Love the smell of popcorn?
Popcorn Cassia smells like freshpopped popcorn
Both the blooms and leaves of Popcorn Cassia smell like freshlypopped popcorn. This pretty shrub is native to Africa and grows well in Yuma’s warm climate.
What is that tasty treat everyone enjoys eating while watching a Friday night movie or a football game on Saturday afternoon? Popcorn! Just smelling popcorn makes my mouth water. It seems I’m not alone when it comes to loving this crunchy treat. The Popcorn Board, a nonprofit industry trade group, estimates that Americans consume 16 billion quarts of popcorn each year with sales topping over $1 billion annually.
If you want to continue enjoying that delicious popcorn aroma long after you’ve devoured your entire bowl of popcorn, plant a Popcorn Cassia, Cassia didymobotrya. Both its blooms and leaves smell like freshly-popped popcorn. This pretty shrub is native to Africa and grows well in Yuma’s warm climate. Also called Popcorn Senna, it is frost sensitive and grows best in zones 9-10.
From spring through fall in northern states, and year-round in Yuma, Popcorn Cassia displays its pretty, butter-colored blooms. Once temperatures drop below freezing up north, the plant dies down. With our mild winters, it grows as a perennial year-round.
Popcorn Cassia is a fastgrowing shrub with lacy leaves made up of small leaflets. Foot-long spikes covered with brightyellow flowers reach skyward. Beginning at the base of each spike, darkcolored buds open into sunshine-yellow flowers that have a faint popcorn smell. If you run your hands along the plant’s lacy leaves, the aroma of buttered popcorn is even stronger.
This shrub is perfect for a sensory garden and is a great pollinator plant that attracts birds, bees and butterflies. Plant Popcorn Cassia in full sun. When planting, add compost or nutrient-rich soil to the hole to encourage rapid growth. Small plants can be purchased at nurseries, or you can grow your own from seeds taken from a neighbor’s plant. Soak seeds overnight in water before planting.
A mature plant will grow 6-8 feet tall. If planting
several seedlings, space them about six feet apart. Popcorn Cassia can be pruned yearly to maintain a proper size for its location.
There are 8-10 seeds nestled in each flat, brown pod, and there is one pod per flower on a stalk. That adds up to a lot of seeds! The good news for northern gardeners is that Popcorn Cassia is disliked by deer and rabbits.
This pretty plant belongs to the Fabaceae family and is a legume. Its roots add nitrogen to the soil. In some parts of the world, it is used as a ground cover and plowed under at the end of each growing season to add nutrients to the soil before other crops are planted.
If you are looking for a fast-growing plant with lacy leaves, pretty blooms and a popcorn aroma, plant a Popcorn Cassia.
Happy gardening!