Gardening, like fashion, art, architecture, or indeed any creative field, goes through constantly changing styles, fads, and standards. As such, many plants have fallen out of favor over the years... but for the sake of bio-diversity--and landscape interest--these specimens deserve to be resurrected. I intend to highlight some of these forgotten treasures in a feature I'm calling From the Diary of the Horticultural Advocate. This feature will appear in the blog throughout the year. Today’s featured plant is:
Davidia involucrata
Commonly called the Dove Tree or the Handkerchief Tree, the Davidia is a deciduous tree native to central China, and as such it will thrive in most gardens, parks, and other botanical spaces in zones 6-8. That roughly covers the Southern Midwest region through the Gulf Coast. If you’re in the northern part of zone 6, you will want to consider planting it in a protected spot where the brisk winds of winter won’t harm it. (Not sure which zone you’re in? Check here.)
Tall and Broad
You should expect your Dove Tree to reach 20 – 40 feet tall, and from its beginning it will develop a broad, pyramidal habit (a fancy way of saying triangular in shape). While it spends most of its year as an unpretentious green-leaved specimen, don’t let this woody perennial fool you: It delivers quite a performance during blooming. Red-centered flowers in rounded clusters bloom from April – May.
“It delivers quite a performance during blooming.”
Show Stoppers
The real show stoppers are the large, ovular – rounded, snow-white involucre bracts (leaves, if you’re not feeling fancy), which subtend each flower cluster. Each flower usually has two bracts, though sometimes only a single bract develops. Not identical to each other, one bract in a pair usually measures 3-4” while the other is usually 6-7” long. The bracts flutter in the slightest breeze, and from a distance, purportedly look like white doves sitting in a tree... or handkerchiefs waving!
Fancy flowers not enough to sway you? Consider this: Davidia has no disease or pest issues. In terms of watering, weekly water will suffice... except during the hottest months, when at least twice a week will be necessary.
Most nurseries don’t carry this as a sapling, as it’s not the most popular guy in town, but any nursery worth its salt will be able to order it for you. Once this beauty is in your possession, help it to thrive by planting in organically rich, consistently moist, well drained soil. It requires full sun to part shade, so consider somewhere that gets good afternoon sun.
If you’re feeling very ambitious, you can grow it from seed, but patience really must be your virtue as it will normally take 10 years to flower after planting! Also keep in mind that it may not regularly flower each year after its first flowering, so don’t set your watch by it.
The Takeaway
Want a dramatic, flowering tree that positively dances? With the creamy dream hue of a magnolia and less than half the mess? Look no further than the Dove Tree, Davidia involucrata. I guarantee that you’ll be the only one on your block with one, and it’s a real conversation starter.
