PlantFiles: Empress Tree, Dragon Tree
Paulownia kawakamii

We bought this tree last year and it grew from a 10 plant to 4 feet tall by October 2008. Since April of 2009 it has grown from 4 feet tall to 18 feet tall and it's only the end of August. To date it only has the large palm like leaves, but we are looking forward to the change it's supposed to make. We do not find this tree to be invasive in the least, and it has been a happy experience for us and our friends. It joins 4 young Silver Maples in our yard and all are growing great together. I have included a couple photos of this tree.

I've had this plant in my front yard (Zone 6B) for a few years and have just had it identified as a Paulownia. I grew it from seeds that I was told were hollyhock, but when it grew so tall I became suspicious. I rather like the tree, but reading some of the negative posts I'm not so sure about that. How tall do they grow?
Nick

zone 7-8 Greenville, SC
You've GOT to be kidding me! You WANT this invasive tree from China? NO WAY! I have 2 on a natrual area hill and it takes over and is messy. They shade out non invasive trees and seed freely/ spread. It's on the National Forest Service or parks web site as the LEAST wanted tree! They tell you how to get rid of it! Not easy, I now find. Must cut trunk, drill holes, pour killer into it and on fresh cut. Mine sprouted anyway in just weeks! Am now repeating.
Yes, it's an impressive tree, but send it back to China with it's side-kick, Kudsu vine!

I'm in love!

(I need to find me a Dragon man, I tell ya.)

My 12" seedling was planted last fall in a full sun location per directions (dragontrees.com). In the spring, when it started to "wake up" I mercilessly cut that baby flush to the ground and nervously waited. (Oh no...did I commit herbicide?!)

And...was I rewarded. From two tiny sprouts in April I chose the most hardy and removed the other. That teeny little sprout is now over 3 1/2 feet tall with leaves bigger than dinner plates a mere 2-3 months later, and there is no sign it's stopping.

The trunk is straight and strong, about the thickness of bamboo already. I feed it every 2-3 weeks with miracle grow and water it deep and long when we don't get enough rain.

I am also making sure I remove the little branch buds above the leave stems to encourage the tree to grow as tall as possible (will stop when I can no longer reach the buds without help).

The pictures of Paulownia trees with the extra large leaves are young trees in their first couple of years. After they reach their mature size the leaves start to get smaller and end up about hand sized.
In the deep south they are considered somewhat invasive, but most of the country does not have the right climate for them to become invasive.
There are very few trees that are as much fun to watch grow as the Empress tree. You can almost literally see them growing. It's very rewarding to plant a small tree and in 3-4 years have a nice 30-40 foot shade tree.
The flowers are beautiful with an intoxicating fragrance, and the best part is that Paulownias not only produce more oxygen and suck up more carbon than almost any other tree in the world, they are also becoming well known around the world as an excellent fast growing timber tree that produces high quality hardwood lumber in a fraction of the time it takes other hardwoods to mature.
For the people who find them messy, you can turn that into a positive thing by gathering up all the leaves they drop in the fall and adding them to a compost pile. The leaves are very high in nitrogen and break down quickly to make an excellent compost.

I dont have one of these trees but, have been reading and find mixed reviews. Seems about equal as some say its a horrible tree and others say its great. Can someone answer this though: why in some pictures do I see gigantic 10"-14"leaves on this sucker and then in some others the leaves look 4"-6"? Some complain of insaine amounts of pruning and seedlings yet others say they dont have that problem... Whats the deal? Are there variations of this tree? Are they just crazy growers from the start but, calm down once they mature???

I have one Paulowania Kawakamii tree. Grew to about 6.5 feet it's first year. It's in semi shade other wise I'm sure it would have been 10 feet plus tall. It is budding out with new growth right now. It is not invasive here. Great tree.

I'm confused as well, I have ordered this tree several times... of all the many pictures I've seen, it's hard to imagine they are all the same tree, some have heart leaves, some have round, some have huge leaves, some have "normal" size leaves.... all say this is a fast grower but I've had 6 and all but this last has died within a month (the last won't make it either). Full sun, Miracle Grow potting soil, daily watering..... still they die, I give up!

I live on a golf course and when I planted this tree so many people noticed it. Some actually stopped and knocked on my door to find out what it was. One guy asked the name of that "Jack and the Bean Stalk" tree
(it does grow several feet a year) another asked if it was a "giant Okra plant". Its been fun to have in my yard.

The so-called "Empress Tree" is tree is a Royal Pain. It is messy, drops leaves all summer long and grows like a weed, (which as far as I am concerned, it is.)

Its only redeeming features are its shade and glorious flowering in the spring. It requires constant, major pruning, which is difficult for me because of its height. The roots are a major problem for my lawn, as they not only lie along the surface, but reach out under other parts of my garden and are very unsightly. The lawn around them is a disaster, unmowable, dry, basically just unsightly.

I live in hot desert climate (over 100 degrees for weeks at a time, very dry) at the north end of the Sacramento Valley and I do appreciate the shade from that tree, but that is as far as it goes. I'd like to get rid of the darn thing and replace it with other potential shade-givers.

Paulownia kawakamii is a fast-growing, deciduous tree to 30 feet tall. Originally from Taiwan and southern China, it has enormous heart-shaped 5 lobed leaves that are softly hairy on both surfaces.

The large round brown flower buds form in the fall and are held conspicuously on naked branches until they emerge just prior to the leaves in the spring. The pale lilac blue flowers are 1-2 inches wide in long terminal panicles. Plant in full sun in most any soil. Prune while young to desired form after which little attention is needed.