pawlonia tree

I just got 3 healthy Sapphire Pawlonia trees, I live in zone 5, eastern CT. I read they are hardy to zone 4, but I also read about the Empress Pawlonia, as being a less hardy tree. I've never seen these in CT; has anyone had any luck growing these trees in New England?

Have you done a check on Google? I just did one and found several good articles on the Pawlonia trees indicating that virtually all of them will handle temp down to at least 0, with some going -20, -30.

Billr, I saw themon the web that's why I ordered some, mine been in about a month now and are very healtht, like a 10 inch hydrangea I have never seen one of these in person, so there must be some reason why they are not in CT, even tho they are supposed to be hardy to zone5. Have you ever seen one? I wonder if the fowers are as pretty as they say.

Very common tree out here in So Cal, but we don't get any cold here. Flowers are great, in the spring- purple/violet... but trees tend to grow very tall very fast. So our tree flowered for the first time this year... but it's over 40' tall (was 2' tall 4 years ago) and the flowers are sort of distant. If growing for the flowers and not the effect of having a spire-shaped tree that towers over the others in your yard, I recommend pruning it regularly, and severely. Also tends to have wimpy wood, and branches snap off easily, sqishing sensitive plants below... beware.

Paulownia is a very invasive tree - it seeds everywhere. Not hardy to more than about -10°F and will probably die to the ground below that temperature. If you don't see the trees growing locally it's probably because they are not hardy there (if it were hardy there you would see it EVERYWHERE).

There are so many beautiful trees available. I would really consider choosing another tree (you may have to anyway if it isn't hardy where you live).
My .02.

treelover, I got mine from ebay. They are already planted, so I'll have to see if they make it thru the winter. I put them (3) in front of a stone wall so maybe they'll absorb heat from that. I planted 23 other trees this year not counting the pawlonia and 5 other seedlings. Plus 11 shrubs; I still have 2 10ft. plums to plant and 8 more gal. shrubs. Do you by any chance have a Japanese Stewartia?

As a matter of fact, I do have a Japanese stewartia. It bloomed beautifully this June and early July (it's only about 4' tall). I was surprised that it survived this past winter, given how terrible the winter was.

In talking to various people it has been determined that I have Stewartia pseudocamellia var. koreana which is slightly hardier than the straight species (I live in USDA zone 4a in Minnesota). The flowers on Stewartia pseudocamellia var koreana open a little wider and are a little larger than the straight species.

I'm not sure whether my plant will mature any seeds or not. If I get seeds I will sow them to see if I can get any seedlings. I had to trim one small branch off of my plant and I am trying to root it, but it is already spoken for if it roots.
Mike

Treelover, I am glad to hear your stewartia survived. I just planted one, I never heard of it, so far so good. Was this your first year with it? Has it grown much? The tag says slow growing.I was so lucky a nursery near me had buy one get one free on all the trees, shrubs and plants for 2 weeks, so I went twice. That's how I got the Stewartia.

puplover,
This is my stewartia's 3rd summer. My stewartia has been very slow growing in part because the soil in my yard isn't as acidic as stewartia would like and because my plant is growing on the northern edge of its hardiness zone.

Stewartia dislikes root disturbance so don't expect much in the way of growth the first couple of years. Since most of Connecticut's soil is quite acidic I'm sure your plant will do much better and grow much faster than my plant.

My stewartia is growing in full sun and is doing fine. I have read that stewartia likes partial shade, but I think it will grow and flower much better in full sun. The first two years after I had planted my stewartia the leaves on my plant got a little crispy around the edges, but this year the leaves are just fine.

I had one flower the first year, no flowers the second and about 36 flowers this year. A few flowers open each day so it isn't a big show like you see when a crabapple is in full bloom, but it blooms over a much longer period of time (about 6 weeks).

Good luck with your plant! You're lucky to have gotten a good deal on it.
Mike


This message was edited Tuesday, Jul 29th 8:15 PM

This message was edited Tuesday, Jul 29th 8:19 PM

Mike, I planted mine in full sun, in a spot where we just took down a 100 foot pine tree. My leaves burnt, too, but I already have new growth. I bought a cucumber magnolia at the 2 for 1 sale, it must have had 100 buds on it, and still has about 50 not open yet. The flowers looks just like the picture of the stewartia flower, but the leaves are different. Di(puplover)