I have a Red Orchid Tree (Bauhinia galpinii) that has a couple of seed pods on it. Does anyone know when the seeds would be ready to plant? The pods are green right now, so I assume that they need to "ripen" a bit.

Seed Pod


Red Orchid flower

I believe the seed pods are like the Bird of Paradise pods. They are ripe when the pods turn dark brown and begin to harden. You need to watch them because if they dry out, they will pop and seeds fly everywhere. That's how they get their reputation for being invasive.

Is Bauhinia galpinii the same as Bauhinia variegata? B.Variegata is listed as invasive in Florida, but not B.galpinii. I don't want anything too overly aggressive, especially if it's non-native.

They are different, but both still produce seeds from pods that pop, then curl to fling the seeds out. You can cover the pods you have with net bags. Just don't pull the pods off before they dry because the seeds won't be matured to germinate.

Thanks, Sandi! I'll keep an eye on them

@IbisFLA. I wrote "Bird of Paradise" when I meant to write "Pride of Barbados" in my answer above.
If you go to the Plant Database, there are a couple of photos of the Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) seed pods that have popped and curled.
I usually pick mine off as I'm heading out to run errands, throw them in the car, and forget. The extreme Texas heat dries the pods and they pop all over in the car!

B. galpinii is a beautiful small tree and I haven't found it to be invasive.

I love b. galpinii. Beautiful little shrubby tree! Yes, you pods will turn brown when they ripen and than split open. I had one before I moved and loved it - haven't gotten one for my new(ish) home yet.

I haven't grown other bauhinia trees before, but my b. galpinii never did produce a ton of seed pods when I had it - and those it did produce didn't have many seeds. That may have been because it was younger, or maybe because there wasn't another b. galpinii to cross with to increase seed set, not sure.