I planted a small container-grown P. trifoliata (Wafer-ash, Stinking-ash, Water-ash) in 2005 (possibly 2004) and it has grown very slow for me--probably no more than 4"-6"/year. Its planted in light sandy soil with full sun. We've had dry summers of late, and it seems to handle this just fine. The deer have left it alone so far. It flowered and fruited heavily last year. BTW, like Japanese Tree Lilac, opinions will differ on flower fragrance. Some find them disagreeable, but to me they have a nice citrusy scent. Here'a pic of one at the U of Minnesota arb that was planted in 1960. I've got mine trained into a single stem tree, but I think their natural tendency is to multiple stems.

I noticed two more rearing their 'heads' this afternoon, both right in the middle of the peat pellets where I planted the ptelea trifoliata seeds. It seems unlikely that weed seeds, all the same type weed, would have just happened to land right where I planted them, so now I'm thinking they must be ptelea trifoliatas. I Googled ptelea trifoliata seedlings and PT germination and such before I posted this thread to try and find out what the seedlings should look like and couldn't find any pictures or any descriptions. I did read in several places that they need cold stratification, and the article went on at great length about all the things you needed to do to the seeds to make them come up. Well, I cut these seeds off the tree in my garden last fall, put them in an envelope, put the envelope in my closet, and they stayed there all winter long, with no treatment at all. When the weather got warm enough that I thought I could start them, I just planted them and kept them moist, never let them dry out. I think that info was wrong! MissSherry

I would think you would just cover the seeds no deeper than the size of the hard seed...in nature, they sit on top of the soil. I'm no expert because I have seeds I want to try to propogate myself. Prairie Moon says they need a 60-90 day cold moist strat followed by a 60-90 day warm moist strat followed by a second cold moist strat or 2 years for germination! So that is probably why I haven't been successful with my seeds. The seeds I cold stratified last winter were out over the summer in their bag & are now in the frig again...so we will see if that works! I bought 2--3 gallon Hop Ash trees at Texas Discovery Gardens Fall Plant sale this month that weren't very big but the curator said that the first several years...the Hop trees establish their roots before growing bigger. Makes sense but the price was $25 each but I bought 2 anyway! I had tried buying them from Mossy Oak Nativ Nursery for cheap & they all died! Hopefully, these 2 will make it & thrive! I also bought a Prickly Ash after not having success germinating seeds I had collected from a friend's tree. I get very impatient! ;o) Good luck!

Four - in the end I let nature take its course. I tried to locate host plants without success, and after finishing off my spicebushes, the caterpillars moved off to somewhere (who knows where) else. I did end up planting more spicebushes but of the tree extra I've planted, two have died, and one looks likely to follow. Because I have a stubborn streak, I'll put in still more this autumn and hope some survive. This year has been rough on my plantings for various reasons.