Worst Tree I Ever Planted
That tree I saw at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia shore was pretty — spectacular sprays of yellow blooms and pretty bright pink seed pods. Koelruteria bipinnata, the sign below it said. Chinese flame tree. So I planted one in my front yard. Baby, I got burned.
A relative of the more widely planted goldenrain tree (Koelruteria paniculata), Chinese flame tree (aka bougainvillea goldenrain tree — say that 10 times fast) has a lot going for it. It grows fast; produces filtered shade you can grow grass under; tolerates drought, poor soil, and pollution; suffers no serious pests; and becomes a nice, rounded, medium-size tree, 20-40 feet tall. It’s also one of the few trees that blooms in summer (mine’s blooming now) and produces attractive, pink seed capsules that resemble the blooms of bougainvillea. So what’s not to like?
Well, those seed capsules contain seeds. During fall and winter, the papery capsules blow everywhere, bringing the seeds in contact with soil. Every time this happens, every single seed germinates. Let all of them grow and in a couple of years, your entire yard literally becomes a forest of Chinese flame trees.
I find seedlings on every side of my house – in the lawn, garden beds, and edges of the woods. None are anywhere near the original tree.
So why don’t I just cut mine down and be done with it? Because it wouldn’t make any difference. See, one of those seedlings sprouted on the corner of my next-door neighbor’s house. It’s now about 20 feet tall. She loves it. So even if I cut my tree down, there’d be as many seedlings as before.
I feel like a eco-terrorist, like the first remorseless clown who sicced Japanese honeysuckle, privet, water hyacinths, dandelions, and crabgrass on America. Long after I am gone, people in Alabama will point to the 12 Chinese flame trees that just sprouted in their petunias and curse my name.”It was Bender!”
DON’T PLANT CHINESE FLAME TREE, NO MATTER HOW PRETTY IT LOOKS! Remember that beautiful female terminator in“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”? She turned guys on, then literally ripped out their hearts. Learn from this!!!!!
VA-VA-VA-VOOM!
VA-VA-KA-BOOM!
OK, I’ve done my civic duty and warned you about the dangers of this barbaric tree. What other plants should I warn the faithful citizens of Grumpiana not to plant?
Mimosa, Chinese Tallow are my avowed enemy. Moved away from one, cut the other down but still dealing with the progeny (and expect to in perpetuity)of the other.
That’s what you get by being drawn in by a pretty face…and all her dangely things.
H.
Mimosa, obviously.
The Bunya-Bunya (araucaria bidwillii). It is not only ickery-stickery but it drops 12# (and heavier) bombs from its highest elevations. And THEY sprout all over too.
Plum trees. Arghhhhhh!!!!
As a past nurseryman, it always baffled me when customers wanted trees with, “no mess.” No leaves to rake, not seed to fall, no fruit to dispose of. I always suggested they get plastic ones. Every tree has something…elm and maple have seeds that sprout and roots atop the ground, etc. Ya gotta take the good with the bad in nature, or suck up and buy a plastic palm tree. I can recommend a good company. Happy gardening and keep up the grumpiness.
Well at least your neighbor loves you for now! Got a chainsaw?
Loved the Terminator comparison! Is there any way to prune the seed pods before they burst?
Scott, as soon as you see the yellow flowers fall, prune off the bloom stalks. If you let the seed pods form, I guarantee you a swarm of little trees the next year.
Thanks for the heads up on this tree. All trees are messy, but so many are worth the clean up work, like Magnolias…but I curse my neighbor and her proliferating Redbuds…now I might feel differently if they were Forest Pansy Redbuds..
I second the Chinese tallow tree! I was suckered in by the lovely “popcorn” wreaths that vendors sell at the market in Charleston. Oh…I enjoyed that “popcorn” for the first year or two but then seedlings starting showing up everywhere. The original tree’s been gone for years but not the progeny keep showing up!
Morning Glory. It self seeds and sends stealth vines…everywhere. I’ve literally gone up to people at nurseries and warned them off.
Mimosa….I have about 10 bizillion sprouts in my yard; they basically make up my lawn. You can pull them by the hour but there will be a new bizillion by tomorrow. And there isn’t a mimosa tree in sight. I secretly want them to sprout up in my neighbors yard though.
Two big gripes: Nandina and Mexican Petunia.
Nandina is not only spread by birds eating the seeds but also stealthily underground with great long roots.]
The petunia is invasive beyond belief and opportunistic, it turns up everywhere.
I am having one planted in my front yard very soon! The city will do it and I can’t wait. There are several on our street and they are beautiful trees! I’m only bummed that it will take years for it to grow into a beautiful shade tree.
It won’t take long, believe me. I’m glad you love trees, because after you plant this one, you will have hundreds.
There is a flame tree or golden raintree in our neighborhood and it is magnificent! It is just a wonderful looking tree. So, if this is a bad selection, what do you suggest?
Where do you live?
We live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Well, all I can tell you is that it produces about a million seedlings every year. So if you love the tree, you’ll just have to contend with pulling seedlings.
I dug up a sapling 3 years ago from a local park and planted it in our backyard…it’s now 9′ tall and produced pods this last fall. I personally LOVE this tree and don’t mind pulling up seedligs because I don’t want a forrest but this one tree is stunning and the filtered light is wonderful!
I wonder how your neighbors feel about hundreds of seedlings coming up in their yards.
I live in a manufactured home park and I think these would do better than the trash trees we have now. I have typically in my yard a couple hours everyday and on my days off, all day. Are these trees seriously as bad as people are describing? or are these people who are weekend gardeners?
Tristan,
I would never plant this tree again, no matter where. A billion seedlings will come up and it will take over.
We recently moved into a home, and I just found out what type of tree it is. Glad I’m not the only one with a yard full of saplings. Unfortunately, our purchase was going through when this tree was loosing its pods. I took possession of a house and about 300 lbs of yard waste. I am STILL raking up leaves, as I try navigate around these…well, weeds.
I love the shade, and she’s terribly pretty, but these saplings require constant vigilance before they get too deep and woody to pull (which doesn’t take very long).
Wow, Unbelieveable that you would think there is no care after planting a tree – bush or any plant…or flower. Tell me what plant does not require some attention? I think the Grumpy people should go all plastic! There is a location in Calif where they lined both sides of the street and the center. It is beautiful and many many people come from all over just to see these beautiful trees. They must have over 100 trees. It’s a beautiful tree!
Gigi,
There’s a big difference between the maintenance required for a well-behaved, normal tree and one that is very invasive and spreads its seedlings by the thousands all over the neighborhood. And I’m not even sure we’re talking about the same species. Goldenrain tree (Koelruteria paniculata), a similar looking cousin, is much more commonly planted than the tree in my post and is not terribly weedy.
The pods bring happiness. We love the pods. Someday you will love the pods. You’ll be one of us.
[...] What kind of tree is it? Looks to be a Chinese Flame Tree, which can be colorful but have also been the subject of blog posts titled “Worst Tree I Have Ever Planted.” [...]
Tree Geek,
I fear the pod people.