Purple Emperess Tree... whose latin name I can't remember, but someone here will know it.

I was bored.

Paulownia tomentosa

I saw the same thing growing around our neighborhood, had no clue what it was, and posted a picture sometime in the last week or so -- very cool tree, isn't it?! It didn't seem like the flowers lasted too long but it sure was fun to see it. And the seed pods are really neat looking, too.

I'm including the link to my post in case you're interested in the comments about it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paulownia post

Really sorry to bore you madspinner. I'm new to this area & I have found that there are a lot of weedy, invasive things here that I've never seen before, one of them the " travelers joys" clematis vitalba that I posted about recently. I thinks it's important to to educate oneself about what you are seeing around you. When I see a really WOW tree like this my instincts tell me it's probably too good to be true, & must be a pest. I just wanted to know what it was, especially since since it was growing in a very old established landscape that looked like it was once cared for but was currently neglected. Maybe I'm naive, but I've never seen this tree before, although I've certainly heard all the bad stories about it. I will just slink away now and stop boring people.

I have 3 kinds. The 2 next to each other in bloom at the same time was great this month. I'd like to see one in front of a purple beech.

I've seen a couple that popped up from seed in rock walls in this area, in 2 different locations. Other than that, no sign of weediness here. Certainly too coarse and messy for the small, tidy place.

Wow, I had no idea. I thought this was the plant that I had seen (literally) advertised on the backs of match book covers and in newspaper coupon sections as the super fast growing "miracle tree". To find out that it's not invasive here in the PNW is incredible. I just assumed that it would be. I never saw this tree in California (land of instant gratification), which is surprising. I have to say, the tree made an impression on me, enough to stop the car and check it out. Quite lovely & graceful. If it's fast growing, beautiful, has useful lumber, & it won't fall on our heads, maybe there's a place for it. My apologies to Madspinner for my weird, huffy reply. It must be the pollen... or spring... or....something. Aachoo!

Well, as luck would have it I hadn't looked back yet, so didn't have time to be upset! Your email appology came first! Sorry I wasn't more clear...postings can be like that. Yes, I was doing nothing and it was bothering me I couldn't remember, so I just looked it up real quick on google.

We have a tree of it down the street from us, and it is one I have thought of growing myself. I even ordered a really cheap on once, but it arrived broken off at the ground. Drat.
I had to come look and see what names you called me...(grin). Don't you sometimes wish the forums had a delete button? Don't worry about it. Things happen.

I think it IS the tree you are seeing advertised, but I have never seen it be invasive here. I hear bad things about it on the east coast though. The few I have seen in the northwest seem well behaved though.

Well you are a better googler than I Madspinner, but then you had the common name (no fair!). From what you & and Ron say it sounds like this tree is not invasive here, so I'll be happy to have it to look at in my neighborhood. Well behaved is more than I say for some of my human neighbors. Madspinner I could never plant this in my tiny urban plot, but from the looks of your page you have room for it! Maybe you should check out those matchbook covers again. Handsome but short-lived. Sounds like the James Dean of trees. Carol Ann thanks for the link!

Yes delete buttons are good. I think I need one on my forehead.

Hmmm. Paulownia doesn't SEEM to be invasive here, at least not yet. They do sucker madly if you try to cut them down, however. Similar to the cartoon Fantasia, where Mickey Mouse broke a broom in pieces, only to have each piece grow into another broom.

My parents fell for the mail-order ploy and bought 2 trees. They planted them hastily in flower beds, and I was called on to transplant them a few years later. Not only did each transplant survive, but several suckers sprout up from traces of roots left behind in the flower beds, each year! I dig them up and move them, but every year, there are more!

I have several root-sucker Paulownia trees growing in pots...Hey, if you want any, let me know. They seem practically impossible to kill, if that's the quality you are looking for in a tree. (sarcasm)

Does anyone know if the roots are invasive or will damage sidewalks? I'm looking for a couple street trees and this one is on the list of potentials.
thanks.....Mike

According to the site below, root damage potential is high.

Here is a link that might be useful: SelecTree - paulownia

Low branching and rubbish would be poor on a street anyway. Check with your City, Seattle requires inspection and permits, with a few kinds of trees being prohibited.

Misspuckeredverbena, I just saw another tree with purple blooms at the nursery - not as huge as the paulonia...darn it...it's a tree name we know, but flowering...laurel? Something with an "L" I think. Shoot. Well, Ron will pop up with it. A linden? Maybe it was a linden. It was kind of weird, though - very tall, but leaning over- skinny trunk. Could have just been that batch. Nope, it wasn't a redbud or a jacaranda. Anyway, I thought of your post when I saw it.

There is a really nice Empress at Whitney Rhody Garden in Brinnon. Another that i notice every year is right on the main street in Port Townsend in front of the Tides Inn Motel. The only time of the year that I notice the tree is when it is blooming. I have seen the trees at both places for over 20 years. Once I picked up some seed pods and tried to start them without any success. I read where they are a very fast growing tree and may be subject to freeze damage when young.

There is one on the legislature lawn in Victoria, BC if any Canadians want to see one. My friend came back from a walk absolutely smitten by the tree and trying to find out what it was. Very popular it seems!

You wrote: "If it's fast growing, beautiful, has useful lumber, & it won't fall on our heads,"

Well, a few facts no one has yet mentioned.

Rapidly growing also translates into brittle wood -- as in likely to drop on your head or house or whatever, particularly if in a windy site. Also, as in NOT useful for lumber.

Further, because the buds are intact through the winter, a well-timed frost can result in few to no blooms come spring.

Then, too, it's far too large a tree for the majority of parkways -- so is seldom (if ever) permitted as a street tree.

Anybody want to post pics of their local trees in bloom? I've never seen a "real" one.

mkirkwag: not the best pictures, but here's what we saw in our neighborhood.... the flowers are now about done.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paulownia

It's not rare. Locals drive by several right off a freeway every time they take 405 through Bellevue. What DOES seem to be rare here are the species other than Paulownia tomentosa, off the top of my head I can name a single one, outside of the Washington Park Arboretum and my own collection.

Thanks, Carol Ann! I know they're around but I never seem to see any. That *is* interesting-looking, isn't it?

That is true... if it grows fast it won't be as strong as say, an oak tree.

However, that doesn't mean that folks won't want it for lumber. My property is covered in Red Alder trees and seedlings. They grow fast, and when we have a windstorm there are always a few large branches down (sometimes whole trees). Red Alders are highly prized by furniture makers who like the oxidized red color of the wood.

It is quite likely that there is a specialty market somewhere for this tree also.

I wouldn't recomend planting it by a sidewalk though. They get pretty big, make a mess, and have lots of roots.

And remember, that shortlived for a tree is still a long time.

Another tree with lovely flowers (that I've been wanting here) is the black locust tree. They have flowers that look kind of like wisteria. Now if only they didn't have 2" thorns!

Madspinner think twice about the locust tree, I lived with them for years and they were constantly dropping branches on us. Big ones! We had to move our car whenever the wind got gusty. And when one that was threatening our home was cut down it root suckered up over the place. I agree the blossoms are pretty but, but it seems like a very brittle tree. At least plant it away from your structures.

And jean001, very good points about this tree, however I'm not sure about the lumber being useless. After madspinner gave me the name I googled it and it seems Paulownia wood is used in cabinetry, and even farmed for that pupose. Some fast growing trees make excellent lumber, and can play a roll in the reduction of harvesting old growth forests. But...that's a whole nuther subject.

And Ron, you're right, all of a sudden I'm seeing this tree all over the place!

Locations are given in TREES OF GREATER PORTLAND (Timber Press), as well as TREES OF SEATTLE (Sasquatch Press).

The Meeker Mansion in Puyallup has one, and then there is at least one more on the road to Sumner just past the old cemetery- forget the name of the road, now, but it's the one which goes past the Old Cannery into Sumner.
This spring I thought the tree had died- lots of brown on it, but sure enough, here came the blooms, but seemed fewer this year. I always make a point to look for it around the first week of May. The Meeker Mansion one looked a little sparse this year, too, but still pretty.
My Nana had one in Ocosta years ago (out on the coast).

There's a gardener in Fairhaven (South Bellingham) who grows a pair of these in the 3 foot wide strip between her fence and the sidewalk...but she lops them off to six inches every year. Multiple branches pop back up and put on huge versions of those heart-shaped leaves. I've considered doing this myself. Other than the guilt I'd experience if I sold the house without digging them up, can anyone offer a reason I shouldn't copycat my far-off neighbor?