I'm not sure which site would be best. Wafer ash is the most puzzling plant I grow. I ordered two of them earlier this spring and planted them in a raised bed by the picket fence in my 'front yard' such as it is. One of them leafed out early and is blooming now, as is the third one already planted in this bed. The other new one hasn't even leafed out yet. The bark is green under the top layer, is flexible, and will undoubtedly leaf out in time. I have two wafer ashes in my garden that haven't leafed out yet, also - they've been there a while and appear to still be healthy. There are small ones elsewhere on my property that HAVE leafed out.

As you can tell, I've planted LOTS of these little trees or shrubs. They come up from seed readily, which is where most of mine came from, seed I got from larger plants.

Several of my wafer ashes that were planted in full sun died, so I concluded that full sun wasn't good. I've seen poor growth on plants that were planted directly in the ground, so I concluded that they need fast drainage. The last two I planted were the ones in the front yard, which are under deciduous oaks, so they get plenty of sun in winter, but mostly shade the rest of the year. Overall, I'd say this is the best situation for wafer ashes in MY area. The raised bed gives them fast drainage, which seems to suit them.

I don't know if the same situation exists in north Georgia. The weather up there is different, as you know. If the morning sun area behind the giant arborvitae is well drained, it MIGHT be the best area. But if it's poorly drained, the rocky hill is probably best. Either one sound good, since part sun/shade seems to work best.

I'm sorry I can't answer your question absolutely, but wafer ash has proven to be the strangest, most unpredictable bush/small tree I've ever grown - I'm still trying to figure it out.

According to my book, Trees of Georgia and Adjacent States by Brown and Kirkman, under the Ptelea trifoliata section -

"Hoptree usually occurs on dry, rocky uplands and slopes around margins of woods or as a small understory tree. It is infrequent, but widely scattered throughout the State."

So, I guess if I were you, I'd plant it on the rocky hill underneath the hickory tree.

Sherry

Thanks so much Sherry! So, you think that the full-on afternoon sun won't be a problem? I really do want it to do well, and you already know why!

Hmmmm....... I don't really know. If you could combine that morning sun with the rocky hill, that would probably be the best.
If wafer ashes don't get enough sun, they don't grow well. I've planted some in deep shade, and that didn't work. Depending on how hot the north GA sun is in the afternoon, that spot might be fine.

Just plant it wherever your instinct tells you to, and expect surprises! If it blooms, gather the seed, so you'll have some to start and plant in a variety of spots, so you can see where they do best in your area or yard.

Sherry

Thanks for the help Sherry. The wafer ash actually arrived by UPS today, and it is awesome looking! I ordered from Mail Order Natives in Florida, and both plants I ordered absolutely exceed my expectations in both appearance and size. So excited. I also ordered American Beautyberry for my birds.

Mine are in full and partial sun. Seem to do equally well.

One of the places I have one is a school yard. Area gets very wet. Wafer ashes do not like that. I'm on either my 3rd or 4th one in that spot.

Thanks KC! I had also read that they don't like to be too wet. I also contacted Amy at Mail Order Natives, and she said that theirs are planted where they get morning sun and afternoon shade. I am going to plant it today, and I sure do hope it does well. Thanks for help. :o)

Thanks everyone for this post!...I'm going to try mine in morning sun. Tony

Hmmmm, we find them growing natively here in SW Ohio in very wet sites. Actually fens and wet prairies. In the fen location there were several huge ones and they are semi-understory. That is on the edge of the woods. The one I saw in the prairie was full sun and took more of a shrub form. I had one in the dry shade and it died. I planted a seedling, last summer, in my very rich garden bed and I panicked at first because it never grew any leaves. It just sat there looking sad with three leaves. During the fall I watched each leaf drop off over the span of a couple weeks, like Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Meanwhile its siblings, grown in pots by a local native restoration group, grew like gangbusters. Well, I consoled myself that the difference was that mine was putting down roots and theirs had nowhere to go but up. And guess what? When I dug it up this spring to move to a wetter location, it had a HUGE rootball. It was like a lollipop with a little stick and a big round rootball. Now in its sunny and wet location it is doing great. I suspect that like pawpaw, it will tolerate a lot of differences. However, how it get's treated as a seedling can make the difference between life and death. So, if you plant it in a dry location and give it water, it will do fine. If it is in a wet location and is not underwater for months at a time, it will thrive.

Miss Sherry, it is funny that you say it is easy to grow from seed. It took them a while down here to figure out it needed two years to finally sprout. When it wouldn't come up in the spring they thought they hadn't done it right and probably tossed them. I have never been patient enough. I have some local seed now and I will probably try again...maybe.

Cheers,
Elisabeth

It didn't take mine two years to come up, Elisabeth. I collected seeds one year, put them in a paper bag and put it in my closet and forgot about it. The next spring I planted them and every single one of them came up! So maybe the closet method is better than stratification? :/

I don't understand what constitutes a wet area, actually. I had read that pawpaws grow with their feet in the water, so I planted my first pawpaw in the bottom of the hollow, and it soon died. So, I planted my later ones on better drained sites and had success. We average 65" of rain a year here (I've collected 36" so far this year already, and it's not half over) so maybe the swamp gets TOO wet here? Maybe the high humidity here makes a difference?
This is why I hedged so on my advice. Even ordinary plants vary, but wafer ashes are on another varying planet!

Sherry

Ideally, they probably do better when propagated from trees that occur in a similar area to where a person lives. I know there's subspecies of Ptelea trifoliata. Here in the caliche/limestone areas in the Hill Country of Texas, there's one kind that has smaller, but glossy leaves. I've got one of those, along with other kinds.I often have trouble getting them to grow fast enough...some seem to want to stay small just about indefinitely! But my hilly place is difficult for a lot of kinds of plants, so I usually assume that's why!!

Thanks for all of your help guys! I can always count on the wonderful butterfly people to lend a helping ear. I did plant it behind the Giant Arborvitae where it gets plenty of morning sun but is not assaulted with the blazing hot afternoon sun here. It is standing up prettily this morning and spreading out its leaves, as if it feels happy to be here. Let's hope that continues. Obviously, the Giants host on it, but I also read that Tigers will host on it. Has anyone here actually seen Tigers hosting on it? I am so excited to finally have this plant!

Yes, they've used mine many times, but if I find eggs on it, I usually cut out the part of the leaf with the egg on it and transfer it to wild black cherry, which I've put in a cage to raise myself. I don't have that much wafer ash, and I don't want to use it for caterpillars that do so well on wild black cherry, which is the most common place I find tiger eggs and/or cats - I like to save wafer ash for the giant swallowtails. I have raised them on it, though, when I found caterpillars on it, and they grow quickly.

It's a great plant, but it's never been easy for me to grow. This spring, slugs have been eating the leaves! :(

Sherry

My memory is a tiger left me two eggs on my wafer ash and I raised those cats on the wafer ash.

Thought I would add some info for people who are not familiar with wafer ash. It is a citrus tree. It is called an ash because the leaves on the branches resemble an ash. Since it is a citrus tree, emerald ash borers have ZERO interest in it. So go ahead and plant it even if your area has EABs. No worries.

Thanks Sherry and KC. I hope that I have made a good location choice for the Hoptree. You know what the realtors always say! I guess time will tell. I will watch the leaves closely for eggs and cats. Good point about the EAB's KC. People do get confused with plant names sometimes because they can be really confusing. :o)

Linda, you are absolutely right about using local strains of species. Best way to go.

Miss Sherry, that is really interesting about getting your seeds to grow in one season. I sometimes think lack of attention is the best thing. Oh, and I have never seen a paw paw in water. I think the young ones like a lot of water but there are few young plants that I can overwater. My dead baby nicotiana can attest to that :(.

Elisabeth

UPDATE: Wafer Ash has plenty of new growth already and is standing tall in it's chosen location. Morning sun and afternoon shade. :o)

Here is the little Wafer Ash (Hoptree) that I planted a week ago. It seems to be doing really well.

It's looking good!

Sherry

Thanks Sherry. I think so too. Hope it continues to do well in its spot. :o)

Thanks Sherry. I think so too. Hope it continues to do well in its spot. :o)