Blog

Jun 06, 2025

Ask A Master Gardener: Blooming trees can help multiple levels of our ecosystem | Features | timesnews.net

The tulip poplar tree takes 12 to 20 years before it blooms. Earth is a planet with natural resilience. It appears vulnerable at present with so many natural disasters surrounding us. We have seen

The tulip poplar tree takes 12 to 20 years before it blooms.

Earth is a planet with natural resilience. It appears vulnerable at present with so many natural disasters surrounding us. We have seen firsthand how Hurricane Helene wiped out the environment along the Nolichucky River.

Choosing to plant a tree that blooms can help multiple levels of our ecosystem. We know trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, and their strong root systems help prevent erosion. Flowering trees feed pollinators. The pollinators help other plants to reproduce and bear fruit, which in turn, feeds the Earth.

Take a moment to appreciate the bountiful gifts nature has given to our region. We can make it better just by adding another tree. Here are three interesting trees to consider.

The fringetree is a small native deciduous tree belonging to the olive family. Another name is Old Man’s Beard. The blooms blow in the wind like white lace on a clothesline.

Fringetrees need minimum care, with a height and width of 12 to 20 feet. They prefer rich organic well-drained soil, grow well in neutral to alkaline soil, and tolerate clay. They can be planted as a border, in a native garden, or cottage garden.

The fringetrees’ natural growing state is more like a shrub, but when pruned and trained as a true tree, it creates a lovely cascading canopy. The blooms attract pollinators, the summer fruit feeds wildlife, it is deer tolerant, and is disease and pest resistant. The yellow foliage brightens the fall.

Native Americans used the fringetree for its healing properties.

I received a small golden rain tree 15 years ago from a fellow Master Gardener. The tree brings me contentment and seems festive as the seasons change.

The golden rain tree is a medium deciduous tree in the maple family. Another name is Chinese Lantern Tree. This interesting tree may grow to 30 or 40 feet with equal width. Not a native, it is an ornamental tree, known for its bright yellow flowers.

Once the trees leaf out, the bright yellow star-shaped flowers begin to form along the stems. As the flowers come into full bloom, the weighted boughs bend toward the earth, and soon the yellow petals fall onto the ground — hence the golden rain tree name. The fruit forms a paper-lantern-type balloon with color transitions through summer from green to yellow, pink then brown in the fall.

The golden rain tree grows well in full sun, with moist well-drained soil but tolerates clay. It is drought and deer tolerant. This tree is useful around a lawn, patio, cottage garden, and even pool areas.

The golden rain tree is not perfect. It readily self-seeds and can displace other plants. It is not on the Tennessee or Virginia invasive plant lists but is listed by the National Park Service, Mid-Atlantic Exotic Plant Management Team Invasive Plant List.

Aging trees drop limbs, and the flower petals and seed pods shed to the ground, requiring average cleanup. Still, I enjoy my golden rain tree.

My neighbor’s mature tulip poplar tree was on the property when they bought their home. Their tree exceeds 100 feet tall with a trunk diameter exceeding 3 feet. Tulip poplar is the state tree of Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana.

The tulip poplar is a fast growing, long-lived deciduous tree native to North America. It is among the tallest trees in U.S. forests. Early pioneers referred to this tree as canoe wood. Native Americans created the dugout canoe from it. Daniel Boone had a 60-foot tulip poplar canoe.

The tulip tree takes 12 to 20 years before it blooms. The tulip poplar is not part of the poplar family; it belongs to the magnolia family. It became known as tulip poplar because the leaf and bloom resemble the shape of a tulip flower. The tulip bloom is green to yellow and orange.

Tulip poplar is good for shading livestock pastures. The fruit provides food for wildlife, pollinators and birds such the yellow-bellied sapsucker and the ruby-throated hummingbird.

The UK Cooperative Extension Service researchers commented: “Early North American explorers were impressed with the size of the tulip poplars discovered in the New World. They sent samples of the species to Europe for cultivation, and today tulip poplar is the most popular American tree grown in Europe.” After the Civil War, railroad companies assessing available natural resources decided to use tulip poplar for railroad ties, then massive logging ensued.

For more information about these trees, see resources below.

“Why is Pollination Important?”

https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildflowers/pollinators/importance

“Chionanthus virginicus”

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/chionanthus-virginicus/

“Chionanthus virginicus”

https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c120

“Fringe Benefits: Discover a Fantastic Native Tree”

https://utgardens.tennessee.edu/fringe-benefits-discover-a-fantastic-native-tree/

“Koelreuteria paniculata”

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/koelreuteria-paniculata/

“Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm.”

https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Koelreuteria.pdf

“Liriodendron tulipifera”

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/liriodendron-tulipifera/

“Tulip Poplar”

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_litu.pdf

“Liriodendron tulipifera”

https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a878

“Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip poplar) Magnolia Family (Magnoliaceae)”

https://horticulture.ca.uky.edu/sites/horticulture.ca.uky.edu/files/Tulip%20Poplar%20-%20Liriodendron%20tulipifera.pdf

If you have a question for the Master Gardeners, submit them to us on our website at www.netmga.net. Click the link at the top of the page, “Ask A Master Gardener” to send in your question. Questions that are not answered in this column will receive a response from a Master Gardener to the contact information you provide.