"aka flamboyant or flame tree"
While some have theirs towns covered in exquisite multi-colored leaves every autumn (which I deeply envy)
In South Florida we have our beautiful and un-tradable flaming Royal Poincianas.
I deeply envy places with autumn leaves. In South Florida, we have our poincianas, and June is when I am quite happy with the arrangement. Along South Miami Avenue, the flowers cover the branches and fall onto the sidewalks, leaving patches of red under the trees. There are palms, houses and towers in these photographs, but I was looking at the poincianas.
They were planted along the avenue in 1929, between 15th and 27th Roads, by Miami’s parks superintendent, Gerry Curtis. David Fairchild encouraged the City’s planting campaign. The stretch became known as the Route of the Poincianas, and artists came to paint the flowers. A postcard from the 1930s or early 1940s shows the avenue lined with poincianas and date palms, the same planting arrangement that makes it so recognizable today.
The trees come from Madagascar. Their flowering season generally runs from May through July, so anyone who only knows Miami in winter has missed this part. Their crowns can grow wider than the trees are tall, with branches spreading over the pavement. The broad grassy verges along South Miami Avenue give them room to grow.
There was once a whole itinerary for seeing them. In 1938, evening excursions went to an illuminated poinciana on Dan Killian’s property in Kendall, its canopy reportedly spreading 66 feet. The following year, more than 500 cars were scheduled to leave the Orange Bowl in a motorcade to the tree. The celebrations grew into a weeklong festival, with a queen crowned at Bayfront Park in 1940. In 1961, the City’s Beautification Committee changed the name to the Royal Poinciana Fiesta as a welcome to the Cuban immigrants arriving in South Florida.
Miami’s preservation vote brings the Foster + Partners tower at 619 Brickell closer to construction while keeping First Miami Presbyterian’s sanctuary protected.