Is it edible? I know 'what' it is, Cape Honeysuckle

Not listed in TTT or Feedipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tecoma_capensis to see and read

18 lines down this site http://www.hear.org/pier/wra/pacific/tecoma_capensis_htmlwra.htm says it's not toxic to animals.

Any first hand experience?
Hummingbirds love it.

I don't have first hand experience but
http://www.arizonatortoisecompound.com/What-We-Feed.html
http://192.185.14.2/~spencer/feeding.php
seem to say it's okay.
Hope it helps.

I've been feeding out leaves and flowers to all four of my species for a few years. Not a lot and not very often though. I read that it was safe. It flowers in the fall.

It will not tolerate even the slightest freeze, but does fine with heat as long as its watered.

I found this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tecoma_stans indicating another species in the same genus is a "desirable fodder".

I'll try some of the Cape Honeysuckle out on a colony of pancakes, they are quick to accept or reject a novel food item, we'll see how it goes and I'll report back. I'll try a pile of flowers and a separate pile of some leaves with them, and see what they do. I'll put a few small branches of it in there too.

Thanks Tom and Tidgy's Dad, three first hand experiences, I'll add my own soon enough.

For me, it was in full flower when I moved in February, and has continued to grow and flower, coming through and under the fence from a neighbor, we don't get below 45 here, so no frost let alone freeze.

Tom said:

I've been feeding out leaves and flowers to all four of my species for a few years. Not a lot and not very often though. I read that it was safe. It flowers in the fall.

It will not tolerate even the slightest freeze, but does fine with heat as long as its watered.

Click to expand...

Actually, it tolerates quite a lot of frost, and growers in Portland and Seattle get away with it.
I believe it is safe for most animals.

Iochroma said:

Actually, it tolerates quite a lot of frost, and growers in Portland and Seattle get away with it.

Click to expand...

Mine doesn't. Not at all. As soon as temps even drop into the low 30s for one night, everything above ground dies and withers. It usually comes back in the spring though.

I see it all over the place in areas near here that don't get quite as cold on those winter nights. There are huge 12 foot tall bush/trees of the stuff all over Pasadena. It does fine just a little south of here in the San Fernando Valley too. I have the same problem with Hibiscus. It just can't quite make it here.

Can you give a quick tutorial on how to propagate it? I think I might just try to get some started from one of the huge established plants that aren't too far from here. Maybe the particular variety I got is a little more cold sensitive than some other variety.

Tom, you need a huge greenhouse.

Will said:

Tom, you need a huge greenhouse.

Click to expand...

Yeah I do. Wanna put one up for me?

Tom, I think you should seek out new varieties, and not propagate the sensitive one you have. They can be propagated from cuttings, but layering would be easier for the home gardener.

Iochroma said:

Tom, I think you should seek out new varieties, and not propagate the sensitive one you have. They can be propagated from cuttings, but layering would be easier for the home gardener.

Click to expand...

My plan is to go get some cuttings from some local well established and thriving bushes that can obviously handle the weather here.

What is layering?

Layering is when you root a piece of stem while it's still on the mother plant. You can do the by anchoring a few inches of stem, with leaf nodes, to a pot of soil/ground, this plant will send down roots, then you cut the branch from the main/mother plant once those roots demonstrate they are supporting the branch. Sounds complicated, but it is exactly why this plant is considered an invasive, pretty much any branch the touches the ground will root at that point, and continue growing.

http://assoc.garden.org/courseweb/course2/week4/page8.htm

If someone you know has local plants, they may well already be 'layered' by the very nature of how this plant spreads.

It is somewhat difficult to see, but at the very center of the image and the branch across it, you can see very new growth growing straight up from the branch lying on the ground. It has layered all by itself.

Tom said:

Yeah I do. Wanna put one up for me?

Click to expand...

Tom said:

Yeah I do. Wanna put one up for me?

Click to expand...

Maybe we could work something out?

The search function here is still total feces.

Anyway, I fed flowers, leaves, and small stems with both. As expected some pancake in a colony of 1.3 ate it, other did not consider it. I tried blooms only in with some Egyptians, they kept looking at them, walking over with enthusiasm (as if they might be dandelion flowers?) but did not eat them. Today I just chopped up some small amount and put it in the 'mix' of the day. This somehow seems to bridge them to just eat whatever is there, when I get home tonight we will see.

Regarding "search":

I go to Google and type in, "Tortoise forum - (and then what I want to search for, for example) Bob, Santa Claus" It almost always finds the thread I was looking for, while putting the same words in the Forum's search bar finds me nothing.

Thanks for the reminder Yvonne on the search.

So Pancakes seemed to not 'notice' a difference when the cape honey suckle was mixed in with their other prepared salad greens, nor did the Egyptians who seem willing to pretty much eat anything green. The Egyptians were not enticed to eat plain blossoms of the honeysuckle, but when mixed in their greens along with marigold, squash, and hibiscus blossoms they just ate it all. So pretty much just another item that grows here that I can mix in. The plus for me is that it is already established here.

Tom said:

My plan is to go get some cuttings from some local well established and thriving bushes that can obviously handle the weather here.

What is layering?

Click to expand...

Sorry to jump in @Will. Just got to even the score up with Tom. hee hee hee

Huh. Caught ya Tom. Your as bad as me, Rememer this:-

"@Iochroma will probably know what it is. Your assistance yet again, please?".

Even I know what layering is. I do it with gooseberry bushes. Please. lol haha

Oh yeah, whilst your here. what's this monstrosity growing in my garden, about 3ft tall.

"evening primrose" - Oenanthera sp.