Purple Robe Locust
The beautiful flowers of the Purple Robe Locust will stop you in your tracks
When I first saw Purple Robe Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Purple Robe’) in flower, I knew I had to have it.
Have you seen the flowers of Purple Robe Locust?
At the 2006 Garden Symposium in Kansas City, Tres Fromme of Longwood Gardens and Carol Reese, a garden columnist and tv host, offered differing opinions on landscape design. Fromme begins the process outside from a logical perspective. Reese considers the view from inside sitting at the kitchen table or looking out a window.
I wish that designing my gardens began with a process that didn't involve emotion. That it started with a plan for moving people from one part of the garden to another like Fromme does. Or, like Reese, the design begins with contemplative thought. Unfortunately, for me it often begins with falling in love with a plant at the nursery.
Purple Robe Locust is one of those purchases. When I first started working at Kokopelli Nursery, the Purple Robes were stored at the back of the nursery. I really didn't pay attention to them because I thought they were just another locust. Then, I saw the flowers! I decided I needed to know more about this tree. Turns out, it isn't a locust. Purple Robe is actually a Robinia and is a member of the legume family. Many foresters have told me that Purple Robe is a trash tree and I will have problems with storm damage. And then they carry on about the suckers and spurs. And, if all that isn't enough, they mention that stress will bring on the borers. But, I always respond, have you seen the flowers!
Flowering late spring and continuing into the summer, Purple Robe Locust's long drooping fragrant flowers look like a wisteria's flowers. The colors range from pink, rose to purple. The timing of the flowers works well for me because the mad rush of spring at the nursery is slowing down and I actually have time to go in the backyard and sit on a garden bench. It is a fast growing, moderate sized tree. The pinnately compound foliage produces dappled shade. It is cold hardy through much of North America, zones 3-8.
If I were Tres Fromme, I would have planned in advance and situated the tree out of the way of pathways and used it to shade a patio on the southwest corner of the house. This would be a place where guests could relax with the gentle fragrance drifting by. If I were Carol Reese, I would have planned the accent colors of the guest bedroom to work with the flowers of the tree in view from the bedroom window. As it turned out, I was very lucky. I fell in love with the flowers and my Purple Robe Locust ended up in just the right spot.
Maybe in the long run my friendly foresters will be right. And, I'll be thankful that I know plenty of guys that cut down trees and grind out stumps for a living. Until then, I plan to treasure every flower.
Click here to see the flowers and find out for yourself if this tree is right for your landscape.
© Susan Mertz, April 2006. All rights reserved.
Click on Plants and Bulbs for more articles by Susan Mertz.
