I saw this flowering tree in Mexico last week and would LOVE to know the name of it. Nobody there seemed to know what it was. "Orange flowering tree" was the response I got from a couple people. Obviously NOT gardeners or into horticulture. LOL
Here is one where you can see the leaves of the tree along with the flower cluster.
And here is a closeup of the flower cluster.
looks like an african tulip?
I'll see if it is in my plant encyclopedia.
I googled African Tulip tree and I don't think that is what my photos are. It says native to Africa and the flowers are red. These are most definitely orange.
Definitely the African Tulip Tree, the flowers are described as orange-red in colour. It's widespread in warm climates and is a declared noxious weed in many places. Here it's illegal to supply or sell the plants.
Darn.................I would have liked to try and grow one in my greenhouse. It's very pretty, regardless.
Don't think you would ever have a problem with a tropical tree like that invading Wisconsin. They are sold in the US, TopTropicals has them but they are in 3 gallon pots and they are pricey.
Hmmmm............gonna go check that out. LOL
There is a "yellow" variety, Spathodea campanulata 'AUREA' aka Spathodea campanulata 'Lutea'.
http://www.rareflora.com/spathodeacaaurea.htm
When I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I tried growing the red-orange one in a large pot. It grew for a few years. Never bloomed and was very sensitive to cold weather. While I seldom had any freezing temperatures on the hillside where we lived, the temperatures did drop into the low 40s and high 30s. The tree eventually went into a decline and died. I hated to lose it, but at the time, I couldn't find any information about how to grow it. I've been tempted to try, but realize it would have to be in a really tall greenhouse. It might like our hot weather, but it sure would hate our cold weather.
http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/SPATHODEA_CAMPANULATA.htm
I went to the Top Tropicals website and they were priced at $39.99.........didn't think that was too bad.
However, I am still looking for a Princess Tree (Pawlownia, I guess) A couple of those would look really good in my yard.
They are invsive down here and I do not grow them but if you can find someone who does, they grow quickly from seed.
Were you hoping to grow the Paulownia outdoors all year round? I don't think they're hardy in zone 4 so they may not make it through your winters. Even if they do survive, they'll die back to the ground every year and never really get to be trees. They do grow fast so they can get pretty tall during the year, but you won't get flowers. So they won't be invasive in your area, but they might not be quite the tree you're hoping for either. Here are some places that sell it: http://davesgarden.com/products/ps/go/391/
Anna, I live in NW Florida and my Paulonia froze and died, so they aren't hardy in your zone for sure. I know they grow in zone 6b, Busch Gardens in St. Louis, Mo. - they have two huge and very old ones that are gorgeous!
I'm surprised yours died in zone 8...in zone 5 and maybe the colder parts of zone 6 they'll typically die back in the winter but come back in the spring, and as you get to the warmer parts of 6 and up they shouldn't normally have any trouble.
The one I am wanting grows one tall main trunk, and perhaps side shoots from that. The main trunk can get very tall. The leaves look like catalpa on 'roids. I was told that was an Empress Tree. And when I google Paulownia, I get Empress tree. Are they 2 different entities?
No, Paulownia and Empress tree are the same thing. There are a few different species of Paulownia--P. tomentosa is the most common one (that's the one I linked to some sources for in my earlier post). I don't think any of the species are zone 4 hardy though.
Well, ya, they are because I have seen them.
Posted by Mike, a fellow DG'er in 2002:
Sorry to say, but Paulownia is not hardy in zone 4. Winter temps in zone 4 can reach -30°F and Paulownia is, at best, a zone 6 tree (-10°F). You could grow one in a pot and bring it in for the winter or get seeds from the great people on these forums and grow it as an annual, since the tree grows so fast. Just don't expect the tree to survive the winter.
If you want a large-leaved tree try Catalpa speciosa - The Northern Catalpa. C. speciosa is hardy to zone 4a, has large tropical looking leaves, beautiful white blooms in the spring and 12" seed pods that hang on the tree through the fall. Catalpa is one of the very last trees to leaf-out in the spring so don't think your tree has died when it is the only plant with no leaves. The Catalpas in the Twin Cities didn't leaf-out until early June this year because of the cold spring we had.
Ecrane, I have no idea why mine died - I bought it in a 3-gallon pot from a local nursery, kept it watered via the sprinkler system, and still, it died. I'd love to have another one, but they are too expensive.
I bet what you're seeing are Catalpa instead--the leaves can be similar size to Paulownia. As Kay posted, Paulownia won't be hardy in zone 4, or if by some chance it did manage to survive a mild winter it would die back to the ground and have to start from scratch in the spring, so it would never grow into a real tree.
Kay, are you sure it was the cold that killed your tree? They are practically indestructable and I know they do well in zones colder than mine although 4 would be a stretch.
No, I'm not sure what killed it - everything near this tree is flourishing. It had a great root system and no vermin that I could see, but it died.
Given it's propensity for spreading itself around you might consider your self lucky. :-)
I agree that it likely wasn't cold that killed it--if it was young and you got an early sudden cold snap there's a chance it could have killed damaged tender new growth, but there's no way even the coldest winter in FL would have killed the roots so it should have resprouted in the spring if cold was the only problem.
I know - like I said, I have no answer for why it died - the trunk is still in the ground. As a matter of fact, I had two and both of them died. Apparently it was our sandy 'soil' that it didn't like.
That would be subject also, they are grown as a fast growing crop, for their wood, in the sandhills outside of Columbia, SC.
I really don't know what killed it, but both of them died over the winter, last year - it made me very sad, because I think they are so beautiful!
