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Senna splendida |
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| Flowers late August |
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| Buds finally develop mid-August |
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| In glorious bloom mid-September |
Common name |
showy senna; golden wonder |
Family |
fabaceae |
Life cycle |
shrub/tree (Z9-11) |
Flowers |
yellow (fall-winter) |
Size |
9-12' |
Light |
sun |
Cultural notes |
well drained soil; drought tolerant |
From seed  |
scarify, germinate at room temperature; self-seeds in our garden detailed seed-starting info below
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Large semi-evergreen shrub (may be trained as a small tree) featuring bright yellow flowers in fall. The blooms are offset by glossy green leaves on drooping branches. Popular with pollinators, and plays host to caterpillars of several sulphur butterfly species (although we haven't encountered those yet). Despite its hardiness rating to zone 9, it didn't seem the least bit bothered by a winter freeze into the mid-teens in 2018. Instead, it grew amazingly robust in just a single season, turning into a voluminous shrub with a glorious floral display by September. The flowers are followed by bean-like seed pods. The next few years, volunteer seedlings started to appear near the mother plant; I mostly let them be, which was a good thing: the more severe freeze of 2021 killed the mother plant dead, but the younger plants all seemed to survive, ensuring the species' survival in our suburban garden.
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| Just after planting, still scraggly – it wouldn't stay like that for long |
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| Teeming with beans in late October |
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| Flower buds in late April – acting out of sync |
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| In the aftermath of the '21 freeze: the mother plant a lifeless stump, while its seedlings thrive nearby |
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One unfortunate feature of this plant (at least our specimen) is its tendency to dramatically flop right around the time it's in full bloom. The photo below left shows the plant as it is starting to bloom in mid-September, nicely upright. The one at right was taken about a month later, after the majority of the shrub had deposited itself on the adjacent stretch of lawn. This has happened a few years in a row now, despite severely cutting back the plant after flowering each fall in an attempt to encourage sturdy base growth. I don't know if it's the weight from the seedpods or just the natural habit. As long as I remember not to plant anything I care about in front of it, I can live with it for a few weeks out of the year.
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following areas: left fence border, houston front yard About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Senna splendida
Visitors to this page have left the following commentsTerry Key | Jul 24, 2021 | Have a client who wanted to change my recommendation to Senna and knowing nothing about the species I sought inside info on cultivation. Thanks for the inside info.
Key Landscapes Fresno Ca |
- Seed from '24 garden. Sandpapered, baggy 70F (100%G, 8d)
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Last modified:
January 10, 2025
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