Tulip Tree
Liriodendron tulipifera
Tulip Tree blooms from May through June.
This entry comes from our curated library and has not yet been independently checked against outside sources. Curated is not unreliable: a standing audit keeps every entry internally consistent, and the source-by-source check is working through the whole library in the open.
Growing Tulip Tree
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 4–9. Expect it to reach about 66 ft tall and 39 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 25 years.
When to plant Tulip Tree
Plant Tulip Tree in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. For the middle of its hardy zones 4 to 9 range, spring means March to May and fall means August or September. Once settled, it blooms from May to June.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar: for the middle of its range, start with zone 6 in March.
Good to know about Tulip Tree
Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note.
Worth knowing
A magnet for bees, hummingbirds and butterflies, and a prized honey tree: a single young tree can pour out about 3.6 kg of nectar in a season. per NC State and Frontiers
How brittle is the wood?
Fast growth makes soft wood that sheds twigs and small limbs, especially when young, but well-built mature trunks proved wind-firm in Hurricane Hugo. Prune young for structure. per NC State and Florida
Flowers hide up high
The tulip-shaped flowers open high in the canopy and are easy to miss from the ground; a seed-grown tree may not bloom for 15 to 20 years. per NC State
Golden-yellow fall color
In autumn the whole tall canopy turns a clear, showy golden to bright yellow before the leaves drop. per NC State
It drips sticky honeydew
Aphids and scale high in the canopy rain honeydew that grows black sooty mold on cars, decks and plants below. Site it away from patios. per Penn State
Watch for verticillium wilt
Most diseases here are cosmetic (powdery mildew, leaf spots), but the one that can seriously harm the tree is verticillium wilt, which attacks its water-carrying vessels. per Penn State
What pairs well with Tulip Tree
Good companions share its growing conditions and add something it lacks: an earlier or later bloom, a lower carpet in front, or structure through winter.
Joe Pye Weed
Shares full sun and moderate to high water; blooms in midsummer as this one finishes; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Perennial Sunflower
Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in late summer, extending the bed's season; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Ironweed
Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in late summer, extending the bed's season; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Passionflower
Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in midsummer as this one finishes; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months.
Rose of Sharon
Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in midsummer as this one finishes; both offer pollinator forage, in different months; low at 8.2 ft, to carpet the ground beneath it.
Eastern Redbud
Takes full sun to part sun and moderate water; blooms in mid spring, before this one opens; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months; both are native plants.
Flowering Cherry
Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in mid spring, before this one opens; both offer pollinator forage, in different months.
Trumpet Vine
Shares full sun and moderate water; overlaps, then carries the display into early fall; both are strong pollinator plants; both are native plants.
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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.