On my trip down to Cork last week I stumbled across this great tree while at Fota House and Garden.
Catalpa ovata or Chinese catalpa as the name would suggest is native to Asia but grows extremely well in most of Europe too. Here in Cork the tree has just come in to flower and was putting on a spectacular display when I was there.
When I first saw the tree, from a distance I thought it was a chestnut tree, but when I got closer it became clear I was wrong! It has many more flowers and of course it is flowering much later than a chestnut tree. The leaves too are very different, perfectly smooth and entire, compared to the rough and segment leaves of the chestnut.
It was a lovely tree to stumble across on my journey around the grounds and definitely left an impression on me!
My Name is David Corscadden and I have just finished my degree in horticulture from UCD. I have a keen interest in wildlife friendly gardens or as I like to call them “Wild Gardens”. I have in the last year taken a u-turn in what I thought I would do after college. I have moved more in to the literature side of horticulture and plan to do a masters in journalism next year.
Source: Beyond The Wild Garden – A Tree from the Orient in Cork – David Corscadden
