Silk trees make a beautiful lawn accent and a wonderful container plant. A native of China, it is a fast growing, deciduous small tree (up to 35 feet tall at maturity) with an open, airy, umbrella-like canopy. It has a smooth trunk and gracefully arching branches. The leaves are about a foot long with feather-like foliage. The most outstanding feature of Silk Trees are its showy, fluffy pink summer flowers, which are arranged in clusters about six inches across that look like silk powder puffs. Their fragrance fills the mid-summer air and is a great attraction to hummingbirds and bees. In zone 6-11, these are great planted around homes, decks, patios and porches where they provide summertime shade.
In colder climates they make wonderful potted plants for outside in summer or grow them inside year round in a full sun location. Easy from seed.
Sowing instructions:
Seeds need to be scarified. Place seeds in boiling water and leave to cool 24 hours. Or you can rub seeds with sandpaper or carefully nick, scrpae or chick the seedcoat with a sharp cutting utensil. Sow seeds in well drained potting soil 1/8 ' deep at 70-75 degrees. Germination 2-10 days.
