Audubon® Native Yellowwood
Bower & Branch Trees and Plants
Cladrastis lutea
Regular priceThis plant is not available at this time through Bower & Branch. We provide this plant profile for reference only.
See below for alternative selections for purchase and inspiration!
FEATURES:
- May Benefit & Attract: Bees & Hummingbirds
- The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow.
- This bird-friendly native trees provides food and shelter for local and migrating birds and other wildlife
- All Audubon® branded trees are grown 100% Neonic-free by Bower & Branch, making these plants safer for the birds and safer for the environment.
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Growth Facts
- Hardiness Zone: 4-8
- Mature Height: 30-50' tall
- Mature Width: 40-50' wide
- Exposure: Full Sun
- Spacing: 40-50' apart
Why plant Audubon® Native Yellowwood?
The All-American Yellowwood is an underused medium to large shade tree that will bring an easy elegance to your landscape whether your garden style is grand and formal or more intimate and naturalistic. Its arching canopy and bright green leaves will create a shady spot below for playing, dining, or just unwinding in summer, and in fall, its foliage will light up your yard with a golden glow. In spring, you may be treated to a show of long chains of fragrant white flowers adorning this stellar specimen tree’s branches. Yellowwood doesn’t bloom every year, but when it does, it’s spectacular. Some think the blossoms smell like Pez candy!
Yellowwood’s botanical name, Cladrastis, means “fragile branch,” indicating that this is perhaps not the best tree for the kids’ tire swing. Its wood is hard, though, and was probably used for gun stock in more than a few Civil War rifles. Its species name, kentukea, is a nod to one of the states to which it is native. In all of those states, however, yellowwood is listed as threatened, endangered, or in some degree of scarcity in the wild. Planting one in your own yard will help ensure that this beautiful species lives on.
How to use Audubon® Native Yellowwood in the landscape?
Good ol' American Yellowwood. Why's it called Yellowwood you ask? Because the wood of the tree contains yellow dye which colors the heartwood of the tree. All the crazy stuff we learn just by reading a tag! Anyway, this is one cool tree. The leaves when they first appear are yellowish-green but later turn to bright green in summer and then turn to yellow during fall. And the blooms on this tree are awesome (although Yellowwood only tends to bloom every few years)! Intensely fragrant, white flower clusters covers mature trees in late spring. The flower clusters will remind you of Wisteria blooms. After flowers fade, flat brown seed pods appear and mature in fall. American Yellowwood is one excellent, low maintenance tree that is well suited as a shade tree in your garden!
Planting Zones
Hardiness Zone: 4-8
How To Plant Audubon® Native Yellowwood
Although native to hot and humid Southeastern and Lower Midwestern states, Yellowwood is surprisingly cold-hardy, and can be grown as far north as Maine. It prefers to have sun for most of the day, but is quite accepting of light shade as well. It is not fussy about soil pH either, so whether you have an acid or an alkaline soil—or even if you don’t know which you have—it really doesn’t matter! Its smooth, slate-gray bark is thin, and should be shielded from string trimmers and overzealous kitties.
How To Water
Be sure to give your Yellowwood regular water while it becomes established; afterwards, it will tolerate dry spells on its own.
How To Fertilize
Incorporate Elements Starter Plant food granular form into the soil when planting. If planting in spring or summer, start fertilizing late fall using Elements Starter Plant food granular form on an annual basis each late fall. Continue this for the first three years to get your plant well established.
How To Prune
One other thing you should know about Yellowwood is that it's a 'bleeder'. Like Birch and Maple, it will ooze sap if you prune it in the winter or spring, so wait until summer to make any cuts. Bleeding doesn't actually harm the tree, but it can look alarming!
How Does Shipping Work?
Bower & Branch Trees, the real BIG trees, don’t fit in a box! Our big trees, sizes XL and bigger, require expert delivery and care, that means our extra-large trees are shipped on Bower & Branch trucks. We are the only ones who know how to ship our big and bigger trees and plants with tender loving care. We deliver your trees and plants directly to you. Ask Bower & Branch about planting services – we'd be happy to assist in installation.
*For Big trees and Shrubs, Size XL and bigger: Review our Seasonal Shipping Timelines and Policy here.
Your trees and plants are grown across the United States at various Bower & Branch Growers. Depending on your location, your plant orders may be shipped from various locations. Please expect orders with multiple items to be delivered over a number of days as a result. Orders made up of numerous items or selections will not arrive at your home on the same day.
Shipping Delays:
From time to time, Bower & Branch Growers may determine to delay order shipment based on various factors for plant health. Weather in your region, as well as, where your plants are grown, is always considered when shipping. Extreme weather conditions may delay some or all of your order. Bower & Branch allows our Growers to make final shipping decisions based solely to benefit your trees and plants’ health and success.
How Does Sizing Work?
The size of our trees have nothing to do with the container size like you may find elsewhere–big doesn't mean just height - it’s also vigor, age, and overall health. Other online retailers are going to tell you that a plant is a seven gallon, that means nothing to your tree or plant (or you.)
Our trees for sale online are graded on large, x-large, and even bigger sizes. This is because our trees are sized by their age—the higher the letter, the more mature the tree. The age determines the trees’ overall height, size of the trunk and the overall branch density.
All of these characteristics are what you should be looking for when choosing a tree for immediate impact and instant curb appeal. Our extra-large tree and plant sizes are sure to wow you and your neighbors!
See the size guides below.
Our Guarantees
3-YEAR-TREE GUARANTEE:
Bower & Branch offers a Three-Year Tree Guarantee on all of our trees, sizes X-Large and up. Only the finest and the most experienced growers are awarded the opportunity to grow for Bower & Branch, so we offer the best guarantee available.
If your tree(s) should fail for any reason during the three-year guarantee period, you will receive an online gift card in the amount that you originally spent on the tree.* You can then use this online gift card for any Bower & Branch Purchase.
* Bower & Branch provides online gift cards in the amount of the original purchase price of the tree(s). The amount does not include any additional costs such as delivery, planting, tax, or any other products or services. Online gift cards can be applied towards any Bower & Branch purchase on BowerandBranch.com and have no expiration dates. Bower & Branch does not guarantee tree replacement or availability of any desired product at any time. Cash refunds are not offered. Bower & Branch requires that all original tags and receipts are present when a guarantee request is initiated. The Bower & Branch Three-Year Guarantee only applies to plant material that has been planted in the ground. Container plantings are NOT covered.
At Bower & Branch, we do our best to honor all guarantee fulfillment requests to ensure customer satisfaction. However, we reserve the right to refuse the request if the required guarantee steps were not satisfied. Bower & Branch also reserves the right to deny any guarantee fulfillment request that is made as a result of animal damage, problems with plant hardiness and zone issues, or acts of nature (snow storms, hurricanes, and similar).
Reach out to a Plant Whisperer with any questions:
- Email: plantwhisperers@bowerandbranch.com
- Phone: 866-873-3888
- Or via Online Chat