Author Topic: Hummingbird Tree (Sesbania grandiflora)  (Read 2640 times)

LivingParadise

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Hummingbird Tree (Sesbania grandiflora)
« on: April 01, 2017, 04:53:11 PM »
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 Hummingbird Tree
« on: October 21, 2016, 02:11:40 PM »
So I'm growing Hummingbird Tree (Sesbania grandiflora) - both in red and white varieties. So far, it is a gorgeous, and easy to grow tree. I lost 2 before this to iguanas eating them to death, so I have to keep them netted to get them to live, because they are apparently VERY desirable plant matter.

Supposedly the white flowers are better than the red for eating. I wouldn't know, because I have not had one survive long enough for me to harvest a flower yet. But, now that I am protecting my new ones, hopefully that will not be the case for long! I did taste a few of the leaves, though, which were also edible, and they had a pleasant flavor. They were a little strong probably for me to eat in abundance raw, but I'm not even sure you're supposed to eat them raw anyway...

Anyone else growing this or know about it? Recipes to share? Can you tell us how to prepare the flowers and pods? I'm not sure if I'm supposed to pick the pods, which grow easily after the flowers, when they are young and cook them, or wait until they are older and shell them to eat the seeds, or what? And do you cook the flower when it's mature and opened, or before?

Very excited about these beautiful trees, and hope I can keep them alive this time, and some day that I can enjoy them without all the netting for the stupid invasive iguanas...

LivingParadise

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Re: Hummingbird Tree (Sesbania grandiflora)
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2017, 05:00:14 PM »
As an update to this, sadly I lost both red and white Hummingbird trees. Which bothers me a lot, because they were not cheap, and I really adore them.

I netted them to keep the iguanas off, which worked, but then the root system did not have enough time to establish before the super spider mites we have here in the dry season hit with a vengeance, and by the time I realize the plants were hit underneath the netting, 2 days later they were totally dead. That pest is extremely fast and vicious here.

I am so sad, and broke. I can't afford to constantly replace so many plants. But I really loved the hummingbird tree, it likes this climate, and is so exotic and beautiful to look at. I did get to try cooking 1 white flower, which was good as a vegetable but rather bland, like squash. I would have to eat more of them to be sure of the taste. What little I tried of the leaves, cooked, was unremarkable. I tasted a little bit of them raw and did not like the taste enough to really crave it in salads or anything. But the plant is visually stunning, a great addition to a landscape, and seems to flower and pod prolifically even from a small size if you can keep the damn thing alive.

Recommended. Please share if you have your own experiences (hopefully positive!) with this tree.

I hope to replace them in the future, and somehow find a way for it to live. Maybe if I plant at the beginning of the rainy season this year, and this time from a source that provides a healthier plant to start with, I will finally get somewhere. No luck so far with trying to grow them from seed. Ah well.