I'm on the central coast of California - inland enough to be quite dry. I got a really good deal from Musser trees on several Paulownia trees three years ago. We have lost several of them from what I believe is not enough water. They really seem to need ALOT of water. They lose their leaves in winter here and just don't seem to be doing what I expected. . . namely growing fast and blooming profusely. I was worried that they would take over after a few years as I had heard the seedlings can be invasive - no problem there. Good luck with yours - may be a real challange in Nevada.
Dee

I planted one about 1 foot tall three years ago ,, it branches at about 8' and then has several trunks at least 20' ,been growing about 10' a year here//no flowers buds for next year yet. lots of rain here and it got down to about -6 last year

here's a close up of the leaves ..
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Thanks for the pictures and experiences with this tree. I will be cautious and overwater like crazy and hope to get around these super hot summers. It's supposed to withstand extremes, so I'll give it a shot. I just can't imagine something growing that fast -- did it require much fertilizer? Quite a quick shade provider, I would guess!!!
Thanks again, Chris

About 15 years ago, I used to grow Paulownia from seed, for my yearly plant sales, south of Seattle. I gathered the seed from several local sources. These are very easy to grow from seed, and quite fast. These grew veeeery quickly in W WA, and could be cut down annually to provide a lush background border "shrub", with huge leaves (they will NOT bloom if cut back). When we moved to Coastal GA, I had a couple of friends that had acquired seedling Paulownias. Only one friend managed to get truly luxurient growth from hers...she waters a lot. I wondered if the trees also preferred a longer, colder, dormant season..??

We have a mature one here in Maryland that was on our property when we bought the house. It has prettty flower panicles, but it is messy in fall when it drops the seed casings and those leaves. I am constantly having to clean off the driveway underneath that tree ! Other than that, it is a nice tree. There are many of them in my county and neighborhood...

Paulownia grow quickly in SoCal as well and we only get 100-300 chill hours. They still have nothing on Eucalyptus as far as rate of growth go, I have one in my front yard that sprouted last winter from seed in an unirrigated area of the front yard. It is now 15' tall and if I let it, would continue that rate of growth for about 4 years.

Ryan

You might g to this site it gives you lots of information on growing paulownia.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paulownia Now

A Chaste tree (Vitae) would be a much better tree for LV. It is more drought tolerant, less messy and has similar flowers on a shorter tree/shrub.