Katsura Tree?

Hey Growin, or anyone else with tree expertise, what think you about the Katsura tree? I saw one at a nursery today, and i'm thinking of buying it for an area that's quite damp in the spring and fall, dry in summer, fullish sun. I admit it - it's the heart shaped leaves that kind of warm my cockles .... is this a tree you hold in high regard?

I really do like the Katsura tree - it seems to be tolerant of various conditions, easy to grow and used as a street tree in the next block from me. The small leaves are so neatly arranged on the stems and are full on the inside as well as the outside of the tree. I say, "go for it", but remember to amend the soil a bit when you plant it. The tree is planted in the parking lot of the Seattle Arboretum and my experience is that it takes some time for it to really reach "large" status and it stays a nice manageable size for decades.

Bless your katsura loving heart, Growin. Truly, your knowledge never ceases to amaze ....

I'm glad I can help and share my experience/knowledge and I think it's a real nice choice for your garden. Show me pics when you get it planted. That location also sounds good for Metasequoia and Taxodium.

Estreya - I have a 10 year old Katsura - it has performed well, and is about 18' tall x 8-9' wide. Love the colour & shape of the leaves, & other than a little leaf burn due to the very cold temps we had late winter, it has never had any problems.
The bonus is in the fall - the leaves give off a light caramalized sugar aroma after they have dropped & start to dry.
I tried to get the leaf colour detail in this pic.
My advice: get several Katsuras...

Oh my gosh Katye, what a lovely photograph! And what wonderful and encouraging words. I'm sold!

By the way, i notice there's a reddish one, and a greenish one. Any major differences between the two?

Also, Katye, i just looked into my records, and i was remembering correctly that you're a fan of the parrotia tree (once recommended by Soferdig in Laurie1's "Billion Trees" thread). I saw a great one at the nursery today, so i think i'll get one of those too. Did you ever get one planted?

I have to say, my head is spinning. The tree selections in the fruit tree area alone have me feeling very acquisitive. I've got to edit my thoughts and try to stay within some kind of organized framework or i shall surely drive myself mad.

:)

No Parrotia yet - long story short: my monitor blew, than the computer crashed and had to wait a couple months to replace and spent more than I wanted - but isn't that always the way it goes!
I am trying hard to stay away from the nursuries, particularly Wells Medina, as they always have something that I have been wanting. Funny you should mention the Parrotia, because yesterday I decided to renovate an area and plant a Parrotia there.
I also decided that there will be 3 Katsuras out front when we finally get that ready. I really like them - the foliage colour is blue-ish green, except for the new growth. I like their shape, too. I tried to get a better pic for you, but the sun came out in a full-on blaze, and about 25 minutes later it started to rain again. I'll try for another after work, when it's not so bright out, which shouldn't be hard these days.

:)

It's amazing how costly it all is, yes? Probably every other year from here on in, i'll have to put myself on "nursery probation." :)

I noticed the parrotia's also make a distinctive sound with the slightest breeze - the foliage, i suppose, is like miniature castanettes and the clicking sounds like rain.

I have a katsura and LOVE it. I'll take a photo tomorrow and post it. Mine seems to be not as full as the ones pictured above. I like it because it's not a 'heavy' tree.

Gwen

I LOVE my katsura tree! I think you should plant at least one. There is also a beautiful row of these along Capitol Lake in Olympia. They look so pretty in the fall with their peachy color. I like the reddish stems and small leaves too. Deer do like it, so spray with that invisible fence stuff if you have these critters where you live. My tree is in full sun and gets watered well by the sprinklers in the summer.

Here's a close up of the leaves....

Gorgeous! You know, maybe i WILL get two!!

~~ giggles and scampers off ~~

Galega - nice pic!

Here's the pendulus form.

I just came in from attempting another shot of the Katsura - this lighting is not the best, but gives a better idea of the shape of the tree.
Funny how it looks so different from down in the orchard vs from the house. The sun was too low to get a good shot from the lawn. Hope this helps.

Here's ours. I found a photo of it I already had. All the pine trees behind it are no more - they fell down in a heavier-than-normal snowfall we had in November. I'm thinking to replace them with lilacs.

That's a butterfly bush to the left of the katsura. It gets cut back to the ground every spring (tomorrow's the day) and comes back with a vengeance.

The katsura is going to get a lot more sun now than it did before the pines fell, so it'll be interesting to see what effect that has.

Gwen

This message was edited Apr 16, 2007 7:23 PM

Gorgeous! Just gorgeous photographs. Thank you!

Here's a little bit of lore i found:

"The common name Katsura, alludes to the tale of a Chinese monk who discovered the secret of eternal life. Not content with this he went on to commit a hideous crime, for which he was sentenced to go to the moon and fell into a 5,000 feet high tree. The image of the man in the moon we see today is the condemned man trying to accomplish this impossible task. This gives rise to the idea of a Katsura as an impossible goal or unachievable dream."

Very nice.