Question about Tulip Poplar

ryseryse_2004

10 years ago

How old does the tree have to be to have flowers/seeds? Mine are about 8 years old now and just lovely. My son brought them to me as tiny seedlings he found in his yard.

They have grown so fast and have lovely fall color but I want seeds to make more!

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Comments (10)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
you are sure on the ID.. pretty unique leaf shape.. so it cant be hard ...

i think .. my mail order.. 3 foot whips.. took about 10 years ...

you dont say how big they were when you moved them.. etc ...

so to repeat.. ten years from a 3 foot whip ... which who knows.. might have already been 3 years old...

how tall is yours ... i bet mine were going on 20 to 25 feet tall.. before they started blooming.. and the ones in full sun.. bloomed a couple years sooner than those in but little shade ...

ken
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bengz6westmd
10 years ago
Mine's 40' tall after 9 seasons.

No flowers. It's prb'ly too vigorous to slow down enough to produce terminal flowers yet...
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Oops - you would have been way better off (sorry!) to have left it in the ground where it would a) grow much faster, b) have the benefit of all outdoor things trees need, like natural light and humidity, gradually changing temperatures, nutrients, rain, etc.etc. and c) experience the cold dormancy it needs to survive winters. Plus, unfortunately, it really doesn't make a good bonsai - growth habits are counterproductive. For the future, potting soil makes a lousy mix for potted anything (including house plants!) as it's full of water hogging peat that interferes with good drainage and 02 use by plants when it (eventually) compacts. Bonsai can't be treated like house plants in any case on many levels, and there is a lot to learn about a lot before you either dig up trees randomly at the wrong times of year (such as now), or spend money on potted things in stores without really knowing how to keep them alive at home (and it doesn't take long before they succumb to bad management). Of course you're new, we all were and have killed many things along the way - you can't know what you don't know, including even what to ask about, so start reading basics like bonsai4me.com, more expert stuff on tropicals from bonsaihunk.us/cultural.html and more of the same on conifers and other trees that need to live outside 24/7/365 (evergreengardenworks.com).
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They really do not NEED to be pruned for the tree but in most situations folks want to mow under them. I vote for after Valentine's Day as the right time unless google reveals some reason associated wih disease or infection particular to this species. When you prune, two cuts. One to remove 75% of the branch, the next to remove alll but maybe a half inch stub. Don't get into the trunk with your cut it slows the encapulation process. ......anything else..... If by branches you mean individual leaves just rub em off before they become branches. Oh, only remove a couple branches a year. Never more than a quarter or third of the leaves at a time. It stresses the tree and it is always easier to remove more than to put a branch back on! FWIW, I prefer this tree when mature to have sone branches relatively low, maybe five or six feet high. The flowers are excellent but can be difficult to see if the lowest limbs are thirty feet up. Enjoy it, nice tree.
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hey i am not aware of a dwarf ... probably because i have not been looking .... but i can give you some observations on the non-dwarf ... though not a poplar.. they are a very aggressive growing tree ... so i doubt you will do well in pots ... for very long... because you will outgrow it fast ... in mineral sand.. with no fert ever... and only watering for 2 years .... i would think i was/am getting 3 to4 feet per year .... no tree ever really stops growing at some magical height ... so you will never find a MAX height ... google your common name.. find the latin name... and then add ANNUAL GROWTH RATE ... and you ought to be able to learn about its potential .... but also.. if you see one listed at less than the otherwise norm.. then that will be a dwarf.. and if you can associate a name with it ... then bob's your uncle ..... in other words.. a reduced annual growth rate... is the definition of a dwarf .... from two foot tall mail order sticks 11 years ago ... most of mine are going over 30 feet tall .... why are you limiting yourself to pots .... i really dont see this huge tree.. as a friend you will be taking on your travels... lol ... IMHO .. your only option... should you insist on pots... is BONSAI .... ken ps: i wonder on bonsai ... if you would have this tiny mature tree... with a whompin big flower ... lol .... i might have to google that .... i did.. but no luck ... and then the coffee hit.. and i gave up.. WWW not moving fast enough.. lol ....
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Yellow variegated leaves in summer or yellow fall color? The typical plant produces nice yellow fall color, but there are also yellow variegated forms being grown. These last will not be as easy to find as non-selected seedlings. Here is a link that might be useful: Monrovia Plant Catalog Search - Liriodendron
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Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
10 years ago
My neighbor's is probably about thirty foot and a decade since transplant. It has been flowering for several years.

When you get one like he has that also gets good fall color you are in luck! These are one of my favorite natives.
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ryseryse_2004
Original Author
10 years ago
The first one he brought me (8 yrs. ago) was only a couple of inches tall and is now at least 30'. A year later, he brought another one and it is 20' and the little one has only been in the ground for about 4 years and is already at least 10'. All have the gorgeous orange/yellow leaves in the fall (just now starting to turn.)

They come up in his yard from a neighbor's tree and all had less than a year of growth when he brought them to me.

Hope I will get blooms in the spring from the big dude!

BTW, yes, definitely a tulip tree --- grew up with them and always wanted some here at the farm.
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calliope
10 years ago
The flowers can sneak by you if you are not looking, especially on the larger trees. They tend to be just the right shade of corally pink and greenish pink to not pop out and they also tend to be on the very terminal part of the branches, so are more easily visible from a distance than right underneath them. I know they can bloom in ten to fifteen years, because I have a volunteer somewhere in that maturity and we noticed bloom on it for the first time this year. Had my mate not brought my attention to it, I'd have missed it. When I did know there was bloom on it, it seemed so conspicuous I wondered how I hadn't noticed it earlier.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
if you know a yard where there are volunteers... go get more ...

in my z5.. now is prime time to move a lot of things ...

why wait for seeds???

it would be easy to mail them ... bare root .. in dormancy ...

ken
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canadianplant
10 years ago
Seeds promote a better genetic diversity, the one thing out tree industry seems to fail to understand...
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greenthumbzdude
10 years ago
from experience tulip trees are not the easiest to grow from seed. Only a few out of many will germinate. Best to either dig up some volunteers or buy a few.
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jimbobfeeny
10 years ago
Tulip trees seem to be popular in State DNR nurseries - You can usually pick them up for around a buck a piece.

Definitely a beautiful tree - Also one of the tallest trees in the Eastern hardwood forests!
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famartin
10 years ago
Parents have a weed growing next to their house, gonna have to remove it soon before it becomes a problem. Kinda makes me sad because I want to replace the pin oak with bacterial leaf scorch with a tulip poplar when it finally becomes necessary to remove it.
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Question about Tulip Poplar

Comments (10)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

bengz6westmd

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Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis

ryseryse_2004
Original Author

calliope

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

canadianplant

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jimbobfeeny

famartin

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Question about Tulip Poplar

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ryseryse_2004Original Author

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ryseryse_2004
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