Hello and Happy Weekend! I thought it was about time to restart the weekly puzzler, so here’s the first one.
Around this time of the year it’s hard to miss the prolific purple blooms of this next puzzler. In western NC where I live these trees seem to be everywhere, especially along small and large roads. Their tall trunks reach into the sky, filled with a canopy of light purple flowers. They seem to be everywhere! Know what they are? Here are some photos:
If you think you can identify them, give your guess in the reply box below the puzzler. I’d love to hear from you! Thanks for reading! I’ll see you again soon.
Paulownia. Princess tree
Hey Colleen! You are so smart. Thanks for reading.
Looks like the tree used by the Japanese for funeral ashes. It’s a sacred tree for them and has to be harvested and then cut and carved just so.
All true. Have you ever turned the wood?
This wicked Princess tree, an exotic invasive from China, is a true enemy, like the Bradford Pear, and needs to be eradicated … but people love to see the foxglove-like purple blooms early in the spring and keep it hanging around! It spreads like wildfire .. if you have one on your property, cut it down!
Renate
Renate, you got it! It is wicked, for sure. If only everyone knew this. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
my first guess, before I looked at your pictures, was red bud! but the flowers are too large.. so I am stumped
Hey Nanci, thanks for reading and guessing. I hope spring has finally arrived up there in the north woods. The reason you are probably stumped is because this tree — which is invasive here in WNC and in the United States in general, doesn’t grow where you live so you’ve probably never seen it blooming, unless you were here visiting Sara in the early spring.