PlantFiles: Empress Tree
Paulownia tomentosa

For those of you that have experienced the invasive qualities of the Tomentosa I thought I would share with you an experience I have had with another species of Empress. Over the past decade there have been developments made to Empress Trees and a magnificent discovery has been made in that of the Empress Splendor! It has a truly beautiful flower and growth rates that exceed the Tomentosa without the invasive qualities.

I have planted a few of my own (in Arizona) and it is truly amazing to see them grow. I even think the flower is more unique than that of the Tomentosa.

Because it is a hybrid you do not have to worry about it spreading or taking over your yard. Just a beautiful tree that I have nothing but praise for. I have not found the Empress Splendor on Dave's Garden but it is a relative to the Tomentosa. I hope this is the appropriate place to post this!?

I live near in Choctaw Oklahoma and I am in need of shade trees in my pasture for my horses. There is an Empress tree at a house that I pass by on my way home sometimes. They have said I can take a cutting of it anytime I like.

Not sure yet on this tree. Bought the first one and after the first winter all we had was a soggy bulb that had nothing left inside. Had it replaced and we have a small 1' tree we are growing in a pot to make sure that it has a better chance of living. We wanted to make it our focal for the turn around in the front but after reading about the bees we have decided to add this to our forest. Our weather here is relatively mild and am very disappointed with our results so far.

Have had this tree in the ground for about 4-5 years now. I was told when I bought the tree that it would die down to the ground each year due to winter temps down to -10F. During this period it has gotten this cold at least four times and it once even dipped to -22F. Despite what I was told...the tree is growing strong. Each year it adds a little to its height and spread...although for most of the year it looks like a 15-18' tall stick with a few lateral branches. The buds begin to pop around Memorial Day and the leaves all promptly fall off with the first frost at the end of September. Its amazing how fast this plant loses its leaves...all in one day. The leaves no longer attain their huge size like they did when the tree was young. It also has slowed its growth rate.

Unfortunately, the tree has yet to produce any flower buds and not sure it ever will with our cold weather climate.

I have a four year old empress tree. I received it as a one year old root cutting. The lady who gave me my tree told me that if I want more trees, I only had to take a few stabs with a sharp shovel near the trunk to cut a few roots. Each root fragment that has enough roots of its own will grow a trunk, and can be transplanted. :)

When I planted it I was told to coppice the tree (cut it all the way back to the ground) every spring for the first three seasons to promote a strong, straight trunk. I did this, cringing each year as I cut back ten to fourteen feet of growth. I then selected the healthiest shoot and allowed it to grow out. It easily regrew each season, taller than the season before. This year I am to break off any leaves or shoots where I don't want branches, and I might want to top it next year.

We got a young tree, about 2.5' tall. Two seasons later it is about 18' tall and putting on massive growth on new branches. We were looking for a fast growing tree to shade our patio and this is the one.

Last year this large "weed" popped up under the edge of the front deck, so I chopped it down. A month later it was back, the leaves were so big i decided to see what it was and let it grow; it got about 6 feet tall.

This year i let it grow again, and everyone that has seen it just raved about it and asked what it was. I have been saying it's our bean stalk, like jack and the bean stalk, it is now about 12 feet tall and it has a brother next to it about 10 feet tall.

As of today i found out what it is. I guess the seed came to us from some unknown source. The base is about a foot under the deck and the trunk is bent to allow it grow upwards. By the way they grow very well in Kentucky red clay, under a deck, after being hacked down as a yearling. lol.
DOMandAndrea

I want to plant one of these at our new house and have questions. We live just outside of Phoenix zone 9 so I don't think it will be too invasive (It's just too hot and dry)

I am worried about mess and bees. We have dogs with a doggie door and don't want them to get hurt while we are at work. Our bees are mean here!

I planted mine last year, near my dogs kennel to hopefully grow over and give him some shade. I have had flowers on it all year and believe it or not the hard freeze didn't do much damage to the leaves..

It has been warm in florida now since March and My plant has sprouted new limbs and looks to be a promising year for it..

What i do not like at first is that it looks like a scrangly weed in my yard.. I hope it grows another 10 feet this year it looks more like a tree.

I have about 40 Empress Trees growing right now. I cut down all to the ground except for two this spring. They are budding out good right now. I use the cut trunks of the trees for garden poles. I also have about 75 new seedlings I grew from seed in my greenhouse. They are not invasive here. This is a great tree.

I just posted to another area about my Empress Trees.

I have 3. I'm not finding them invasive, but I’m in Illinois, it may be that the seeds aren’t viable through our winters. Haven’t noticed the roots pushing up the driveway, either.

I had one that looked like a 6‘ dead stick in the ground after its first winter. I thought I lost yet another sapling I had tried.

I left it in. It grew AROUND itself with new shoots – pruned it – stripped smaller weak branches and now, last year was 3 years – I have a 25 foot tree giving me shade. I’m betting it’s going to give the Pine a run this year for which is taller.

My neighbor across the street said felt bad - she had watched me - this would have been my 4th attempt to grow a small tree there that failed. (gruesome hot until very late afternoon.) She said she was thrilled for me when she saw something growing there now.

If it grew 25 feet in 3 years here in Illinois, I can only imagine what it would do in a more temperate climate.

And the other 2 which I didn’t think would make it went BOOM and took off.

One is now offering shade to the west in the afternoon.

Extreme Caution should be used before planting this tree anywhere in Florida. It could take over the world.

Some has already mentioned that Empress trees are 'naturalized' in the SE. No wonder I've seen them along the interstate as I drove by. Gorgious flowers though, I've always wanted one, I ordered two bare-root trees via online, they're fragil looking young trees. The roots are fleshy and pliable, the tiny tree is indeed hollow like that of 'bamboo' but soft, no wonder it breaks easily. If this beauty is invasive, I wish it would take over previts, and wild honey suckles, not to mention poison-ivy.

This has been a great landscape tree, it has not been invasive at all, and we have some VERY invasive, WEEDY plants here, mosty our own natives, if this can take out the Maples more power to it. We have lots of disturbed ground and no seedings have volunteered, although plenty of our native trees and weeds have. We also have terrible winds in the summer and the only Empress tree branches to break are the ones other trees fell on. It has root suckered in clay soil, not a one on the sandy, rocky areas. Rodents have girdled some, which may be why they suckered in clay. The roots are easy to dig through so it has been an easy tree to garden under and a good choice for a fast shade tree, it can also be cut to the ground every year and grown as for the large, fuzzy foliage, it resembles a giant sunflower.

Empress Tree Paulownia tomentosa is naturalized in Texas and other States and is considered an invasive plant in Texas.

This plant could be a poster child for invasives. I loved the big old monster in downtown New London, but when I talked to the neighbors around it, the jaundiced looks and nasty comments gave me pause. At least it's not a bird borne issue, but think VERY carefully about planting this one; your local ecosystem could be impacted negatively. It's on our state invasive list...

According to a recent article, one can plant these tress at 300 to the acre and harvest 30,000 board feet in 8-9 years. At $3.00 a board foot, that's not a bad at all. Apparrently they rejuvenate after harvesting as well.

In regards to invasiveness, a quote from the California Invasive Plants Council "...the empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa) is a pest in deciduous forests of the eastern United States, particularly in the southern Appalachians, but it is not known to escape from cultivation in California, where it is used as an ornamental landscape tree." In Oregon, one grower is touting this tree as a fast-growing agroforestry choice. I'll be planting some this year, and I'll let you know how it goes.

planted one in 1998. it is 40 feet tall. planted two more in 2003, now 16 feet tall. in california they do not reseed and do not set many seed pods. weak wood limited to small branchets, main scaffold is strong. my trees set 10,000 buds in fall and attract as many bees daily in spring. this is a highly underrated tree. the leaves get smaller as the tree ages and it is possible to garden underneath. spectacular in spring.

I planted one Paulownia 3 months ago, it was 17" tall. It is now 6' 10" tall and going strong. I water it twice a week and every two weeks fertilize it with a liquid (Peters Plant Food one table spoon per gallon). It is planted in a clayish soil and an area that drains very well. It is exposed to full sun. During the high heat of the day (90F to 100F) it appears to wilt, but when the sun goes down it perks right back up. I have heard that it is an invasive plant???? If so I will deal with that later, I just want a quick shade tree.

So far so good.

I found something HUGE growing in a bulb bed last year and it was identified as Empress Tree.

I let it develop quite a bit, which didn't take long, before moving it to the woods which is it's new home.

This fall I went to check on it and the top of the tree looked odd, and the trunk felt hollow. I thought it was dead but sure enough, this spring the tree pulled through and is putting out leaves below the trauma area.

Empress tree proves to be quite resilient and a hardy tree. I just hope this nature isn't a sign of it's invasiveness to come.

A beautifull tree..In my neighbourhood there are growing ten Empress Trees in the public garden. They are all in bloom now..a wonderfull sight. I 've talked with people on a Dutch gardening forum...Paulownia tomentosa is 'nt hardy enough for our climate they say...well I 've told them to come overhere and see. They have a hard time during our autumn storms..I think there wood is soft so the branches break easy.
They spread their seeds all over and I often find seedlings of them in my garden...helas..I have no room in it for a tree.

I found this tree growing along the creek in the wooded (& wild) portion of our property in Oliver Springs, TN. I had never seen it before, so it took me a while to identify it. I am now sure it is an "Empress," and it looks like an empress when it is in bloom. I think it is lovely and if it were invasive, at least it would be beautiful! But, on our land it has not gotten invasive (yet), but is loaded with seedpods. I planted in my yard (the less wild part of our property) a portion of a root with a sprout that was growing on the soil surface along the creek (the water line varies greatly depending on rainfall & the roots are very shallow). It seems to be growing well in a part shade/dappled sunlight environment.

My aunt had her land completely cleared for pasture land 5 years ago. Where it was cleared, a single royal empress tree sprouted up, most likely from a single seed. It is 20-30' tall, and flowers every spring. It is on pretty dry land. This year, it was loaded with seed pods. Inside these seed pods, there are up to two thousand very small seeds that blow away in the slightest breeze. I got some, so I can start me a few trees. A very gorgeous tree.

Pretty, unusual, specimen tree in the Northeast... but arborist friends at the Arnold Arboretum warn of its invasive and weedy characteristics.

I purchased two Paulownia tomentosa seedlings back in February from a local nursery here in the Texas Hill Country. One did not survive, but the other seems to be hanging on. They were planted out in the front meadow that gets tons of bright sunshine pretty much all day. I fed them with liquid organic fertilizer a couple of times, but they are essentially out there unattended (except, of course, for the cage around each so the local deer herd does not make them a snack!). This past weekend I bought a larger, better looking replacement for the one that did not make it, but I am going to hold off planting it until the heat of the summer is over.
These were labeled Dragon Monster Tree at the nursery.

Easy to grow from seed and it is a fast grower.

I live in the Nashville, TN area way back in the woods and these trees grow like crazy along my driveway. A couple years ago we decided to put up a new house on our land farther back into the woods. We had some loggers come in and take out a few trees for some extra cash and to make room for the house. The made mention of the Empress trees and that they go for big bucks yet they were only interested in the typical trees like oak and such...

This has to be one of the fastest trees I have ever had experience with. I got one as a 2' seedling and in 4 years it's almost 40' tall (and that was even after it accidentally got snapped off at ground level after the first year)... and has the habit of a poplar- straight up and down. Finally it is starting to send out lateral branches and this last summer it finally flowered. The wood is brittle, though, and our Santa Ana winds have no trouble snapping off the branches, so careful if you plant this in a windy climate. The leaves are huge and fuzzy (almost sticky).

I have read others comments about invasiveness, and I would think that would be a problem here in So California, too... but it's not for some reason. The trees here are so loaded with seeds, the sheer weight of them breaks the branches in the fall... yet I have yet to see a single seedling come up from beneath these trees.. not sure if it's too dry here or what. But no invasiveness here, thank goodness (we have plenty of other invasive species)

This is a prolific seed producer, and sprouts easily, making it considered invasive in many parts of the world. The Chinese plant this tree when their daughter is born. When she marries, they cut the tree down and make furniture and other useful things for her and her new husband.