Royal Empress Tree

This is what will be the blossom for the Royal Empress Tree, also known as the Princess Tree or the Paukownia Tree. This tree is widespread in the South and the Midwest, and the East Coast where sometimes it is regarded as an aggressive invader. However, it is not widespread here on the West Coast probably because the conditions for its easy spread are not met.

The wood is prized in China and Japan and used for jewelry boxes and furniture. Sometimes it is planted in the USA with thoughts of selling the wood. There are reports of selling a tree for $20,000. However, I have not found any markets for it.

I bought it for it's beauty and fast growth. It was touted as growing up to 40 feet in eight years. I have had mine for about 12 years and it is about 20 feet tall. I got it by mail order from http://www.raintreenursery.com/ for $15.00, though now it is listed at $9.75. It came in a little pot and was about 6 inches tall. I thought, "What have I done!" But it grew 2 feet that summer. Then it died down to the ground in the winter. They did say it would do that, though.

The next year it grew to 4 feet. And died down to the ground. The next year it grew to about 8 feet and stayed up. From the first it had huge leaves. After 10 years it bloomed. Lovely blooms. Overall I find it to be a wonderful specimen tree here in Grants Pass Real Estate.

So long for now.

chuck

Brrr! It's Cold!

Last night, I was sitting beside the wood stove toasting my back and thinking about the temperature. It was unseasonably, unreasonably cold. 18 degrees when I went to bed and 10 degrees when I got up. Frosty as you can see.

Crinkly, icy frost. However, the cold weather is good for our fruit trees here in Grants Pass Real Estate as they need a certain number of cooling hours in order to produce fruit. (Cooling? Doggone this is cold!) Also tulips need the cold in order to bloom. I remember reading an article years ago where a lady from Florida was asking why her tulips would not bloom. The answer was to dig up her bulbs and put them in the fridge for 2 or 3 months in order to chill them enough to bloom. Not here. Even in a normal cooling year, the tulips bloom when you leave them in the ground.

When the sun came up a little more, things looked a little better, but still only 15 degrees. This is unusual temperatures for us. Yesterday Grants Pass broke a record for cold temps going back to 1896.

Global warming.

So long from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck