Paulownia tomentosa

The Empress or Princess Tree, is considered invasive in some parts of the US, though, on our heavy clay soil, I have planted half a dozen of these blooming trees over the past two decades, and only one has survived to actually give a meager floral show in all those years. It is not tolerant of light competition, dying when shaded out, and also doesn’t like temperatures below 12 degrees, which we do hit during the winters in our cold hillside garden.

The wood of this tree is used in its native Japan and China for instruments and strong, light-weight furniture, as, for example our Japanese tansu. Interestingly, it is in the same family as the roadside weed, foxglove, though that is only evident when the tree blooms. The huge flowers resemble Digitalis blossoms on steroids.