Golden chain tree (Laburnum anagyroides) seedlings

Hi, fellow tree and shrub lovers!

In January of this year I winter sowed some Golden chain tree seeds I had received in '06. They were among a seed stash of a friend who passed in '06, and there were several things I'd never even considered attempting to grow from seed in there. Without doing any research, and in a rush to get the seeds sown before they got too old, I used the winter sowing method as it seemed appropriate for trees and shrubs.

Well, it worked great for these! So now I've got a bunch of healthy looking seedlings still in the winter sowing container, looking surprisingly good in spite of the restricted space. What should I do with them now? I know nothing of this plant, other than I've always admired them in pictures. I'm wondering if they are hardy enough at this small stage to overwinter in the ground. I could pot them and hold them in the basement, or cover them with mulch against the foundation if those are better options. They look very much like the seedling pic in Plantfiles:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2194/

I'm only planning to keep 3-5 of these seedlings, and there are at least a dozen in the container (I think closer to 20, but I'll count them today). If anyone would like to try them, I'd be happy to share them for postage.

Thanks,
Neal

That's a tough plant to grow long term in KY, though you should give it your own try. Hot humid summers are not its friend. It is a species that thrives in British or Pacific northwest type climates.

I've not grown this from seed, but I'd give the same advice with any plant you are trying for a first time. Split the difference, and put your "eggs" in several baskets to get some experience at each option you have. Some outside, some inside, and see how it goes. Outside, I'd make sure you protected against the biting predators.

Good luck with your efforts; that's a great way to carry over a memory.

Good idea, VV! Perhaps I'll hold on to 6, and try 2 each, 3 different methods. Having never seen one in person before, I thought there may be some climactic challenge growing them here. I suppose if one will succeed, starting with babies "born" here should be helpful in achieving a well acclimated plant.

Neal, I grew some of these last year, I potted them in gal. pots for the winter and set other pots around them to shelter them a bit in the sun for the winter, I have no greenhouse, I also planted one just to see if it would grow and lost them all to winter. I would suggest putting them in the house/greenhouse :)

Ah, good to know, Lea, thanks for the input. The basement stays in the 50s F in winter, and is completely dark, so I think that would be my best bet. We're in the process of getting a greenhouse put up, so when its completed they'll probably spend the rest of winter in there.

Happy Birthday, ViburnumValley! Just noticed your name on the list!

Neal - those are wonderful tree's. We saw them in Scotland - creating
beautiful alley's;

Tammy, I've seen some pics of them used that way, absolutely stunning! So would you like to see how some will do in your zone?

I grew a few from seed. Only one survived to be put into the ground 4-5 yrs ago. It hasn't died,has seemed to have stop growing and get's pretty rough looking by the end of our summer....but it's is still alive.

Peggy

Thanks, Peggy, that give me hope! I'm guessing its a bit more hot and humid there than here, so these may have a chance :-)

It's survived some triple digit temps and horrible humidity.

I'll post a picture once it's light outside.

Neal - sure! If you have extra's.
Tam

got busy yesterday and forgot about the picture

Sure thing, Tammy! Ooohh...and I may just have some other goodies for you :-)

gemini - Have you any seedlings left? If so, I'd love to try some. Just let me know! Thanks, Samantha

I don't know how they'll do for you--they don't like hot humid summers, and if VV had doubts about gemini being able to grow them in KY, your climate is even less appropriate for them so I can't imagine they'll be very happy. Of course plants can surprise us sometimes so by all means try them if you want, but don't be surprised if they don't thrive in your area.

I also read that they don't like sub-tropical climates, but, growing up in Orlando, FL - there were some thriving there, so I'll take my chances! Samantha

Are you sure it was Laburnum (golden chain tree) and not Koelreuteria (golden rain tree)? Koelreuteria does fine in warmer climates.

Yep, these are definitely Laburnum. I wasn't sure at first, but I was able to compare the leaves in Plantfiles. Luckily there's a seedling pic of Laburnum in there too, and these look just like them- that pea like look.

I was checking to see if Samantha was sure that's what the trees were that she saw in Florida, I don't think Laburnum would do very well there and it's very easy to confuse the common names of Laburnum and Koelreuteria.

Oh, yes, and I can see why. It took some looking to figure out which one I had, I'm sure from a distance they can be easy to mistake one for the other.

ecrane - Yes, I'm sure. My parents had a Golden Rain tree in our yard - it's pretty, but not like Laburnum! I've wanted one since I first saw one - I was probably around 10 or 12 at the time! Samantha

Oh, keeping fingers crossed,...there's some good hope for success :-)

These trees have a rough time here in my zone 7b!!! I purchase a couple 3 years ago. They don't just die out. They just sit there and protested our hot and humid weather!!! I love them, but it's time I reconcile with mother nature. They're NOT made for our HOT summer climate!

I still think the trees in FL had to be something different--there are other more tropical trees that have yellow flowers, maybe it was a Cassia or something like that? Some of them have the name golden shower tree and they would definitely do great in FL (and they're much showier than the Koelreuteria). I just can't imagine how Laburnum would do well in FL when people farther north than that have trouble.

It's funny that PlantFiles shows this tree as zones 5a-11. Usually, with a zone listing like that, I would assume that it was something I could try. Hmmm.

Neal sending you a d-mail , Donna

Plant Files isn't always correct--could be the person who put it in lives in a colder zone and just automatically assumed that if it was hardy in their zone it would be hardy everywhere warmer and didn't think about the summer heat factor (and to be fair, the USDA zones technically are only based on winter cold and not summer heat, there are some areas of zone 8-9 on the west coast where the summers are much less hot & humid than Florida and the Laburnum would do great)

ecrane, I sure wish there was a zoning system in place that considered summer heat. I tried for years to grow tall delphiniums and lupines, and sure enough they would survive the winter just fine, but summer did 'em in.

Donna, got ya covered!

Guess that will just about do it for the extra seedlings. Hopefully between us, there will be some survivors!

There are some systems that account for that--the American Horticultural Society has developed "heat zones" which rate areas based on how many days per year they have over 85 or 86 F. And Sunset has a system of climate zones that factor in winter cold, summer heat, rainfall, and other climate variables. It's widely used in the western half of the country and not so much in the east, but they do have climate zones for the whole country. The trouble is a lot of plant tags don't include the AHS or Sunset zones on them since they're not as widely used. Sunset has a book at least for the western part of the country where you can look up plants and see whether it'll work in your Sunset zone, but I'm not sure what they have for the rest of the country.

I have a golden chain that is doing fine despite my hot and humid climate. I planted it on the east side of my house so that the shadow of the house would protect it in the afternoon.

passiflora, that's promising news! How long has it been since you planted it? Do you have any pics of it? Would love to see- especially with blooms!

I planted it April, 2001. I think it was about 3 feet tall. Now it is maybe 12 feet tall.

Here is the thread that shows it:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/836996/

Thanks so much, passiflora! I'm psyched!

Finally! Here picture of the tree planted in my front yard. I need to prune off that secondary leader.

I'm green with envy. Only if my Golden chain tree is green, then I'd have been happier! :(( I think mine kicked the bucket this year. After a few years of struggling....

But, I AIN'T gonna give up. I'll order some more and try again. Sniff, sniff.

I grew this one from seed about 6 yrs ago. It seems to have quit growing.I did cut about 2 ft off of the central leader last spring due to winter kill back. It still leafs out every year but drops it's leaves in the heat of summer then re-leafs after weather has started cooling off but mostly on that secondary leader so I'm pruning it off to make it look better and hoping more energy will go into the central leader

I've tried several laburnums over the years - none survived.

But, ever the optimist, I planted a new variety this summer which is supposed to be more tolerant of our humidity. I can't remember the name right now - I'll see if I can rummage around and find it. Sadly, I'm not the most organized gardener on the planet.

My greatest success was when one of my doomed laburnum's squeezed out a single chain of beautiful yellow flowers. Never saw another bloom. At the time, I thought it would be the first of many to come, so I didn't bother to take a souvenir photo. I wish I had.

wee,
I know what you mean...never seen a bloom on this one either. I have a golden rain tree too...about the same age...bigger,bloomed a couple of times but not in the last two years. Can't figure that one out unless I damaged it's root some how working in the flowerbed that surrounds it.

I've tried 3 of these. Not one has survived the summer of planting. This year I tried a larger one, but with the same results. I've only ever seen one growing in our area and it is a very old spectacular tree, the centerpiece of a lovely flower bed.