I have had one for 5 years. It's doing great in full sun - puts on about 15-18" of growth a year and flowers every year about the middle of May. Underplant with Globemaster Allium or the dwarf lilacs Miss Kim or Dwarf Korean for a great spring show. Careful of the seeds though, they are poisonous.

Doing great here. The flowers are very susceptible to freezing off as they come out pretty early and sometimes get zapped. Leaves also, but this particular tree can get enough photosynthesis going on via the bark that it can literally survive without leaves, and does not rush to put a new set on-hence the striking green bark.

I have a dumb question. Is a golden chain tree the same as a golden rain tree? I have one of the later, and it is growing very well, but I have not seen any golden rain, or golden chain for that matter. I have seen a lot of late frosts.

Delaray - you 'da man! (I think....). Thanks to you and Carinus for the info.

Wish me luck!

J

I am in Aurora and I've had a golden chain for many years. It is rather marginal in this location. We are on the plains where there is no shelter from buildings or large trees. I tried planting them in the open and they always Winter killed. Mine is on the North side, right up next to the house.

Well, I just bought one at the ugly duckling sale, a 2" dia tree that had winter killed to the ground, and started growing as a bush. I paid 7 bucks for it, huge pot full of roots.
Question is, where to put it. I'll look into north side of hte house, or maybe in a thicket where it may be more protected. Any suggestions?

I just received two Golden Chain Trees I ordered through a mail order nursery catalog. They were shipped dormant, bare-root, and I placed the one foot (sticks) into a gallon pot and placed it on the East side of my home, where it gets the morning and mid-day Sun. After three weeks the tiny trunk has turned green and green leaves are appearing! I hope that this is the tree I saw in Key West Florida. I watched the large ball of yellow flowers unfold, making them look like huge flowers hanging on a 20 foot rope! The only problem is that the name in the catalog for the plant is Laburnum vossi and I was told "true" Golden Chain Trees are called Laburnum x waterii. Can anyone clear this dispute up?

Hi James

I think the tree in Key West, Florida that you saw is the Golden shower tree, Cassia fistula...not Laburnum... Cassia fistula is a tropical flowering tree that has long pendent yellow flowers in late spring...Laburnum requires a more temperate climate, and do not as far as I know grow well in warm tropical climates... Cassia fistula is only hardy in the warmer parts of 9 and zone 10

I have some seeds for this, that I want to start. Has anyone started these from seed, and have any clues on how?

Thanks

I've started Laburnum Angyroides from seed. soaked for 24 hours in water, then 4 weeks of cold stratification, and almost all of them have germinated. I've got a whole lot of 2-3 inch tree's growing, no idea what I'm going to do with them all, or if they will even survive in my zone.

Advice sought!

We bought a bareroot Golden Chain in early May here in Portland, Oregon, but, of course we weren't in agreement as to where to plant it in the yard. So, in the meantime, I covered the roots up in mulch, where it promptly started growing like crazy, leafing in all directions.

You know what's coming-- once it was planted in its permanent home, about a month later, it immediately started shriveling up all its leaves and looking withered.. now all the leaves are brown and there hasn't been any growth whatsoever.

In fact, I would think it was totally dead, except for the vibrant green underneath when I scrape the bark..

I realize now that we transplanted too late-- what is everyone's opinion-- shall we just wait it out and see what happens, or is this tree likely not to recover? I water it regularly, perhaps to no avail?

~cerealtrader

I live around Bozeman, Montana zone 4. Have anyone try to grow the (Golden chain tree) OR HAVE ONE ALREADY growing pleas tell me how it is doing in zone 4 and how fast does it grow and how long do it take to get flowers on it.I got one in the mail it is about 8in tall from the top of the pot should i plant it outside or what is best????

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb

This is actually re: Cassia fistula
I am looking for the tree itself, not seeds. I know from a thread on "garden web" that people in Phoenix were once able to get them from both Home Depot and Lowes. I was hoping that someone could give me a more recent update and then I could special order a tree locally. It is a lovely tree. I have seen one in Arcadia, CA. The lady who planted it brought it from Texas many years ago. It has done just fine in this LA climate and the owners tell me that they often have people stop and inquire about it. I'm grateful for any help. mkfairchild

I bought a Golden Chain Tree this spring from a vendor on ebay.(Laburnum alpinum - Alpine Golden Chain Tree, Scotch Laburnum Zone: 4-7) The tiny tree was very healthy, 2 feet tall, came in a small pot. oregongrownnursery was the name of the ebay vendor.
It was still too early to plant outside, so I left it in an east facing window for a couple of weeks. It grew another 4 inches in height during that time. I picked a spot on the east side of the house that gets full sun, but the house shelters it from the worst of our winter western winds. After I planted it, the leaves turned brown and shriveled, but the tiny trunk was still green, so I just kept it watered. Just transplant shock, I guess. A month later it started spitting out new leaves and growing in height again.
It's now the middle of September and the tree is over 3 foot tall and very happy. Since it's still a baby, I plan to surround it with a chicken wire cage and fill the cage with scrub oak leaves, once it goes into dormancy, just like I protect my rose. Not to protect it from the cold, but sun scald and drying wind. I'm hoping that this will help keep it dormant until next spring.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Here is a link I found from Lazy S Farm Nursery, with more info: http://www.lazyssfarm.com/Plants/Shrubs/J-L%20Shrubs/shrubs_trees_J-L.htm#SHRU15100