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johnnyz6

Franklin tree flowers

johnny6
13 years ago

Hi. the Franklin tree I planted in March just started to flower, had three the other day. It is about 7' tall. They didn't last too long. Only three days. How long should they last? Wondering if this is normal or did something eat them??? It has been in the 90's the past few days too. There are a lot more buds on the tree. thanks for any info. Here's what it looked like.

{{gwi:401349}}

Comments (29)

  • mainegrower
    13 years ago

    Like the blooms of the related stewartias, franklinia flowers are short lived. Once they are pollinated, they quickly drop. Since both species bloom when the weather is warm and there are lots of pollinating insects about, three days or less is typical.

  • sam_md
    9 years ago

    Franklin Tree is right at home in the hot, muggy weather we have here. This tree grows happily on the campus of Westtown School, Chester Co, Pa. Can you imagine a more beautiful flower? PURE white petals with a center of golden orange stamens. It starts blooming in late July and continues through mid September.
    {{gwi:401350}}
    Really a large shrub, this tree requires a well-drained situation, the top of a hill would be great.
    {{gwi:401351}}
    Bark detail of an old tree.
    {{gwi:401352}}
    I see Franklin Tree planted in cemeteries, around Meeting Houses and places where they receive very little care. I think many gardeners kill them with too much TLC. They don't need rich soil, they don't need to be pampered, they just need a well-drained, sunny site.

  • j0nd03
    9 years ago

    Sam, thank you for reviving this thread. My tree flowered a week or so ago and the flowers only lasted 2 days! Sure enough, it appears seeds are starting on both of the previous flowers.

  • dbarron
    9 years ago

    It's nice to see this extinct tree still growing :) I thought about trying it...but I'm told in my climate (a bit drier..not too much), the challenge is enough moisture while not over-watering it (vs more eastern native habitat/climate).

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    how can we have multiple pix of an extinct tree????

    anyway .... i would not even be upset.. if a recent transplant didnt flower.. its stressed out for at least a year or two ..

    the fact that it bloomed at all.. is a gold star for how well you planted and watered it... congrats ...

    and considering that its entire root mass was disturbed just a few months back.. it doesnt surprise me... that the flowers didnt last long ...

    besides all that.. any flower that opens in 90 degree heat... will suffer ...

    again.. that it bloomed at all.. should be considered a bonus ...

    i tried one.. decades ago ... it failed in MI .. but that was preWWW ... and i had no clue what i was doing with it.. lol.. i bought it .. mail order .. because i graduated from ben franklin high ... and shoved it in the ground ... so much for research.. lol...

    ken

  • Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
    9 years ago

    "how can we have multiple pix of an extinct tree????"

    extinct in the wild...or "extripated from its only known natural occurrence" is a more accurate description.

  • subtropix
    9 years ago

    I recall seeing several planted and doing quite well in a shaded, forested area of Longwood Gardens (SE Pa). Nice trees, they sort of remind me magnolias, surprised to read that they are unrelated. Can't say I recall seeing them sold in local garden centers.

  • sam_md
    9 years ago

    'tis the season, for collecting Franklin Tree seed. Notice how the capsules resemble those of Camellia?
    When you collect seed the first step is to check if they are sound. Take your pruners and cut several seed in half. If they are hollow find another tree. They are more likely to have sound seed if you have more than one tree at the site. When you cut the seed in half and it is small, white and firm inside you have good seed. If only half of the seed is good simply sow seed twice the rate you normally would.
    {{gwi:2122265}}
    You can direct sow seed in containers as I have done here.
    They can also be sown in the seedbed. Leaving them in an unheated area over winter and that will satisfy the stratification requirements. They will germinate in April. These seedlings are very vigorous, you will have all the seedlings/liners you could possibly want by July.
    {{gwi:2122266}}

  • gardenprincethenetherlandsZ7/8
    9 years ago

    Did the same!

  • jujujojo_gw
    9 years ago

    I think they bloom in fall is not surprising. Camellia would continue to bloom over winter and early spring in Washington.

  • terrene
    9 years ago

    Saw this thread back a few weeks, but just coming back to it now. Very nice pics and such a beautiful flower! Is it fragrant?

    I winter-sowed some Franklinia seeds this past winter. Got several pods from a friend in fall 2012, sowed some in January 2013 but only got one sprout and it died. Tried to select a better pod, that had seeds that weren't hollow (per advice from Sam-MD), and ended up with 5 healthy seedlings. :)

    So what to do with the seedlings? Do they transplant okay? I've read they are fussy. They are over-wintering in the garage right now. I am thinking I will plant out 2 of them here at this property, which has excellent drainage, and grow the other 3 in pots (so I can take them with me when I move).

    Here's what mine looked like this fall -
    {{gwi:2122267}}

  • davidrt28 (zone 7)
    9 years ago

    NB they don't always last long. They aren't terribly strong growing, having been through at least a couple genetic bottlenecks. The last time I visited the old Dilworth Nursery in Oxford, PA, I remembered they'd had a big Franklinia 12 years earlier. They said it had died.
    The one at Villa Taranto was practically the only sickly looking plant there. Heck, it might have been the only sickly looking plant on the shores of Lake Maggiore. If 65 inches of rain, well draining volcanic soil, zn 9b, mild but warm summers (cool enough for Gunneras but warm enough for Crape Myrtles) can't make you happy, I don't know what will.

  • sam_md
    8 years ago

    Hi Terrene, Will Franklin Tree grow in your state? If so, find a sunny, well-drained site for your young trees which BTW look very good. How about a memorial at a cemetery or meeting house or like a private school?

    Here is my current offering. Sometimes all the stars line up and you get a good crop. I put several in one pot because some seed is hollow. I can always come along in another month and thin them out. Seed was sown last December and subjected to cold and protected from mice.

  • sam_md
    8 years ago

    76 days from my last post. Young Franklinia seedlings are especially fast and rank growing. They must be shifted up or else they become top-heavy. When we get into September/October, lighten up on the water and let them harden off, otherwise they will not shut down and will be vulnerable to cold damage.

  • maackia
    7 years ago

    I'd love to grow one here in z4 Wisconsin, but I'm afraid we're quite too cold for this NA native. The best specimen I've seen grows at Longwood Gardens. I was there in late October 2014 and was surprised at how nice the fall color was.

  • dbarron
    7 years ago

    I've heard it's difficult here (by a friendly native plant producer/nurseryman), otherwise I'd have one.

  • sam_md
    7 years ago


    Here's one of the trees in back of the restaurant @ Longwood. The others in this planting received shade most of the afternoon and didn't color up well.

  • j0nd03
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Dbarron I have had one for 3-4 years and it is doing well. It is covered in blooms this year even with the really dry weather


    Edit: forgot to mention I live less than 100 miles WSW of you iirc (I am in the River Valley area)

  • dbarron
    7 years ago

    Hmm, my advise came from MaryAnn King (PineRidge Gardens). It's wetter up here in the Ozarks...so it might even do better. Hmm, I might see if MaryAnn still has it in stock.

  • j0nd03
    7 years ago

    She had a huge potted ($$$) Franklin tree when I went there a couple years ago

  • miketropic
    7 years ago

    Anyone have any good size seedlings for fall planting for sale? I tried one from ebay a few years ago but the winter was harsh and it didn't make it.

  • sam_md
    7 years ago
  • sam_md
    6 years ago

    This has got to be the wettest August I have ever seen, here it's been coming down in buckets. Great to have a year without Japanese Beetles in the flowers. The rain doesn't seem to bother my Franklin Tree, here's this year's pic with lots of buds yet to open.

  • davidrt28 (zone 7)
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    "This has got to be the wettest August I have ever seen, here it's been coming down in buckets."
    Yes, this seems to be summer with the most consistent rains that I can remember in 30 or so years of gardening. We are at the point now where a whole variety of mushrooms are sprouting, in the full sun parts of my yard! Many Asian BLEs have produced secondary flushes of growth, and several rhododendrons have been tricked into summer blooming, which I have absolutely never seen before. (fall blooming, yes; either way it is considered a defect) My spring application of pre-emergent was long since washed away, and weeds are sprouting and growing with incredible speed. I just had to spray to catch a second round of Microstegium; I hope the Acclaim had time to dry. In spite of the sun shining, my grass took hours to start drying yesterday, and then after spraying, it was only 1.5 hours until an incredible deluge of rain.

    Yesterday we had that curious phenomena where the sky was a clear, bright blue but there was so much humidity that there was an odd, glistening haze at the ground level all afternoon, like San Francisco fog just on the verge of disappearing. Accompanied of course by sickening dew points. It was like we were in some kind of a simulation of a maritime climate, but on a vastly hotter planet LOL.

  • dbarron
    6 years ago

    Just remember, there is no such thing as global warming or climate change. It's a great comfort when I experience 80-100% humidity.

  • bengz6westmd
    6 years ago

    Summer of 2003 was so wet (at least in west MD) that the landscape was starting to look "washed out" with a fading of healthy green by August/Sept. The majority of leaves were affected by fungus/mold/mildew/bacteria.

  • davidrt28 (zone 7)
    6 years ago

    Yep, that was the other really wet year I remember.

  • sam_md
    3 years ago


    It's great to see so much interest in the Franklin Tree. Above are today's flowers from my tree which I grew from seed. Do you have likewise? If so let's see them.

    Do you think it is interesting that the last, relic population of this tree was seen in eastern Georgia in 1803? Yet it is perfectly winter hardy to USDA zone 6. Could it be cold hardiness in its genetic memory? Is it possible that in pre-Columbian America this tree had a much more extensive range? I think that's likely and the species was on the verge of natural extinction when discovered by John Bartram before the Revolution.