It's about time...Yellowwood

Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

Enough talking about it...let's get a Cladrastis kentukea thread rolling.

Formerly known as Cladrastis lutea (with the lutea referring to the yellow coloration of the interior wood and/or the yellow dye that could be derived from it), American yellowwood or Virgilia is a fine North American native tree that ought get more use.

I'm going to start posting pictures (such as they are), and borrow liberally from previous postings on this plant. Pile on with your own ideas, images, wants, needs, fears, and aspirations. The yellowwood will take all comers.

From 1995, the old codger at Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia.

Thumbnail by ViburnumValley
Minneapolis, MN(Zone 5a)

Nice photo! Thanks for posting. I'll post a pic of my 'Perkin's Pink' in flower, from last spring, after I get home.
Mike

Atmore, AL(Zone 8b)

That is an attractive tree. Can they take the heat of the deep south?

Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

Though quite a few nurseries grow this plant, they aren't generally produced in large numbers at any one place. The domino effect ensues, and so there aren't many getting into circulation and that means fewer to choose from, and less exposure to the general public.

Where they are out planted and seen, they get attention.

This is a couple doors down from the preeminent KY Derby Eve party location in Louisville.

Thumbnail by ViburnumValley
Greensboro, AL

Yeah. Yeah. The Secret is Out! How about some of your Yellowwood flowers? What is the fall color?

Bureau County, IL(Zone 5a)

These trees are beautiful. We have a friend who's offered me seedlings from his. After researching it though, I came to the conclusion that it's much too big of tree for our property.

Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

Way to jump right in there while I was away in a meeting!

Can't wait to see the 'Perkin's Pink' growing in the Frigid North™.

Yellowwood in the sunny south -- good question. My travels and flight paths haven't taken me to the Deep South much, so I'll plead nolo contendere there. References will help answer that; why not start with the PlantFiles info here: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1588/index.html

Seems like the belief is tolerance down to zone 8b. Here's the USDA's info, with distribution maps.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CLKE

Seems to show some likelihood of value for south AL and MS. Some checking with more local folks at universities and botanical gardens would be most valuable.

Meanwhile, here's a bad picture of a formerly really big old specimen in Lexington KY that I used to get to work around back in the late 1980s. It was around 60 years old then. I think I saw it finally succumbing to life's traumas 6-8 years ago.

Thumbnail by ViburnumValley
Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

Here's another picture of the old tree, full of flowers, from the late 1980s.

Thumbnail by ViburnumValley
Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

The sweetly fragrant flowers (Fabaceae) remind one of Robinia, which I think is a relatively close cousin, and hang in large 12-18" tresses in May here.

Thumbnail by ViburnumValley
Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

I don't have any new digital images of fall color. I have one really bad scanned slide of fall color, and I won't post it unless no one else has anything to offer in that regard. It is that bad.

I can blather on more about this plant, though. One more picture of this fine fellow at Boone Square Park in Louisville (which is blessed with about a half dozen Cladrastis).

Thumbnail by ViburnumValley
Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

On an entirely different thread, I mentioned that I have had great experiences moving yellowwoods balled-and-burlapped in larger sizes. Here are some images of a project occurring right now in Louisville, adjacent to the historic Olmsted-designed Cherokee Park.

Yeah, it's tough to work here everyday.

Thumbnail by ViburnumValley
Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

OK, time to head off to another meeting, but before I go......a treatise!

I wrote this for publication eight years ago. I don't think I'd change a word.

Yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea)

One of the challenges of the design profession is finding solutions to problems, and using these solutions to improve the everyday living conditions we all experience. Selecting trees to serve functionally is one method of solving issues of shading, massing, scale, screening, or strict ordinance standards. Creating a beautiful experience while meeting these more mundane criteria separates the top designers from the crowd. The class of species a designer specifies will highlight his/her effort to overcome the simple and the monotonous. Which leads to the yellowwood, a plant that is not used often, accidentally, or carelessly.

Yellowwood is a midwestern native (ranging from Indiana to northern Alabama and Georgia, to the Ozarks in Arkansas and Missouri, but nowhere very populous) occurring on moist limestone soils, though I’d venture to say most reading this article have never observed one in the wild. This is probably why it is so seldom known and grown. It is hardy to zone 4, performing admirably as far north as Minneapolis and Orono, ME. Yellowwood is an in-between size tree (up to 50-75’ tall and 40-60’ wide), and not a rapid grower either, maybe putting on a foot a year. While it occurs naturally in mesic coves and ravines in forests and along slopes near streams, most opportunities for use in today’s planted landscapes are much drier and in more disturbed soils. Yellowwood will fool you with its toughness, tolerating all these conditions, and providing multi-season interest as well. The smooth cool gray bark invites a rub of the hand; the gently arching vase-shaped branching habit calls for planting along walks, parking areas, and streets; the bright green of the summer foliage stays clean and contrasts well with darker-foliaged plants; and the warm orange-yellow fall color glows in early autumn.

Along Lexington’s New Circle Road and its cloverleafs stand some rugged individuals of yellowwood, most planted 25+ years ago in some really lousy soil/moisture/pollution conditions. Yet they flowered prolifically this year (along with most other yellowwoods around here) and showed why they are a gem among trees. I like to think that I have been a keen observer of the horticultural world, but there were yellowwoods popping up in bloom this spring (big ones, in prominent places) that I had never noticed before; I wonder if others noticed that as well. Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville has the most extensive plantings of yellowwoods that I know of in Kentucky; it was truly an otherwordly feeling to walk under the cascading tresses of fragrant white blooms (hardly a twig was without a full 12-15” pendulous panicle).

The yellowwood suffers from a reputation of poor branching angles which can split, and thus the perception that it is weakwooded. Again, if the tree’s natural habit were observed, this notion would seem preposterous. It is single-trunked and widely branched. Most of its problems in cultivation are derived from the nursery production phase (creating a dense head on a small plant), and a natural unwillingness to prune a handsome plant once it is in the landscape a few years. Very few pests or diseases afflict yellowwoods; verticillium wilt has been listed, and I have noticed some magnolia scale this year as I have been collecting from the bumper crop of seed.

When I think about the placement of trees in landscape design, whether it be for a park, a horse farm, or my own yard, I look to provide a solid successful solution first. Functions like shade for a southwest exposure, screening a neighboring billboard, or providing a transition to the land from a tall building are all weighed first, and then imagination takes over. What species are not represented here, or nearby? Is there a season of color missing, or lack of fragrance? Finally, what character can be added as a nuance, for those perceptive enough to notice? If a plant selection can answer more than a couple of these questions (and yellowwood suffices this time), then the human environment becomes just a little bit more special.

Thumbnail by ViburnumValley
Bureau County, IL(Zone 5a)

How weird that you said nolo contendere. I was just reading an article that told me that In criminal trials in some common law jurisdictions, defendants say a plea of "nolo contendere" means that the defendant neither admits nor disputes the charge. Are you on trial for something? Or is there another meaning?

Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a)

Quoting:
The yellowwood suffers from a reputation of poor branching angles which can split, and thus the perception that it is weakwooded. Again, if the tree’s natural habit were observed, this notion would seem preposterous

Not entirely . . . it can't be for nothing that the genus name Cladrastis "Brittle-branch" was given to it, way back in 1824, well before modern nursery methods affected its typical growth habits.

Resin

Seale, AL(Zone 8b)

What beautiful flowers it has. Never seen pics of the flowwers. Do they bloom for a long period of time?

By the way is this the same yellowwood that the guy on tv always tryign to get ya to buy? Or am I way off?

Atmore, AL(Zone 8b)

LOL. Starlight, I think your referring to southern "yellow" pine. Totally separate.

Peoria, IL

VV,

Great thread! Yellowwood is my favorite tree. For us in the north, where cold limits what can be grown, it's a real gem. Once one sees a mature plant in flower, there is no way not to love it. I only have a few observations about it. In tougher sites, it seems to do fine for a period, then start to dieback.....from something. You seem to see the opposite so perhaps the few trees that I can watch are suffering from some other malady. I've not paid too much attention and there's not a whole lot in the area to casually observe. The one plant that I see daily at work is about 30 years old and quite pleased to be where it is - up on a berm with ditch that runs by. It also get some irrigation from the lawn sprinklers. It seems to flower more heavily every other year. Some trees flower younger than others. I planted one at my parents house as an abused container tree, really abused. The soil is about as black as coal and an old drainage tile passes with in a few feet of it. I don't know if it still drains anything and the tree is on top of a small hill. It sat in the ground for 2 years making a minimal amount of shoots and leaves. On year #3 it seemed to be ashamed that the 'Autumn Blaze' Maple (also very abused, container grown) that I'd planted a year later was out growing it. It grew 3' out of nearly every terminal bud that year and almost as much for the next 3 years. I daresay that if the trees were cut down 3 years ago and measured, the biomass above ground would have been quite similar. Since then it has slowed down to a much more respectable 18"/year while the maple has continued to grow like it's Silver Maple ancestors. I've observed exactly one flower raceme on it in the 8 years that it's been in the ground. I have high hopes for it this year, like I have every year before. Here's for hope: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c16/erniew/plants/CladrastisKentuckeaFlowerPanicle10.jpg To the contrary, a fellow employee took home a bareroot liner (6' branched) and had flowers on the 3rd spring. Go figure. Fall color can be quite good, but some years it probably won't win any shows. Looks like the slide scanning is coming right along. Looking good!

Best Regards,
Ernie

Thumbnail by malusman
Minneapolis, MN(Zone 5a)

Well... this isn't a very good picture. I thought I had taken a picture of the whole tree, but I guess I only took a few shots of the flowers as they were just starting to open.

Hopefully I'll get a few blooms this spring, too, so I can get a shot of the whole tree. I just planted the tree in the spring of 2005 so this will be its third year in the ground.
Sorry.
Mike

Thumbnail by treelover3
Bureau County, IL(Zone 5a)

When do they bloom? Our friends is a large tree and I'd like to get some pictures of his when in bloom.

Minneapolis, MN(Zone 5a)

I took the picture of the 'Perkin's Pink' flowers on 5-27-06. I would guess the bloom time will depend on the spring - early or late - but I would guess mid to late May or early June in most years.

Fulton, MO

Perkin's Pink

Thumbnail by stressbaby
Fulton, MO

What about pruning? I seem to recall reading (in Dirr?) that they should not be pruned in the winter.

Both my trees need some pruning...

Bureau County, IL(Zone 5a)

Ooooohhh! Thank you treelover3!

I have had problems with this tree in the past. I'm sort of anxious to see if the ones I grew from seed made it through the winter.

Love seeing all your photos.

Tonasket, WA(Zone 5a)

Very good and interesting article VV

Still very early here, no sign of bud swelling on this my 12 year old yellowood. Needs some pruning of a lower limb. Had to decide witch of the two largest trunks best to keep. I planted it too close to the nearby crabtree. Didn't think either would grow so large. The Yellowood is about 12 feet tall now.

Thumbnail by rutholive
Northeast Harbor, ME

Way back, in a former life as a gardener at the Arnold Arboretum, we used to love the rain of petals that would come off the yellow wood grove. They'd cover the area like snow that would eddy in the breeze. And what a lovely fragrance that breeze had. (Or maybe that was just coming off the rose garden..)

I got so nostalgic that I put a Perkin's Pink up here in Maine too.

Kalispell, MT(Zone 4b)

So I am placing a specimen of this spectacular tree in Alkaline PH 7.2 soil and it faces south west with lots of sun. I am mulching over the entire area with Pine needle/bark and compost. First of all should I fear the Pine Needle, second how should I shape this tree. All of the specimens are low branching in the pictures, and 3rdly does anyone have a photo of this tree without the flower? Does it drop leaves or hang on to them like oak? When does it bloom in Minn, VT or other manly cold areas? Thanks

This message was edited Mar 16, 2007 12:56 PM

Eau Claire, WI

Good article, VV. Was it written for other LA's or the gardening public? I'm guessing LA's since it was missing your normal humorous slant that we've all come to appreciate (and expect).

I've been growing the species and Perkins Pink for a few years now, and both are living up to the Cladrastis name. The species is now about 20' tall, with a major branch starting to break from the trunk. I consulted with an arborist to get his opinion, and he recommended a three year pruning (heading back?) of the branch before removing it entirely. This will be year three of the process and I'm not looking forward to removing such a prominent piece of the tree. I've done the pruning in mid-late summer and it has bled very little.

Here are a few pics of my PP from last spring.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/maackia/Woody%20Stuff/Deciduous%20Trees/HPIM3229.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/maackia/Woody%20Stuff/Deciduous%20Trees/HPIM3230.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/maackia/Woody%20Stuff/Deciduous%20Trees/HPIM3231.jpg

Orwell, VT

This morning I went out to visit our yellowwood that I planted about 7 years ago. I found that rabbits had pruned off some lower branches and some bleeding had taken place. Dear little rabbits....... where's the gun! This tree had been in place for two years when a visitor's truck popped out of park and ran right over the tree. Damage was done but it healed nicely and started to grow even faster. Since this tree was planted we have been down to -35 F and there was no winter damage. Any new spring growth is killed back by frost but new growth starts right up again. I haven't had any flowers yet but maybe this spring. This is a tree that the base of the leaf petiole goes completely over the bud, forgot the term for this but think it's an added characteristic of interest.

Cincinnati, OH(Zone 6b)

Hi Sofer,

The leaves all drop cleanly. No retention. Here's a shot of a full tree. Ah, who am I fooling. Here's the first of several pictures of trees.

Scott

Edited to state: I think this picture is mislabeled in my files. This does not look like a yellowwood to me. VV?

This message was edited Mar 16, 2007 6:08 PM

Thumbnail by Decumbent
Cincinnati, OH(Zone 6b)

Here's one in summer.

Thumbnail by Decumbent
Cincinnati, OH(Zone 6b)

Our Ohio State Champion at Spring Grove.


Edited to add: If this tree is more than 100 years old, it would not surprise me.


This message was edited Mar 16, 2007 6:09 PM

Thumbnail by Decumbent
Cincinnati, OH(Zone 6b)

Trunk detail.

Thumbnail by Decumbent
Cincinnati, OH(Zone 6b)

Fall color.

Thumbnail by Decumbent
Cincinnati, OH(Zone 6b)

The trunk of our ridiculously massive State Champion.

Scott

Thumbnail by Decumbent
Greensboro, AL

Decumbent: Several people have said they didn't give it enough space. That Champion photo looks
like it really does need some room to develop properly. How much space does it need?

Cincinnati, OH(Zone 6b)

Hi Gloria,

I just edited that State Champion photo to state that that tree is probably at least 100 years old. Nevertheless, in my experience, yellowwoods grow pretty quickly to become mid-sized trees in the 50-60' range-ish. I think a lot of people like to think of them as small flowering trees in the same category as some crabapples and cherries, but yellowwoods get bigger than those. I would try to give it the same amount of room as something like a littleleaf linden, a Bradford, or even a sweetgum.

Scott

Eau Claire, WI

The champion tree at SG looks like it's at least 80' wide and maybe more.

It seems to be held as truth that this tree only flowers every three years or so. I'm curious to know if those who are fortunate to live in an area where this tree is relatively common can confirm this. A couple of summers back I visited the National Zoo where it seemd there were scores of Yellowwoods in flower. It was a beautiful sight, but made me question why they would all flower during the same year? Is it purely a function of weather? While I can't verify that all of them on the grounds were flowering, it sure looked to me that most if not all were in flower. I also read somewhere that it will supposedly flower with greater regularity if grown in full sun. Anyone have experience to confirm or refute this? One of my best memories from our trip to western Carolina last summer was spotting a wild Yellowwood growing along the French Broad River. Nobody else shared my joy in this discovery, but I silently relished the moment.

Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a)

Quoting:
only flowers every three years or so. ... there were scores of Yellowwoods in flower. It was a beautiful sight, but made me question why they would all flower during the same year? Is it purely a function of weather?

Yes, flowering is weather-related; typically heavy flowering follows the year after a hotter-than-average summer. All the individuals of any species in an area will always tend to flower heavily in the same years. It promotes better pollination as well. Different species may be triggered into flowering by heat at different times in the summer, so an e.g. hot early June will trigger different species to those triggered by a hot July.

Resin

Greensboro, AL

Last year in west central Alabama (zone 8) we had wisteria and azaleas trying to bloom in august.
Guess, the knew it was hotter than usual.

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