# Tulip Poplar



## Rick (May 25, 2013)

Often these flowers are way up in the crown of the tree. This year there's some blooms at arms reach. I planted this tree as a 6" seedling sometime around 2000. Not an orchid but a big showy flower.


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## abax (May 26, 2013)

I love my tulip poplars even though they shade my greenhouse. Did you
know that the flowers are the first flowers that feed hummingbirds during
migration in this part of the U.S.? Of course, you did!


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## jjkOC (May 26, 2013)

Wow this is such a pretty flower and a mighty tall tree!


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## Ozpaph (May 26, 2013)

very interesting


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## Rick (May 26, 2013)

abax said:


> Did you
> know that the flowers are the first flowers that feed hummingbirds during
> migration in this part of the U.S.? Of course, you did!



I did not actually I'll have to check how much nectar they produce.


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## Rick (May 26, 2013)

jjkOC said:


> Wow this is such a pretty flower and a mighty tall tree!



This one is still a baby although its now taller than my second story.

There is a forest on the border of TN and NC called Joyce Kilmer with the biggest Poplars in the world. I would guess the trunks are over 10 ft diameter.
The branches have gardens of mosses and ferns growing on them. I bet Tom in Japan would have some good info on these trees.


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## Erythrone (May 26, 2013)

Happy man who can grow a Liriodendron! The weather is somewhat too cold for them here (although global warming could be "helpful" soon)


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## SlipperKing (May 26, 2013)

Nice flower Rick


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## Rick (May 26, 2013)

Erythrone said:


> Happy man who can can grow a Liriodendron!



Afraid I just stuck it in the ground. Mother nature took care of the rest.

But I am happy with this tree in the yard.


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 26, 2013)

If this tree grew like a dogwood it would be very popular in gardens around the world. I remember as a kid finding their flowers on the forest floor and marveling at their beauty. The good news is they make a nice canopy tree!


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## chris20 (May 26, 2013)

Actually Tulip Poplar is my favorite tree. There are some very large specimens in a park near where I live.


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## Stone (May 26, 2013)

Very nice. How big is your yard? if you have space, you should plant a Magnolia grandiflora too.


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## Rick (May 26, 2013)

Stone said:


> Very nice. How big is your yard? if you have space, you should plant a Magnolia grandiflora too.



Just shy of an acre. But there are some magnificent old magnolias in Nashville.

If you want to see some awesome magnolias, the best I've seen are in the old parks in the center of Savannah Georgia.


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## chris20 (May 27, 2013)

Not sure I'd want a Magnolia in my yard, as they constantly shed leaves which are large, thick, and waxy and don't readily decay. They are beautiful trees, though, and one in bloom is a sight to behold.


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## Ray (May 27, 2013)

I had to take down a 100-foot tall tulip poplar that had been killed by a lightning strike. I'm kind of glad it's gone, as it was the dirtiest thing ever, Bove the greenhouse.


Ray Barkalow
Sent using Tapatalk


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## PaphMadMan (May 27, 2013)

abax said:


> Did you know that the flowers are the first flowers that feed hummingbirds during migration in this part of the U.S.? Of course, you did!



An important plant for honey production also. Neither a tulip nor a poplar, of course, but a Magnolia cousin.


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## Rick (May 27, 2013)

PaphMadMan said:


> An important plant for honey production also.



That's cool because we have a hive in our backyard too.:clap:


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## SlipperFan (May 27, 2013)

Wonderful tree -- lucky Southerners!


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## Eric Muehlbauer (May 27, 2013)

I always loved the huge tall tulip poplars in Prospect Park when I was growing up. Too tall to have in a city backyard, though. I have a huge M. grandiflora next to my house. Bought it about 18 years ago...an 18" stick. Now its taller than my house. Gorgeous blooms, but those thick leaves are a pain, as they constantly drop. I also have a big leaf magnolia just opening its blooms...maybe I'll take a picture of it tomorrow. It was just a scrawny thing, until the tornado/microburst of 2010. Destroyed it...and it grew back magnificently with all the sudden sunshine in the yard.


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## Leo Schordje (Jun 1, 2013)

On my sister's property, she had a logger take out a tulip poplar. The logger only paid her for bolts over 24 inches in diameter. She got paid for 125 feet of saleable size lumber. This means the tree was still 24 inches in diameter at the height of 125 feet. The trunk was about 4 feet in diameter. MONSTER tree, and an old tree. 

I love this species. One of the tallest trees native to the eastern half of the USA. I think the world record is something around 150 - 175 feet tall.


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## Leo Schordje (Jun 1, 2013)

Don't worry, my sister kept as many big old trees as she could. This tree had blown half over in a bad storm. It was cut it or have it possibly kill someone walking by.


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## rdlsreno (Jun 1, 2013)

Purdy!

Ramon


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## abax (Jun 2, 2013)

I consider the River Birch the dirtiest tree possibly in the world. I have a grove of birch around an upper deck and swimming pool and they begin
spring by dropping tons of pollen, then millions of seeds and then leaves
all summer. I love those birches, but they are an aggravation...far more
than the tulip poplars.


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## SlipperFan (Jun 2, 2013)

Dirtier than Weeping Willows?


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## Stone (Jun 2, 2013)

abax said:


> > I consider the River Birch the dirtiest tree possibly in the world.
> 
> 
> You obviously have not lived around a shaggy barked Eucalyptus! Dead leaves, twigs and branches falling all year, and at certain times, meters and meters of bark strips and woody seed pods everywhere!


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## chris20 (Jun 2, 2013)

Sycamores are pretty bad, too. In addition to the constantly dropped leaves, the bark peels off in sheets and they produce and shed hard, round balls in late summer. They are beautiful trees and grow very large in this part of the country, especially along a stream or small river. I love seeing them in the woods but would think twice about planting one in my yard.


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## biothanasis (Jun 3, 2013)

oh, very nice!!


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## abax (Jun 4, 2013)

Nope, never even seen a Eucalypus of any kind that I know of. It doesn't sound like a tree I'd like to have around my pool though. The tree sounds
interesting.


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## Rick (Jun 4, 2013)

abax said:


> Nope, never even seen a Eucalypus of any kind that I know of. It doesn't sound like a tree I'd like to have around my pool though. The tree sounds
> interesting.



They are everywhere in Southern Ca. They were planted intentionally because they hold up so well in dry conditions (a lot like the cottonwoods in the Southwest). They were some of the biggest trees around in Los Angeles, and growing up I thought they were natives.

If you are in So Cal and see something that looks bark wise like a sycamore, its most likely a eucalyptus of some kind.


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## Stone (Jun 4, 2013)

When I was in California years ago I was amazed at how many Eucalypts were there. But even more amazing was what they looked like. So healthy! every leaf clean and perfect unlike ours which are constantly attacked by all kinds of native insects which chew, skeletonize the leaves and bore holes in the trunk.
On the other hand the Californian natives Cupresseus macrocarpa (Monterey Cypress) and Pinus radiata (Monterey pine) grow like monsters here and especially in NZ.


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