The Franklin Tree, a Philadelphia Icon
In the Garden with Andrew
Franklinia up close. Photo: Andrew Bunting
No tree is more emblematic of Philadelphia than the iconic Franklin tree, Franklinia alatamaha. In 1770, the Philadelphia botanist and explorer John Bartram discovered this small, flowering, multi-stemmed relative of the Stewartia, Gordonia, and Camellia growing along the banks of the Altamaha River in Georgia. Bartram collected a specimen, and then cultivated Franklinia on his property along the Schuylkill River (now Bartram’s Garden). From there, it was eventually widely distributed to botanical gardens and arboreta.
Franklinia alatamaha is a coveted tree today partly because of this history, partly because it has long been extinct in the wild (probably since 1790), and partly because it presents an interesting challenge to gardeners: it can be fickle and hard to grow.
Franklinia alatamaha at the Scott Arboretum. Photo: Andrew Bunting
Franklinia does best in full sun to part shade. Its “fickleness” is most likely due to its incompatibility with local soil types. Several specimens at Swarthmore College’s Scott Arboretum are about 30 years old and seem to have great vigor. They are planted on a slight slope, which probably has good drainage. However, another specimen, at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Meadowbrook Farm in Jenkintown, is more than 50 years old and yet is growing vigorously on flat ground in a bed of pachysandra. Many gardeners lament that they have tried to grow Franklinia several times over the years and seen it seemingly thrive, only to, all of a sudden, go into decline and die.
Nevertheless I find that cultivating and growing Franklinia is worth the extra horticultural effort. The vibrant fall color is reason enough: its narrow strap-like leaves turn a range of colors from orange to fire-engine red. Additionally, in late summer, it is covered in round, silky, plump buds that reveal fragrant white, camellia-like flowers that are three inches across and have a boss of golden-orange stamens. It is often grown as a multi-stemmed tree, and the bark has striations of white and grey that give it some winter interest as well.
I am always in search of interesting specimen trees. Many can be found on what were once old estates, church grounds, college campuses, and similar places. As part of my job at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Meadowbrook Farm is under my purview. So about once a week, I leave our headquarters at 20th and Arch streets and head up there via various routes leading to North Broad Street, which becomes Old York Road. On one of these trips, I was scanning the horizon and spotted a tree about a hundred feet away that looked, at a glance, to be a significant specimen of Franklinia alatamaha. After much investigation, my first impression proved true: there is an exquisite specimen of Franklinia at the northern edge of Philadelphia, growing behind the high walls of the Carmelite Monastery at 1400 66th Avenue, which was founded in 1902. Although I haven’t fully evaluated it (because it is surrounded by the interior walls of the monastery), I suspect that the protection provided by the monastery walls, perhaps coupled with excellent drainage, have helped such a fine specimen to thrive.
Franklinia has recently been the subject of some breeding work by Dr. Tom Ranney, a professor of horticultural science at North Carolina State University—and a famed plant breeder. He has hybridized Franklinia with two sister genera, Gordonia and Schima, resulting in two semi-evergreen, bigeneric evergreen trees, xGordlinia and xSchimlinia. There is a nice young specimen of xGordlinia grandiflora ‘Sweet Tea’ at the Scott Arboretum.
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Andrew Bunting is vice president of public horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and vice president of the Swarthmore Horticultural Society.
