Today's featured plant is Franklinia Altamaha, commonly called Franklin tree. Named for Benjamin Franklin and the Altamaha River.
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Just as interesting as the tree’s physical appearance is its history. The Franklin Tree was first catalogued by the botanist John Bartram and his son William in 1765 along the banks of the Altamaha river in southeast Georgia, in a tiny area comprising just 2-3 acres. William collected seed from the site in 1773 and brought it back to the Bartram's garden in Philadelphia where they successfully grew the first cultivated Franklin Tree. It’s a lucky thing he did, too. Unfortunately, this tree is now extinct in the wild, and has been since 1803 - just 38 years after it was catalogued! It has been perpetuated in cultivation and all plants derive from the seed collected by the Bartrams. Imagine that! It is not known why this tree disappeared in the wild. The land along the Altamaha river was used for cotton production, and the main theory exists that a cotton pathogen was carried down the river and killed off the colony. Other theories exist, including climate control, destruction by man, and the single colony of plants not being genetically diverse enough. We’ll never know for sure, but for my money, it was probably a combination of all of those factors.
Now that you know its amazing story, perhaps you’re even more interested in growing your own descendant of the Bartram’s seed? Here’s what you can expect from your Franklin Tree. As with most smaller trees, you can opt to grow Franklinia as a single trunk tree or as a multi-stemmed shrub. Either way, it will have a handsome rounded crown, and is not a tree that should be over-trimmed. If you’re growing it as a single stem tree, you can expect it to grow at most 20 feet; 10-15 feet is more common. Its cup shaped, 5 petaled, sweetly fragrant white flowers bloom in late summer to early fall (Aug/Sept). These flowers can grow up to 3” and largely resemble Camellias. This tree is quite stunning when in flower, and it only gets better in the autumn. Its narrow, oblong – obovate, glossy dark green leaves turn shades of orange, red and burgundy once the temperature drops. The Franklin Tree is a looker regardless of season, so make sure you plant it where it will get noticed.
While you will never be able to enjoy this tree in the wilderness, the good news is they are available at many nurseries (some may have to order them for you) and are certainly worth cultivating.
Before you buy, take note: this tree has a reputation of being hard to grow. It’s a member of the tea family, and so thrives best in well drained soils in full sun to part shade. It will thrive in organically rich soil, and you absolutely must have good drainage. If the soil moisture content is anything except medium moisture, you’re going to have your work cut out for you!
If you have poorly drained or heavy clay soils, do not discount this tree as a possibility. You will just need to make some modifications. I would suggest a raised bed where you can easily adapt the drainage. If you’re farther north like me, you will need to make sure this tree is in full sun - remember, this used to call hot and humid Southeastern Georgia its home! Also keep in mind that wherever you plant this tree is where it should stay. They are notoriously hard to transplant because of their sparsely fibrous root system. If you are planning on transplanting, then it would be ideal to begin with a container grown plant, as there would be little to no transplant shock from root loss.