. Do not top the tree.

1. Wait until the flowers have dropped and new leaves are starting.
2. Take out dead, broken, or crossing wood. Cut just outside the branch collar, not flush to the trunk.
3. Shorten a wayward limb that will snag a path or a roof. Do not strip the crown in one cut.
4. Do not prune hard just before bloom. Flowers open on wood that already formed.

Not flame of the woods — and not a royal poinciana

Flame of the woods is Ixora, a tropical shrub with tight flower heads. Flame of the forest is Butea, a 30-foot pea-family tree with three leaflets and curved orange flowers on bare wood. If the tag says flame of the woods, you have a shrub, not this tree.

A royal poinciana is Delonix. It has ferny, twice-cut leaves and five-petal flowers with one petal marked yellow and white. Some tags also call that tree flame of the forest. A coral tree is Erythrina, with claw-shaped flowers — see How to Grow Coral Tree. The Illawarra flame tree is Brachychiton — see How to Grow Australian Bottle Tree. Chinese flame tree is Koelreuteria — see How to Grow Golden Rain Tree. Bastard teak is a timber name for this tree, not true teak.

Keep flame of the forest in full sun on soil that drains, in a frost-free site or a pot you can move, and let the soil dry toward winter so the orange flowers open on bare wood.