Paulownia Obsession

Paulownia tomentosa

It think it must have been at least fifteen years ago that I first glimpsed a remarkable tree called Royal Paulownia, or Empress Tree.  I have been chasing Paulownia tomentosa ever since.  It's a rather tropical looking thing, sometimes with very large leaves, preceded by clusters of large blooms in the spring as it leafs out.  

Kentville, NS

 I was amazed and pleased to see it growing here in Nova Scotia a few years ago... at the Historic Gardens in Annapolis Royal.  (Check out the Historic Gardens Blog here and here for more on this.)  As you see from the photos below, it started out small but grew quickly.  

Annapolis Royal 2003

Annapolis Royal 2004

 Its hardiness I had wondered about, and even when I saw this one growing at the other end of the Annapolis Valley, I wondered if it would ever bloom.  The flower buds are formed in the fall, and stick out precariously all winter through the cold and wind. I managed to start my own plants from seed, in 2008.  I wintered three little twigs that survived in my living room windowsill.  

Spring 2009

Spring 2009

  In early spring I moved them to the greenhouse just in time for them to bud out and flourish!  They got planted in the ground, and two of them did very well.

Summer 2009

This one, at the house, did not survive the next winter!  The one at the cottage did, and keeps on keeping on.  It is just leafing out now. Don't have a photo yet of that.  It is still only a foot and a half high.  I'm waiting for its growth spurt.  They are known for a couple metres of growth a season, when young.  But mine does not yet look like these below, which I sought out a few years ago in Quebec.

Botanical Gardens, Montreal

 So yesterday I took some shots in Kentville, where a few Paulownia trees are flourishing, and blooming well.

 It was not a great day for photography (for this photographer, at least), but here are the images. 

I have also seen a young specimen blooming in Wolfville.  Paulownia was brought to North America from the Orient, and is a very weedy tree in many parts the USA.  It seeds and grows quickly all over the place, and can be a real problem.  I prefer to expect this beautiful species will not be weedy here.  

The two photos at the start of this post were also taken at the Community College campus yesterday.  I can hardly wait until the year my own specimen blooms at the Cottage!