John Aniano in central NJ
Hi folks,

I thought that I'd mention another tidbit about Paulownia tomentosa. It was named for the Empress Anna Pavlovna of Russia and the "tomentosa" appellation is that the leaves have a fuzzy underside.

The seeds are the size of a tomato seed and are pretty easy to germinate. I have a Paulownia tree I grew from seed started in 1993. I had it in a pot and moved with it to our current location. It flowers each spring before the leaves come out. The scent of the flowers is an intense old fashioned "old lady" like perfume, in my opinion.

Lastly, the Paulownia is sometimes confused with the catalpa tree; both trees have similar growth, large leaves and flowers but very different seed pods. The former is a walnut sized capsule and the latter a bean-like pod.

John