Ken, don't know where you get your information...but Chitalpa was developed in the highlands of central Asia (old USSR) and is certainly hardy to z5. Chilopsis and catalpa are neither tropical plants, their offspring isn't either. I ordered mine (as a tiny 6 inch or so) from Lazy S's last spring. It reached close to ten foot in the first year (to my astonishment) and bloomed from July till near frost. Now admittedly, last year was weird and we had a growing season till Dec 10th, but on the flip side it went from 80s to 22 in one day, no hardening off and we only had tip loss, less than one foot due to not being hardened off. It started to flower in May this year and is about to put on the second flush (the first continued till this week), but I see new stalks in growth. It will certainly be a tree by next year, by any standards. I'm certain it will have reached 22 foot by then, it's put on probably 4-5 so far this growing season. I'm not certain as to how strong it will be, the habit looks much more like a chilopsis, which I grew in Oklahoma, so I expect more of a wirey big bush than a tall tree. Guess time will tell, but I'm certainly enjoying mine.

The most heat/humidity tolerant Chilean shrub is almost certainly Azara microphylla, and probably a couple others in the genus. If you really have a hankering to try a Chilean shrub in Texas ;-) They have never flagged in summer heat here*, but are barely winter hardy enough and my first was killed by Polar Vortex I. Probably best rated 8a instead of the more common 7b or 7a. I have a Luma, supposedly hardier cultivar/version, in a pot. A wet spell last summer caused major dieback, in the manner you'd see with a yellow rhododendron. I suspect they would really struggle in TX. It's just for fun, I'm not counting on much from it...as it's almost certainly no hardier than the Azara, which at least doesn't mind the summers! * granted I didn't have any for the hot summers of 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Thanks! I have now added 2 additional photos. I hope they help (let me know if I need to add more). We do have a few crepe myrtles nearby. I hadn't considered the possibility this might be another one that randomly sprouted. I will carefully compare the leaves today. Thanks again, Alan

I believe that's it - thank you!