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Roger's Tree Pick for July: Chitalpa

Chitalpa is the name given to the bi-generic cross between the desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) and catalpa (Catalpa bignoiniodes) from the eastern United States. The initial hybrids between Catalpa and Chilopsis were created in Uzbekistan in the early 1960s and introduced into the United States through the New York Botanic Garden in 1977.

Although cultivated in the United Stated during the 1980s, this hybrid remained unnamed until 1991, when Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden assigned them the name x Chitalpa tashkentensis. The botanic garden selected and named two cultivars, “Pink Dawn” with pink flowers and “Morning Cloud” with white flowers.

Chitalpa is a fast-growing deciduous tree, branching readily near its base and with ascending branches that form a dense, broad oval crown. The tree will eventually grow to about 20 to 25 feet in time and is a great tree for small gardens.

It is a drought-resistant plant, a trait inherited from the desert willow, and it is fairly hardy, having withstood temperatures as low as 9 degrees F.

Although many fast-growing trees are intolerant of windy situations, Chitalpa can withstand even strong winds without breakage and that is a good thing out in desert regions.

Among the best features of “Pink Dawn” are the abundant clusters of showy, pale-pink flowers with each terminal cluster containing 15 to 40 florets. The one-inch flowers have a funnel-shaped throat with conspicuous purple nectar guides that line the inside and emerge to give orchid striping to the flared pink petal lobes. In other words, the flowers are lovely.

The flowering cycle can start as early as May and continues throughout the summer into autumn and that’s a long window of blossoms to enjoy, which is a much longer flowering period than either of its parents.

The chitalpa likes good soil drainage and once it is established is an ideal small tree for a drought-tolerant Mediterranean garden setting.

It can have eye appeal in a Southwestern garden with cacti and succulents, and with a little selective pruning can be a handsome specimen which can be an architectural focal point from any vantage point in the garden’s overall picture.

As a landscape designer/horticulturist, I find that trees tend to set a mood in the garden setting and that feeling can be all-encompassing with the proper plant combinations. Some plants have a very dominate statement, such as Italian Cypress and various species of pines, while other tree forms can be quite flexible and be compatible with many types of plantings and that’s when you say, “Yeah, that feels right and looks good.”

We must also respect that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that spectrum can have many interpretative variations.

So in these warm and lazy days of summer, consider plants that not only will give you some much needed shade but trees that have other values, like the chitalpa with its orchid-like sprays of wonderful and colorful flowers to splash the summers skyline.

As we learn to appreciate the many attributes that trees give us daily, we become more sensitive to the importance of trees in our lives and we must spread the word to others. I hope my little once-a-month tree selection guide has enlightened and given you a fuller appreciation of the “Wonderful World of Trees.”

Roger Boddaert is a professional landscape designer and certified ISA arborist. He can be reached at (760) 728-4297.

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