THE EMPRESS TREE, PRINCESS TREE OR FOXGLOVE TREE IN ITALIAN GARDENS Paulownia tormentosa belongs to a genus of around 17 species (Paulownicaeae) and the genus was named in honour of Queen Ann Pavlona of the Netherlands. Paulownia tormentosa is a native of central western China and can be found in Japan and in many parts of the US. It grows to a height of around 10 to 25m and is a remarkably fast growing tree when young. Its leaves are five-lobed and heart-shaped and grow to around 15 to 40cm across on mature trees but they can even reach 60cm across on the faster growing younger plants. The tree regenerates very well after forest fires and therefore reacts surprisingly well to pollarding and large leaves can be maintained by pollarding the tree regularly. The leaves are also used in vermicide preparations as they contain natural worm repellents. Paulownia tormentosa produces large flower panicles of around 10 to 30 cm that are formed on the bare branches before leaf growth in early spring. Flowers are a wonderful light blue and are composed of tiny florets or ‘corolla’ at around 3 to 4cm long and resemble the flowers of the foxglove. The petals of the flowers tend to drop continuously during the flowering period and conjure images of a lady crying and this phenomena has been referred to in the ‘tormentosa’ part of the tree’s Latin name- meaning simply tormented woman/ female. Soon after the flowers fade the tree produces egg-shaped seed pods, full of thousands of tiny seeds that are then dispersed by the wind and rain and tend to germinate relatively easily on most types of soil. The ease of germination, fast growth and the fact that Paulownia can grow on very poor soils has led to the tree becoming an invasive tree in the US and Japan. These factors have led to the tree being very useful in the ecological recovery of polluted soils and it is considered as a ‘Pioneer’ plant. In a garden context the Paulownia tree is very useful when designing Italian gardens as the tree will grow very quickly on hot sunny sites with poor soils and can easily be re-generated from their base by hard pruning in winter. Although the tree grows very large very quickly, its canopy can be contained and shaped by light pruning immediately after flowering in spring, this will ensure that the flowers will be produced the following year. The large leaves of this tree provide a shade area beneath its canopy that is rivalled by very few trees. The constant cascading of the flower petals during can either be perceived as being a nuisance or a decorative feature, depending on the position that the tree will eventually be planted. It is however, a fine tree for the Italian garden! CONTACT ECOLOGICA HERE FOR A PROFESSIONAL GARDEN DESIGN OR CONSULTATION