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Fastest Growing Shade Tree! Fast growing and able to establish itself in nearly any landscape situation, princesstree is breathtaking in spring when it is filled with fragrant, lavender and white flowers. A clumsy, widely-crowned deciduous tree from China, it produces copious amounts of leaf litter and seeds, increasing its ability to become invasive in many situations. Often it may be regarded as a \"weedy tree\" although stunning when in flower.
In mid-spring, the tree\'s branch tips are filled with an upright, moppy cluster of small, trumpet-like flowers with five lobes. Colored lavender to lilac-purple, the throats of each blossom is a lighter shade, even pure white with yellow streaks. They smell of vanilla. As the flowering show ends, the large heart-shaped leaves emerge, sometimes having small lobes. In summer these leaves are shed on an ongoing basis, and the persistent tan fruits develop on the branch tips, eventually splitted and each releasing hundreds of seeds. There is no fall color on the princesstree. In winter the shallowly fisssured dark gray-brown bark is noticed, as are the muscular, heavy, horizontal branches. It is weak wooded and shallow rooted.
Grow princesstree in full sun in nearly any soil type that is not waterlogged. It is best grown in deep, moist but well-draining soils and certainly protected from winds. Bitter winter cold can destroy flower buds and too warm of winters will lead to bud drop. Grow it in lawns where the flower and leaf litter is not annoying and the shallow root system is not troubling. It casts dense shade as well and does not create a setting for a garden underplanting.
Investigate if this tree is regarded as an invasive that is not to be planted in your region. In many temperate areas outside its native China it has escaped cultivation and can be seen in waste areas, abandoned building sites and common roadside verges. (info source: Learn2Grow.com)
Not available for sale in Wisconsin.
Genus - Paulownia| Useful Info | |
| Germination | Paulownia seeds are easy to germinate! Germination rate will be between 60 and 90%. The average is 80%! SHORT GERMINATION INFO: Sow seeds on the surface of the prepared moist soil, cover with clear plastic for humidity control and place in very light (no direct sunshine) and warm place. Germination is quite fast!. For more detailed info on propagation - please read below! DETAILED GERMINATION INFO: How to do it: There are many ways to start Paulownia from seed. This is one way. There is nothing new to this technique. It is just borrowed from many other people and modified to suit Paulownia. The fact that you can do it in your home without a lot of money tied up in a greenhouse or beds, and you can raise over 1,000 small seedlings in a 6 square foot area, makes it nice! It gets you through the germination problems associated with Paulownia and to the point where the little trees want to grow. Directions: 1. Mix the seed with the instant potato flakes in a quart jar to dilute the seed for even spreading. 2. Put about 1 1/2 gallons of dry sphagnum into each flat. Make it level! 3. Evenly spread the seed/potato mix on top of the sphagnum. Leave it on top! Do not mix into the sphagnum. Light on the seeds is required for germination! 700 to 1,000 foot-candles are best. 4. Fill 2 plastic domes with water and gently place the seeded flats on top of the water filled domes. Allow the sphagnum to become completely water logged before removing flat (12 hrs.). 5. Remove the flat and pour the remaining water from the dome. Place the dome over the top of the seeded flat. This will make a miniature green house with an excellent environment for germination. 6. Place the seeded dome flat about 10-14 inches under the 4-foot lights. Mist lightly with water ever day. Don't over water. You can deplete the nutrients in the peat. (P. S. When mounting the lights, they should be very close together! They should occupy a space of about 1 1/2-foot wide by 4 foot long.) 7. Wait for 3 weeks. Leave the lights on 24 hours each day. Don't let the temperature get below 70 degrees F and not above 85 degrees. 8. At 3 weeks and with a sharp pencil, transfer the small seedlings into the 288 plug trays. These plug trays need to be filled and packed, with wet, high-grade sphagnum before transferring. (At this point you can use any size pot you want, but a greenhouse will be required! This paper deals with home grown. ) 9. To allow establishment, place a dome over each of the 4 trays for another week, then remove the domes for good. At this point, fertilizer can be used for the first time. Any earlier, it would have burned the young roots. 10. After 8 weeks from sowing, the seedlings will need to be hardened off. This takes about 1 week of tapering off their protected, inside environment and building them up to the harsh, outside environment. 11. In 9 to 10 weeks they will be ready to bed plant or field plant or transferred into larger pots. P. S. Watch out for insects and disease! I use Orthene and Benlate for most problems. Source: http://oldwww.planetc.com/early-bird/stockpit.htm VERY USEFUL LINKS: http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/for/for39/for39.htm |
