Hello stanofh, Sorry for late reply...never got notice from email about follow up question. In past three years, coldest I can recall is maybe upper 30s/low 40s at nights during winter (but those are extreme cold spells that last for just few days...normally winter nights are upper 40's/low 50s). Strange thing is last year there was only one harvest of the hanging papayas in summer of around 12 fruits...it was surprise just to see fruit after nothing for 3 years. This year we were able to harvest around 20 fruits in spring and I thought that was it...butt now in fall there is another batch of 25+ fruits. Tree top is now probably reaching 12 foot tall, compared to last year when it was probably 7 or 8 foot tall. We don't use fertilizer or any plant food...the only difference in last year versus previous three years is actually less watering. Mother in law owns farm in thailand...she said to only water tree 2 or 3 times a week.

It's hard for me to tell from that distance. Can you take a closer photo of the leaf shape? You may be able to ID it yourself by googling images of "Norway maple vs. Sugar maple" or similar. http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/images/acpl-sa2.jpg http://homepage2.nifty.com/chigyoraku/worldleaf1.jpeg

Definitely a Paulownia anyway. Although P. tomentosa is dominant in western cultivation other species have also been circulated in later years. These are told apart by things like details of the inflorescence structure and hairs on the leaves.

Looks like the bark appearance changes as the tree ages. Mine is 17 years old max. Lots of variation given for height but this is another case of someone planting a tall tree too close to the house. Guess Im lucky the driveway hasnt lifted yet. Ugh!!