Tibouchina

Thank you all so much for the information. Now we can buy one for our own property. I'm sorry I don't have any seeds. It's a tree we've seen in our neighborhood. Here is a link that might be useful: My Weblog

Hello again. I finally got a couple of photo of this tree. The blooms don't look purple in these pix, but trust me, they are. I don't know what word would describe this shade, but it has more red or pink than the photos I've seen posted in this thread. Click below to see the photo. Here is a link that might be useful:

Two things to consider, as you said: Non-native: not all non-native plants are invasive. Many happily sit in gardens (like gardenias and asian azaleas and camellias). Why not have them, you say? Probably the best reason is that they offer no ecosystem services to the local environment. Insects and the critters that rely on insects (notably birds which feed insects exclusively to their babies) evolved with local native plants. Monarch butterflies are probably the most notable examples of insects that have a special relationship with a certain genus of plants (milkweed). But most other insects have a similar exclusive arrangement with another native plant. Reduce the native plant population and you reduce the native insect population and then that in turn reduces the bird population. Now that we have destroyed most of the wild land (homes, roads, businesses have been developed), our yards and our roadsides are some of the few places left for native insects to find their host plants. Invasive plants - only a small group of non-native plants become invasive, but they can do a lot of damage. When japanese honeysuckle comes in, it doesn't just distort little trees. It's vegetation out-competes native plants (especially young and small plants) for natural resources like water and light. Yes, wisteria probably only kills a few trees, or it certainly takes a long time for it to weaken them. But again, what is happening is that once it leafs out in the spring, its dense foliage prevents light from reaching young and small plants, so they wither and die. So those pesky pines, big old oaks and elms are performing valuable services for the local environment by sustaining local insects and every creature that marches down the food chain from insects. The Paulownia is not offering any services - the insects that use it for a host plant got left behind in Asia. And everywhere there is a paulownia in the wild landscape, there is one fewer (or more) native plant for the ecosystem. Hope that helps. Here is a link that might be useful: More info here