Area catalpa trees finished blooming toward the end of June. Their flowers resemble white orchids and are so beautiful.
This is a tree you can grow from seed. I have three in different parts of my yard.
Full sun or partial shade with a moist or wet site is best for growing these trees. They tolerate dry soils but thrive in fertile loam soil in moist or low-lying areas. They tolerate heavy clay soil and seasonal flooding. One of mine is in an area with standing water after snow melt and does just fine.
Chinese catalpa grows in our zone 4. Seeds must be ripe before sowing.
Seed pods turn brown in fall and split open to release the ripe seeds. Collect the seeds as they begin to open.
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You can plant immediately or store in a cool dry place until spring. Three weeks before planting, put seeds in a refrigerator to expose them to cold temperatures — this triggers sprouting. Plant in well-drained potting soil in 3-inch pots, with drainage holes. Put the pots in a sheltered, part shade outdoor spot.
Transplant the seedlings into pots the next size up when their roots fill their pots. Grow them in pots over the first winter and plant them in soil in spring or summer the following year.
Or you might have a friend who has catalpa trees and has volunteer seedlings they will share with you. That is the easy route. I found mine at a local plant sale.
Several years ago, fellow Master Gardener Ines Sastre De Jesus wrote in this column about catalpa trees as she had been growing them in her Spicer garden since coming to the area from her native Puerto Rico where she was very familiar with them. They remind her of her tropical homeland. These are some of her comments about catalpa.
“Catalpa speciosa is also known as Northern catalpa, Indian bean tree, cigar tree, and the latter for the large brown fruits it produces. This native tree, to floodplains of Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, under favorable conditions can attain about 40 feet or more in height; and it produces an irregular, opened crown.
"It has striking yellow-green leaves that are almost heart shape and grow to 8 to 12 inches long. The leaves are disposed opposite on older branches but on younger ones these are whorled in three.
"Leaves come out late in the spring and drop early in the fall. In the fall the leaves can turn yellow although at times can freeze black on the tree.
"Clusters of white trumpet flowers — with ruffled margins, purple streaking and yellow dots inside the flower throat — display an amazing show in late spring and early summer. An individual flower may reach 2 inches long and a half-inch across or slightly more; and at maturity the flowers produce a sweet fragrance. Pollinated flowers develop into slender green seedpods (12-22 inches long), which at maturity turn brown splitting lengthwise to release the seeds during the fall.”
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Several area master gardeners are growing this tree. Helen Ruebel was kind enough to share a photo of one of her trees in bloom this year. It is a beauty.
Some say the tree can be messy with the falling flowers and seed pods in the fall. Seems I have an affinity for messy trees — as I also grow horse chestnuts and have lots of black walnut trees. Along with the nuts, they have compound leaves dropping in the fall. Squirrels take care of some of those nuts as well as acorns.
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Master Gardener Sue Morris has been writing this column since 1991 for Kandiyohi County newspapers. Morris has been certified through the University of Minnesota as a gardening and horticulture expert since 1983. She lives in Kandiyohi County.
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