Connie,

Ebb Tide and GAngel should look fabulous there! My only question is, and depth on photos can be deceiving...how wide is that circular strip of bed at that point? Ebb Tide is a medium I think, but GA is a large. You may have to widen the strip a bit in the future to accomodate growth. I'm sure that idea just breaks your heart ;o)

Your buddy,

Char

My little 15 footer (just a guess) had only a smidgen of flowers last summer, but I did get a couple photos of them. Thinking of adding some hosta under it and maybe a bench, possibly just a cute little mini garden altogether. Here's a pic of a single bloom

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Neighbor has a large one in their yard that was very pretty when it was in full bloom, mine was probably a baby from that tree.

Karen

So serene it looks like the little guy on the statue is watching the hostas grow. Its nice & shady all ready, should be great when the tree has grown some more! Beautiful garden Connie, thank -you for showing us. ~Dot

Char,
I know but when you have a husband who loves his grass it is hard to remove as much sod as I would like to. I edge all my beds every year so don't worry the bed will be wider! LOL He doesn't really notice how much larger my beds have become. It's just the initial loss of grass that he notices.

Both EB and GA are hostas I picked up in MN. when we visited with Teresa for her club garden walk in late June.

Karen,
The single flower is beautiful. I can hardly wait for my first bloosom.

Connie

That bloom is beautiful. Now I want one of those and I don't have the room for another tree!

Teresa

Connie,

I had never even heard of a Catalpa before. That blossom is beautiful!

Clever with edging the beds each year - I'll have to try that with my crab tree and daylily beds! I'd love to do that with my bed in front also but for the doggone plastic edging! He'd notice if I started messing with that!

I can't complain too much, he's letting me connect all the beds in the back. Since the development company behind us put the cedar fence back there, the island beds do not look right.

Char

We have then in Southern Ohio and they get ugly monster big green worms on them. We use them for fish bait.
I never saw one planted in a yard.
ohio phil

Oh Phil!!! I didn't need to hear about big green worms. Maybe they won't find my trees in IL.

Dot, thanks for the kind words about the look and for mentioning the statue. I have quite a few of them in my long hosta bed. Did you notice the round stand it is sitting on? I got them from the local vault company. They are rejected vaults for ashes to use in a cementery! I have round and square ones and they were free! I've gone back many times to look for more and they haven't had any.

I did find about a dozen round cement lids which work great under a pot to keep it up off the ground. I press the metal U shaped handle into the ground and on goes the pot.

Char, When you connect your various hosta beds will you add more hosta? Now that was a dumb question! Of course you will.

Connie

Great idea Connie, I was wondering about that little stand, I love recycled stuff or things that can be used in various ways. Thanks for the tips ! ~Dot

Don't worry Connie,they only eat the leaves of the Catalpa Tree, and nothing else. And when they eat all the leaves they will grow back. They are the Larva of a moth.
If you wish, look them up on your browser.
ohio phil

Connie,

I still have to get more hostas from behind the property line (like my nice Spilt Milk). Then I'll re-assess. Much as I want to, I can't buy any more hosta until I know how much room I have to work with. I'll probably have a driveway sale in late May of the hostas that have been disappointments. Maybe that will make some room for new ones.

Char

Char,

Resend me your address and the date of your future sale. Send them in an e-mail closer to the time you are going to do it! Would you be willing to trade if I have anything you might want? This is something we can write to each other as the time draws nearer.

Your rejects will be someone elses treasures.

Connie

It looks beautiful. The township cut down my old catalpa a few years ago because it was in the right-of-way. Luckily I had some pods, but I'd never tried to start them from seed. I am happy to say that I have 2 nice new catalpas in the back yard over 6 feet tall already. And I still have a bunch of seeds (someplace) :-) I always thought the flowers were pretty, the pods weren't a big deal, and thankfully I never saw any worms!

Great tree. One of the reasons a lot people grow it over here is the fact that it provides plenty of shade but only in summer : it is in fact very late to put it's leaves back. This makes it not an ideal tree for hosta, because you won't have any shade from it during april.
Anyway, I have it in my garden as well, and I love it... and I have several plants growing under it : hosta, hosta and hosta , and some more hosta

Hi Connie,
I am new to this forum(usually hang out at RR and wintersowing),but I just wanted to chime in a minute if I may?.I have a catalpa tree in my front yard that was here when we moved here six years ago and it gets eaten by worms every year. It has never bloomed since we've been here and I was thinking of cutting it down. I didn't know that they could have such pretty blooms. I haven't planted anything under it but yours is so lovely, maybe I will plant some hostas or something too. If I could only keep the worms from eating it so badly(they actually strip it bare).
BTW, all of you have some really beautiful gardens and hostas!!!Have a great day...Marylee

I had to laugh reading about catalpa trees and their worms!

When I was growing up, my family had a cottage at a lake in Northern Indiana. All the fishermen had catalpa trees -- we had two. My dad had a redworm pit in the yard and grew his own redworm bait, but when the catalpa worms were active, they were the preferred bait. We'd stand under the trees with long bamboo fishing poles, and when we spotted a worm, we'd knock it off with the pole. My grandma was willing to spot them, but not to put them in the bait box! She always cautioned me to keep my hand over my mouth . . . she was certain one of the worms would fall in!

I was an adult before I noticed a catalpa tree in someone's landscaping and realized that some people grew them for reasons other than bait!

Thanks for prodding some sweet memories for me!

Connie,

You'll want to take at least the bottom three branches off that tree and maybe even a fourth. I can't tell how tall it is. Otherwise, the tree is putting all its energy into those branches instead of growing taller and stronger. Think about how far from the ground you want branches to begin, once its large. Now, keep branches off the bottom two-thirds of the tree and keep moving up as it grows. Once the last third is as far from the ground as you want, you can leave the branches off the main trunk be.

It only gets harder on the tree the larger you let those branches to be removed get.

Michigan Roots

"This makes it not an ideal tree for hosta, because you won't have any shade from it during april. "
Sugarman

I offer that hosta need no shade in april period.

Depends on your location EO. MOst of the hostas start leafing out End of March - Early April over here

The tree only starts casting shadows mid may... I have some Tardiana's growing under it that take full sunn during april an may, not so good...

I have a Catalpa (did not know that was the name until this week and simply referred to it as a bean tree). I have fond memories of sitting high in the branches of my best friend's "bean tree" as a kid and belting out all of the songs from the Sound of Music (hate to date myself).

My bean tree is about 20 years old. I grow hosta under it and they are all very happy. It casts a lot of deep shade due to the very large leaves. I have entertained replacing it because I do seem to have things eating the leaves, plus I seem to get some type of brown blight (not any type of official name) on the leaves every year. Fortunately mine is a light flowerer resulting in very few beans. I thought this may be because I either have the male or female tree and my neighbor has the other. Each Spring I curse my very nice neighbor because of the huge volume of dried beans that drop and blow into my yard. They get caught by the thousands in my perennial and hosta beds and I have to rake the whole yard again in the spring.

However the tree has very nice form in the winter. Good luck with yours.

"Depends on your location EO. MOst of the hostas start leafing out End of March - Early April over here"
Sugarman

I understand but still say they don't need the shade until it gets hot, more sun does require more water which will cause problems but it is not the sun. It may be the sun on dry hosta but not the sun per se.

Trust me they will prosper in the sun if they are cool enough. Maybe some that burn easily or have a lot of white but not most hosta.

EO
Most of my hostas get a lot of sun, some even all day long. I have a garden that's oriented to the south. My plants thrive... they get a lot of water and the potted ones are all standing in a shell of water

But my Tardianas loose their waxy coating during may, I would like them to stay blue longer in to the year. And I prefer the shady June over the June-in-the-sun, and that one get's also too much sun in May because under the Cathalpa

Sug, I'm only addressing the sun, they will grow more and bigger roots hence larger plants faster IF one sees to the water.

There are other questions of course, the sun will melt the wax on blues and probably burn out some whites. There is plenty of reason to use more shade but not for growing. My question is if you have shade why put them in the sun when there are many plants that thrive in the sun.

I like June and others such as Paul's Glory that will perform differently depending the amount of sun. June looks different everywhere one plants them and always grand. I just like some in a lot of sun or shade for different reasons; others just don't perform well in to little or too much sun OVERALL considering all factors.

I'm not taking you to task only saying again the sun is not something to fear in general. If for example you have small plants and want to get size quickly before you landscape with them then put them in the sun for 3 years PLUS A LOT OF WATER then site them for the long haul. How many times have you planted a hosta to later find the color is wrong for the spot or they grew larger than you expected.

I've grown hosta in pots for years sitting in water constantly with good resultÂs, in fact I can't say I've ever had a problem with to much water in pots.

I know IÂm beating a dead horse but some are over concerned about the sun or donÂt respect that the sun requires as much as 4 times the water, maybe more.

I call hosta HEAT INTOLERANT perennials not shade tolerant perennials. In their natural habitat hosta evolved with 4-8 times as much water as our gardens get yearly. Further short periods of draught can cause much harm to hosta that year usually they come back ok but there is always a loss if the get to dry.

Like I said, an important share of my plants are in full sun, like from 10h00 in the morning up to 17h00 in the afternoon
The Cathalpa is the only shadow provider in my garden...I like the tree & the leaves

I'm not afraid of the sun, but for the blue ones, it's not so good (wax melting).

One growing, a Cathalpa makes a very dense crown, so not a lot of filtered light. I think there are better trees out there, but a Cathalpa is so nice, I won't be changing it

"Like I said, an important share of my plants are in full sun"
Sug, how are those in the sun doing?

I love the northern catalpa. Does anyone know when they start getting new growth in the spring? I can't remember.

Catalpa worm (do they bother hostas?)

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Want worms? Here a link that may be useful: catalpa worms

We have oak worms here in w. Michigan also. Don_r

Michigan roots,

Thanks for the pruning advice. I have been wanting to trim them up higher but my H hasn't wanted to. Now I have something to back up why I want to do it. When is the time to do the pruning? Should I do it now or wait? Please let me know if you can. Thanks.

Don_r,

Just how much of a chance do I have of getting those worms? I have had no problem so far here in NW IL. I knew about the long beans that develope but I think the flowers outway that. I may change my mind in years to come, we'll see.

Sugarman,

When I posted the picture I never thought it would get this many responces! I understand if that is the tree you have in your yard then you work with it to the best of your ability. None of us has the 'ideal' garden for every plant. I did plant 3 catalpas. I guess if they become too nasty they can go.

EO,

Maybe it is location, but my hostas haven't been effected by late leaf developement. The area I have that tree in the pictured gets no shade except the tree shade midday till late afternoon if I remember correctly. I'll have to keep track of how the hostas do this year and let everyone know.

Connie

Hi Connie
I'm in Illinois. I love my Catalpa. I planted it as a near dead stick that had just a few tiny roots on it. It grew fast, really fast and huge. I agree with others, you'll want to start shaping your tree now. Seriously, you will amazed at how fast they grow and despite that, it doesn't seem to lose limbs.
I've never seen a worm on my tree, maybe because it is the only one in the neighborhood? The bean pods are numerous but they are light and rake really easily. The leaves are easy in the fall too. Even though they are huge, they dry up fast and are easy to clean up.

Catalpa is one of the fastest growing trees that are strong.
I love these trees. My father-in-law introduced them to me.
They have wonderful worms for fishing which attract a large variety of birds. They have the most wonderful flowers when they bloom, and the get pretty big. I noticed one out in the country by my house that has a trunk roughly 4 feet wide. It is a mammoth of a tree and is like something from a fantasy book when it blooms.
My father in law has a ton of these on his large peice of property and under all of them he plants hostas, Hyacinths (sp?), and day lillies.

kcmojoe,

I'm hoping my trees are High Class Ones and won't allow worms anywhere near them!!!! LOL LOL

So far I haven't seen any on them. I plan on extending that planting area I had in the picture to include another small Catalpa I have in the garden. More places for hostas to grow.

Have you put one in your garden yet?

Connie

Connie,
I have not planted any in my garden. Unfortunately at the current time I have a very small peice of property, and these trees can get very LARGE. I just don't have the room, however I live across the street from a park and pond. I have planted about 20 of my seedlings from my father in laws hows over there and they have sprouted as of last summer. We will see how they look this year.