Catalpa yellow seeds

Yellow catalpa or Chinese catalpa / Catalpa ovata

Very beautiful and showy deciduous tree. It grows without problems on rich, light and well-drained soils, in fully lit places, moisture-loving. Duration of flowering 25-30 days (from mid-June). Each inflorescence contains up to 50 flowers.

Grows as a small tree or large shrub. Beautiful, large, up to 7 cm, fragrant creamy-white flowers, with a wavy edge, inside with two yellow stripes and numerous purple-brown dots. Fruits, up to 45 cm long, adorn the tree from the second half of summer. Resistant in urban environments to dust, smoke and gases.

Catalpa is successfully combined with oak, deciduous magnolias, but it also looks spectacular in single plantings.

Location: Sunny places protected from the wind are recommended, as large and tender catalpa leaves are severely damaged in drafts (the distance between plants is 4-5 m).

The root neck should be at ground level, and the root ball should be 10-20 cm above ground level (after planting, subsidence and compaction of the soil occur). Before planting, the root system must be saturated with moisture.

Soil mixture: humus, leafy soil, peat, sand (3:2:1:2). When planting, ash (5-8 kg) and phosphorus flour (50 g) are also added. Mulch with peat (5-7 cm).

Top dressing: in season they are fed 2-3 times with slurry (1:10), 1 bucket for each adult plant. Before top dressing - abundant watering.

Watering: in the heat, water 1 time per week, 2 buckets per plant. If the summer is not hot, watering can be reduced to 2-3 times a month.

Loosening: on a shovel bayonet, while removing weeds.

Shearing, pruning: dry and damaged branches are cut out in spring.

Diseases and pests: resistant. Occasionally it can be damaged by Spanish fly (spraying: kinmiks, decis, karbofos, - twice).

Preparation for winter: tie young plants with spruce branches and cover with dry leaves (remove in spring). To protect against frost, wrap standard plants with burlap in two layers or with lutrasil. In adult trees, it is desirable to mulch the near-trunk circles (with a dry leaf with a layer of 15 cm).

Vegetation: from mid-May. Shoot growth stops in August. Leaf fall comes after frost. Leaves fall completely green.

Reproduction: catalps reproduce successfully without any special treatment with seeds and summer cuttings (survival rate is about 50%).