Product Description

Catalpa ovata ( Chinese catalpa )

C. ovata is a chinese catalpa and is generally smaller in stature than Southern catalpa, rarely more than thirty feet in height, the flowers are brilliantly colored with orange and violet on a pale yellow to ivory backround.Coarse foliage, conspicuous flowers and wide-spreading growth habit. Leaves are medium green, broadly ovate with heart-shaped bases to 10 inches long. Flowers are white, marked with yellow and purple brown, borne in upright panicles 8 to 12 inches tall, almost orchid-like in appearance. Wood can be brittle, so locate where this will not be a problem. The name Indian Bean comes from plant's long, cigar or bean-shaped fruit. Able to withstand adverse sites.

Catalpa is a genus of deciduous, hardy, native trees of North America and Asia, belonging to he Bignoniaceae or Bigonia Family. The long stemmed leaves are 6 to 10 inches long, with large white flowers striped with yellow, and slender seed pods up to 10 to 18 inches long. It is an old favorite as a shade tree and because of the large leaves and flowers, it offers a stately, formal and exotic, tropical look to lawns, parks and along streets. It is frequently seen in older neighborhoods where, in decades past, it was one of the most popular shade trees. Its popularity is returning today because of its beautiful large leaves and flowers and because it grows fast providing much shade in reletively short time. Propagation is best in the spring from seed with a little bottom heat provided if starting seeds indoors. Outdoors, after danger of frost is past, loosen up the soil where seed is to be planted and sprinkle a little soil over seeds, rather than digging a hole for them. Cuttings of green wood stems and roots is another method of propagation for this tree