Chitalpa tashkentensis

Chitalpa tashkentensis is a plant with a passport, an intergeneric hybrid that pairs the American desert willow, Chilopsis linearis, with a catalpa, and carries the frilled trumpet flowers of one parent on the willowy, drought-hardy frame of the other. The name itself is a splice, Chilopsis joined to Catalpa, while tashkentensis records the birthplace, the botanical garden at Tashkent, in Uzbekistan, where the cross was raised in the 1960s. From that single Central Asian introduction descend the chitalpas grown across America today.

Through late spring and summer the plant carries upright clusters of ruffled, trumpet-shaped flowers in soft pink and lavender, larger and showier than the desert willow's and borne over a long, reblooming season. Being a sterile hybrid, chitalpa sets little or no seed, so the messy bean-like pods of a true catalpa never appear, leaving a cleaner, tidier tree. Hummingbirds and bees work the flowers through the warm months.

The desert willow parent gives chitalpa real toughness, a fast-growing, drought-tolerant constitution that thrives in full sun and sharp drainage once established. The willow-like leaves, long and narrow, fall somewhere between the two parents, and the tree suits hot, dry, water-wise gardens as well as an ordinary sunny border. In the arid Southwest, growers should know that chitalpa can be affected by a bacterial scorch disease, so healthy, well-sited plants and good culture matter most there.

Use Chitalpa tashkentensis as a flowering specimen or small patio tree in a sunny, well-drained spot, where the long season of pink trumpets and their pollinators can be enjoyed. Fast to establish, undemanding, and free of catalpa's litter, the plant brings a soft, tropical-looking bloom to lean, dry ground that would defeat showier trees. For a water-wise garden that still wants flowers, chitalpa is an inspired, well-traveled choice.