Speaking of trees with purple flowers..

[PaulL]

I do not remember when these bloom but for many years I have noticed small gnarled trees with strings of purple flowers along 340 towards Harper's Ferry and no one I have asked knows what they are.

Any chance they are native?

[Willis]

Paul, I won't take up space here but the trees are called Paulownia. There are myriads of sites on the web- They're the trees to which betcsu is referring. Legend is that one tree( I don't know if they're asexual) was brought to Bolivar Heights around the turn of the century, They're from the Orient. Quite a testament to their ability to reproduce, I would think!! Whoops, Paul, let's make that the turn of the LAST century- they're not quite that fructiferous(I love that word) to have spread so far in four years!!

[Willis]

Paul, I won't take up space here but the trees are called Paulownia. There are myriads of sites on the web- They're the trees to which betcsu is referring. Legend is that one tree( I don't know if they're asexual) was brought to Bolivar Heights around the turn of the century, They're from the Orient. Quite a testament to their ability to reproduce, I would think!! Whoops, Paul, let's make that the turn of the LAST century- they're not quite that fructiferous(I love that word) to have spread so far in four years!!

[betcsu]

hmmm? if theyre small trees i wouldnt say they are paulownias. those babies get huge! one of my trees is already over 30 feet tall and its just a few years old.

could it be red bud trees to which you are referring? i dont know about harpers ferry or bolivar but i know they line mission road quite beautifully.

the leaves arent really red though. they are more purple but usually only through the month of april after which they turn to all green. but they are pretty while theyre in full bloom!

its one of me favorite trees! the following is from a poem about red bud trees:

Red buds blooming
a million blossoms
on every branch.

Full of beauty
limbs weighed down
with abundance.

Branches crisscross
forming patterns of magic
adorned with tiny buds.

[betcsu]

hmmm? if theyre small trees i wouldnt say they are paulownias. those babies get huge! one of my trees is already over 30 feet tall and its just a few years old.

could it be red bud trees to which you are referring? i dont know about harpers ferry or bolivar but i know they line mission road quite beautifully.

the leaves arent really red though. they are more purple but usually only through the month of april after which they turn to all green. but they are pretty while theyre in full bloom!

its one of me favorite trees! the following is from a poem about red bud trees:

Red buds blooming
a million blossoms
on every branch.

Full of beauty
limbs weighed down
with abundance.

Branches crisscross
forming patterns of magic
adorned with tiny buds.

[PaulL]

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the Paulownias, even if they turn out to not be the right tree, still interesting to read about. I will need to investigate further, I saw them today blooming but I didn't get too good of a look at them. Today, I drove through the Leesburg bypass and saw many of them along the road. I was wrong about them being gnarled, but the trees themselves are not very attractive, but the flowers are nice, they appear to hang like a series of purple bells.

[PaulL]

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the Paulownias, even if they turn out to not be the right tree, still interesting to read about. I will need to investigate further, I saw them today blooming but I didn't get too good of a look at them. Today, I drove through the Leesburg bypass and saw many of them along the road. I was wrong about them being gnarled, but the trees themselves are not very attractive, but the flowers are nice, they appear to hang like a series of purple bells.

[betcsu]

i dont know if you saw this other thread or not but heres the link with pics of the blooms from my paulownia:

http://www.shannondale.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=64

(you may have to cut & paste)

[betcsu]

i dont know if you saw this other thread or not but heres the link with pics of the blooms from my paulownia:

http://www.shannondale.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=64

(you may have to cut & paste)

[PaulL]

I got a closer look and you are right, it is the paulownia. I took a trip further into VA and saw many more, they are all along the highways.

[PaulL]

I got a closer look and you are right, it is the paulownia. I took a trip further into VA and saw many more, they are all along the highways.