My Frankin Tree Has Buds!

This is my second year with my Franklin Tree .. last year no buds but this year yes! .. I'm so excited!!!

X

Mine died.
Again.
Nuts.
Guy S.

Bummer .. is it rated for your zone?

X

Yeah, sort of. But it's not rated for our soil and habitat. I guess I'll give up on it since this was my third attempt.
Ya just can't grow everything everywhere!
Guy S.

Mine died... again too.

Congratulations X! I'm really happy for you (trying to suppress my jealousy).

What about their culture is so touchy?

I keep trying to grow them out of their range. I'm too far north by about one zone to be continuously trying to grow them but that hasn't stopped me from trying. I guess I like to beat my head into brick walls.

Congratulations, X! I planted a Franklinia this spring, and am crossing my fingers that its finicky self will be happy one state north of you.

Actually Franklin Tree is hardy into zone 5(I've seen them doing well in zone 5 Massachusetts). I found that in my area, you need very organic rich acid soil that drains well(I mixed peat moss, pine bark mulch and aluminum sulfate into the soil in large quantities) and only half day sun(sunrise to early afternoon is best here) to be successful. It also needs a relatively constant moisture supply. I grew one for several years in this kind of location, until an unfortunate mower incident took it out! It took me three tries to finally find the right spot and the will to ammend a large enough area of soil to get it to grow and flower.

If I had a Frankin Tree that was doing well and got whacked by the lawnmower, I would be hard pressed not to whack the person mowing the lawn.

I will try this tree again and again. Sooner or later I'll get one to make it here.

what's the big deal about this tree? I've never heard of it.

It has a very interesting history .. It was native to Georgia and grew along riverbanks. I believe William Bartram found it and named it after Benjamin Franklin. It is no longer found in the wild. The cotton industry in Georgia killed it. The cotton growers used to wash their raw cotton in the rivers and apparently there is a chemical in raw cotton that killed them all. It's a beautiful little tree with creamy white flowers. You can read more about it here.

http://www.bartramsgarden.org/see/trees.html

X

This message was edited Jul 14, 2006 8:23 AM

I didn't know that X! Thanks for posting that interesting bit of history. I knew it was extirpated but didn't know why.

All Frankins growing are decendents from Bartrams tree. There is actually a registry where you can register your tree.

http://www.bartramsgarden.org/franklinia/census_info.html

X

I'm in that area of the country, maybe I'll get some and plant them out in the wild. From seeds, if I get a tree and it seeds.

It seems to still be fussy when people plant it in it's native range. Has any been replanted along the Altamaha River to see if it would thrive? There should be no more cotton being rinsed.

I don't believe that the cotton industry wiped out the Franklinia. I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that Franklinia was found just that once in that one location by the Bartrams late in the 1760s. That it was seen again in 1803, I think, is regarded as dubious. Even if it was, that observation is said to have been the very same small colony of trees. I believe the general consensus is that the Franklinia just happened to be on the very cusp of extinction when it was found.

The issue with cotton is that the cotton plant is host to a root rot that plays havoc with Franklinia, and that is why it is so hard to grow in its native South. In the NE, it grows fairly well. The Arnold Arboretum's tree, I've been told, is enormous and has heavy lateral branches that have sagged to the ground and taken root. Gardeners I have spoken to in the NE have had good success growing the tree in full-sun and without any coddling.

The tree is much harder to grow in the Midwest, probably due to a combination higher pH soils and atmospheric issues. Heat and humidity, one would think, should not be a factor because it is native to Georgia. But the South does get more consistent summer rain than the Midwest. Perhaps the Altamaha location was at a higher elevation, which would mean good summer moisture and cooler temps, especially night time temperatures.

I hate growing plants that I'm afraid to lose, but for the Franklinia I make the exception. I'm on my second, and for now I'm taking the approach of the NE gardeners I've spoken with...mostly. I have mine in a raised bed, decent soil, I treat occasionally with sulfur, water rarely, hold my breath, pray to the right gods, cross my fingers, and so far it has not croaked. It hasn't grown much, but it hasn't croaked.

Although the Franklinia is a beautiful tree, I think I am growing mine mainly because I think it's history is so cool.

Scott

My Franklinia here at the Valley is doing fine in normal central KY circumneutral clay loam. I think it is the association with an outstanding viburnum collection that has it trying to be respectable with the "in" crowd.

Regular summer moisture during establishment is probably critical, and keeping the pH in a 5.0-7.0 range should help but certainly isn't required. My tree (6 years in the ground from a 1 gallon pot) is now 12' tall and flowers heavily. Japanese beetles will hang out on the flowers, which will begin bursting in the next couple weeks here and continue sporadically through August.

Absolutely stellar orange and red fall color, to hurt your eyes and rival Nyssa any day.

Braggarts! You're all braggarts.

I feel like a bad mommy .. all i did/do was dig a hole 3 times larger than the rootball then planted it in a slurry of ProMix BX so it could get some good roots going before it hit the clayey soil and water it from time to time and have never fed it. Seems to like what I'm doing .. maybe ya'll are doing too much?

X

I had a problem establishing a few American Yellowwoods but I finally got it. Here's hoping sooner or later I have luck with the Ben Franklin Trees. Cross your fingers and your toes for me. I'll try again next year doing what Scott is doing.

So, (I've been lurking around here a while soaking up the info) let me get this straight. In midwest zone 5 with fertile naturally acid (6.5) sandy soil and some supplementary water the first year I should be able to grow this tree?

Go for it. Everyone else seems to be killing them left and right so why should you miss out on all the fun.

Hmmm .. anyone know about the flowers? Are they self pollenating or do you need male and female flowers?

X

I'm going to get one of these, rare, hard to grow, I'm all over this just for the fun of it.

They seem to have similar growing requirements as Gordonia, which I also admire for it's blossoms but haven't tried to grow yet.

Franklinia doesn't need a partner to set seed, i.e., it has perfect flowers and is self-fertile.

. . . and it's very easy to grow from seed -- just difficult to keep alive unless you have ideal conditions.

Guy S.