looking for a tree seedling

i want a empress tree seedling. i have tried several times to find one for my dh as he really really wants one but cant find one.

i bought a few off ebay from 2 different sellers and neither are pauolwinias.


does anyone have any for postage??

yes i know they are messy and all but he really wants one. i have to acres so it can make its mess at the back of the lot. hehe

Well, it will also make its mess as far as the wind can blow its seeds, which is a long way past your two acres. The empress tree is one of the major invasive species problems in the Southeast.

If the tree already is rampant in your area, just dig a wild seedling -- you should be able to find them by the millions along any roadside. And if by some miracle it has not yet taken over your county, try to persuade your DH to plant something less invasive!

Guy S.

I have an empress tree seedling.

I have to second guy on this one... beg him not to go for this tree. I have seen them even here in Texas cause major trouble in short time spans. You will have them everywhere and so will anyone else living a mile from you or more. Then the cycle will start again. I dont ahve many trees that are on my evil list - but this one is at the top of the list.

I have to agre e with the folks up above. I fell in love with the bloosm on the tree. I gathered thousands and thousands of seeds. Was sellign them til I foudn out how invasive they were from folks here and now they sit in a fridge for safe keepign incase they ever get to the point of becoming extinct. LOL

They are very invasive, please don't get one. It won't just make a mess on the back of your property, it'll go way beyond that, it's a big problem in many parts of the country.

The seeds scatter and tend to send up shoots right next to building foundations. My barn foundation was cracked by a fast-growing seedling that sent out roots. I cut and killed the thing with Brush B Gon years ago but there is a new seedling I saw growing this week at exactly the same spot. My neighbors have a mature tree up the street and I am pretty sure that is the source. The blooms are pretty but I would not recommend growing it.

The bloom color and timing are similar to Wisteria, and while invasive the Wisteria can be controlled and could also be obtained in a tree form. There are lots of alternatives to this pest!

I bought 2 of them this spring from Rush industries. They are hardly growing--I thought they were supposed to grow faster. My cousin has one growing and it is beautiful. I love the leaves!!!! Maybe they are just invasive down south.

Sorry, it's invasive in PA too
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/Forestry/wildplant/invasivelist.aspx

I know it is hard to think but this is one of those really bad trees, it might be great in Asia but here it is just a bad tree.

maybe the ones here are sterile because the few i have seen dont act like everyone is talking like. maybe we got the wrong tree? name?

I don't think there are any that are sterile (if there was, it would be a #1 best seller and would be widely available because there are so many people who want this tree). Only way to keep them from reproducing is if you cut them way back every year, then they will just grow leaves and they won't flower. And if they don't flower, then they don't make seeds and they won't spread very far. The other possibility is that you don't see the seedlings that the trees are creating, seeds can travel a long ways so you won't necessarily see a ton of seedlings popping up right next to the tree especially if it's in a lawn where they get mowed down, or somewhere that's well mulched and the seeds can't take hold, but you don't see the seedlings that spring up down the road a ways.

And there was a time that I thought mimosa trees were pretty, too!
Princesstree, Paulownia (Paulownia Tomentosa)
USDA rates that tree in South Carolina as a "Significant Threat" (great, not quite as bad as Kudzu)
"Paulownia Tomentosa" -- Growing to 60' and having seed clusters containing "many winged seeds"
There is no way you can contain it to the back of your property! It will eventually be not only all over your property -- it will be all over the countryside! Think of your children -- and grandchildren.

It sounds like you (or your descendants and neighbor's descendants) would eventually be doing what I am -- having to manually cut out each "volunteer" and immediately spray with a glycosate herbicide so that it won't resprout. I'd much rather be spending my time working with plants that I like! 40 years ago there was one single mimosa tree on the edge of a pasture adjoining this property. As a child I adored the lovely blossoms on that tree (which was a "volunteer" blown in from who knows where). In the last few years since we moved here year-round, I have painstakingly destroyed dozens of "volunteers" and they are still coming up.

See:
South Carolina Exotic Pest Plant Council's website
http://www.se-eppc.org/southcarolina/

If you still think 2 acres is enough to contain it, think again.
http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs062/
you can order publication "Nonnative invasive plants of southern forests: a field guide for identification and control"
see page 76 from above pub at this PDF file:
http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs062/07_other_nn_plants.pdf
Has specific details for
that tells you what you may one day need to do to eradicate it from your property.

It seems that most of the non-native invasive species that are invading our forests were so pretty that no one dreamed that they could do any damage.
Key: non-native

Plants originating from other continents often do horrible damage to the local native plants.

Okay, (stepping off my soapbox)
There must be SOMETHING else that your DH would like!

How about a catalpa instead? I think the bloom is similar. (Stepping aside for tree people to voice opinions.....................................)
plantfile: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1682/

This message was edited Jun 21, 2007 9:30 AM

Much better choice!

http://www.paulowniasupply.com/ppcPsup/LandscapeTrees.htm


this is the site he was looking at.

"roof height the very first year...a six to ten inch seedling"
I was skeptical, but what I just read on the ID forum backs this up. Hm.

This message was edited Jun 22, 2007 8:36 AM

Tulip Poplars grow very fast and also get tall and provide shade. People say that they're invasive but I don't find it that way. I find some seedlings once in a while but not much. Plus, they're native.