Mon-Fri 9am - 5pm Mountain time
Manchurian Ash vs Northern Catalpa (Cigar Tree)
Fraxinus mandschurica
Catalpa speciosa
NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON
Manchurian Ash is a medium-sized deciduous tree.
Like Black Ash, it has long, serrated green leaves, but matches White Ash in height.
This hardy tree is a great choice for a shade tree on smaller home properties. Manchurian Ash prefers moister soils, making it a great landscape tree.
Note: Unfortunately this difficult to grow species is not currently scheduled to grow at TreeTime.ca. Perhaps try purchasing seed from SeedTime.ca and growing your own? Or sign up for a restock notification above.
Northern Catalpa is a striking feature tree with showy flowers, and very large leaves. Its orchid-like flowers are white with yellow and purple accents, and they have a pleasant fragrance. They bloom from late spring to early summer and can last up to two weeks, attracting hummingbirds and pollinators. The leaves are very large, ranging from 15-30 cm long, 12-20 cm wide, forming a canopy that makes it a good shade tree.
They can tolerate dry conditions as well as standing water, air pollution, and salt. These factors and its beauty contribute to its growing popularity as both a boulevard and ornamental tree in colder areas.
Northern Catalpa produces long bean-like capsules and are sometimes called the Cigar Tree in reference to this fruit.