You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
We had a huge catalpa tree in our yard when I was growing up in the 50's and 60's. The name "fish bait tree" is appropriate...we had several local fishermen who would pay us to collect the very fat caterpillars that appeared each spring and summer. I don't know what sort of fish they were supposed to attract, but year after year the caterpillars were in demand. Personally, I enjoyed doing something else with the tree: I would put the long trumpet shaped flowers on my fingertips and pretend they were movie star fingernails. (My Mom would not let us have a TV, so we were outside a lot, LOL). Thanks for posting the picture and bringing back a lot of fond memories.
Glad I was able to bring back some memories! The fingernail mental image is too funny! We had a small black-and-white TV (with three fuzzy network channels - woohoo!) but the one window A/C was only turned on for a little bit in the evening. It was too hot to stay in the house all day, so I spent a lot of time outdoors, too ;o)
I don't recall Catalpa trees from my childhood, but there was a huge one (probably the southern species) in an undeveloped area next to our subdivision in Oklahoma. One night my mom (who was visiting from Nebraska) and I took a walk, and when we passed it (in full bloom), I asked her what it was. She knew off the bat, and said they were plentiful in the area I grew up.
I'm hoping someone can come up with a better picture this spring. (This one is rather blurry.) Tom C. has stopped selling seeds, and I'm afraid his public domain images may soon go by the wayside, too. I pulled out those that I thought would help the PDB (namely, those that were for plants we had no images of to-date.)
Oh I wonder if Tom will close his website. I have been getting germination info from it. Hate to lose that source, but it is too extensive to download all the data.
Back to the catalpa...my Dad said they used to use it for fenceposts and that they often sprouted roots and shoots and made living fences. They are very majestic trees with unusual shapes when mature. I have seen several old ones on college campuses at Springfield and Cape Girardeau, MO.
I have a Northern Catalpa growing in my backyard and when it blooms it is gorgeous with the large leaves and white flowers and smells great. I know the tree was planted in 1960 as a sapling and up to this point has been very healthy. The problem I have discovered is that ants are nesting inside my tree and I do not know how to get rid of them. I have asked people around here in Montana but most do not have information about my tree. I love this tree and do not want to lose it to these little pests. If anyone could help me I would appreciate it.
