Reviewed by Marilyn on 8/19/2008:

I ordered my Royal Empress Tree this spring and when the box arrived I was shocked to see a 8 inch stick with a little root.  I live in zone 5 so I thought I was doomed with this lifeless looking tree.

My husband laughed hysterically.  He said you got ripped off.  I said we will plant it according to the instructions and wait and see if it will grow.  I told him that I read all the other comments and the trees all arrived small but eventually grew into large trees.  So for months, I was teased daily about my stick in the yard.  My husband even planted several tomato plants right next to it saying he was sure the stick would not mind the company.  For several months I thought my Charlie Brown stick tree would be a life time joke on me.

Well, my little stick started growing tiny leaves at the base and now has gigantic leaves on it and is about 5 feet tall.  It is not afraid of those tomato plants and although it is not recommended to plant anything closer than 3 feet of the tree, it did not phase my tree.  I am so excited watching it grow.  My husband is not laughing anymore! I am going to cut it to the ground in the spring for faster growth.

Reviewed by Marlene on 8/13/2008:

One of our flowering trees is just 28' tall after growing all summer, but it is full of leaves about 12 inches across. 

Reviewed by Karen on 8/11/2008:

We have a purple empress tree purchased from you 3 years ago and it is now 35 ft and still growing.  We purchased one last year and it was 4 inches tall when we received it; it is now over 8 ft this year. We were looking forward to seeing a lot of bloom as this is the 3rd year for the first tree we purchased.  We do encourage customers to purchase this tree because it truly is amazing how quickly it grows.

Reviewed by Fran on 8/9/2008:

I purchased the Empress tree in July 2007.  It was about 6 inches tall but cute.  It is now as high as my telephone pole 25 ft. and neighbors are even picking up leaves and taking them home to see if they can grow one.  I can't wait to see the flowers.  I see the buds coming out now.  It's a JOY.

Reviewed by James on 8/9/2008:

I planted 2 paulownia trees on may 30,2006. Here it is August 2008 and 1 tree is about 25 feet tall and the other one is about 20 feet tall. Both appear to have buds on them for the spring of 2009. Both are great trees.

Reviewed by Judy on 8/9/2008:

We planted our second empress tree late last year..by March of this year it had grown to 4'..we decided to cut it down to the ground as we had our first tree.

Nothing happened for awhile, then on April 21 two leaves grew from either side of the stump...and continued to grow at an astonishing rate. Right now we have a height of about 20 feet with an enormous amount of leaves some of which are over 3 feet in diameter.

Our neighbors are awestuck and the trees are a constant topic of conversation. We love them...can't wait to see the purple flowers come spring.

Reviewed by Tim on 8/8/2008:

Ordered the royal empress last year and it didn't do much. My neighbors weren't impressed and after i cut it to the ground last fall they laughed at me. i told them it is supposed to grow 6 to 9 feet this summer.

It started out slowly but as of 8/08/08 it is about 15 ft tall and I am going to order 1 or 2 more. I can't wait to see the blooms next year!

Reviewed by Miguel on 8/8/2008:

I planted my tree sometime in Feb of this year and its now over 20 feet. Its a blast to see the tree grow because it really grows daily.

Reviewed by Yvonne on 8/8/2008:

I've had my tree for two months and it's about two feet tall now!  I can't wait for it to grow up!  The leaves are huge and beautiful.

Reviewed by Mary on 8/8/2008:

We have had our royal empress tree for a year and it is growing tall and has great big leaves.

Reviewed by Bridget on 8/8/2008:

I planted a stick because I had ordered it my girlfriend said it won't grow everybody that I was crazy and now they come measure my tree every few weeks. It's shy one inch of 9 feet tall I planted it in april 2008  amen i am proud.

Reviewed by Roger on 8/7/2008:

Purchased two Empress trees.... Like most of the aforementioned very little growth first year. This year one has grown about 15 ft!

Reviewed by Mike on 8/7/2008:

I too bought the famous 2 foot stick in May 2008.  Being in zone 5 I was cautioned this may be a little too early and sure enough about 3 weeks later the stick had lost its only leaf.  I was  sure I killed it.  One of the friendly staff members assured me to give it a little longer so I did - sort of - the stem was dead so I cut it to the ground.

A month later the tree is 3 feet tall and has leaves almost as large as a garbage can lid.  It may have grown taller if it weren't for the dog using it as a chew stick at one point.  This tore up a large section of the trunk.  While this tree may not be growing quite as fast as some have reported it certainly has proven its durability.
Considering the number of people reporting good results by cutting it back after a season of root development I may have to try this.

Reviewed by Larry on 8/6/2008:

I planted a few royal empress 3 yrs ago and two of them are over 24 ft. high. However I have the large leaves and the thin tree that looks akin to a beanstalk.

Reviewed by Paula on 8/6/2008:

I planted the tree initially at then end of summer 2007. It grew 4 feet in a couple months. Then I accidentally sprayed pasture weed killer on it. The tree looked very bad, so we cut it down again. It has already shot up to a foot within a few weeks. What a great tree! We couldn't kill it if we tried.

Reviewed by Debby on 8/5/2008:

I ordered 2 Royal Empress Trees last year and for some reason they died. I contacted you and was sent out 2 new trees without a hassle. The 2 trees are doing great! It is nice to have upstanding company backing their products. Will never order from anyone else.

Reviewed by Paula on 8/5/2008:

I planted the tree initially at then end of summer 2007. It grew to about 5 feet. I cut if down in the spring of 2008 to see if it would grow faster. It grew 4 feet in a couple months. Then I accidentally sprayed pasture weed killer on it. The tree looked very bad, so we cut it down again. It has already shot up to a foot within a few weeks. There are now several tree sprigs coming up in the surrounding ground. What a great tree! We couldn't kill it if we tried. Can these sprigs be transplanted? I want more.

Reviewed by Ann on 8/5/2008:

I received 2 royal empress trees last summer and planted them. They got leaves on them, however, they didn't grow much. I cut them back to the ground and they did start to grow in the spring this year. It is now August and one of the tree is about 26' and the other is only about 13'.

Reviewed by Al on 8/3/2008:

Wow, very very very pleased with how the tree came packaged. At first I was a little concerned about how a three would be shipped and how it would look like after three days on the road. I was so pleased to see how well it was packaged. In addition, there were plenty of FRIENDLY instructions on what to do with it once it arrived. Thank you all for the great service! I will certainly use you for future needs.

Reviewed by Genni on 8/3/2008:

I bought one of these trees last spring because I needed some shade and fast. The tree only grew to about 2 feet tall the first year so like everyone else, I cut it down this spring expecting it to grow more this year.

Reviewed by Katherine on 8/1/2008:

We received theroyal empress tree, planted it, and waited for it to grow. However, when the leaves came out they were huge!

Reviewed by Jeff on 8/1/2008:

I purchased one a little over a year ago, and it didn't do much the first year, it grew maybe 1 to 2 feet, so I cut it to the ground in the spring and now it is nearly 15 feet tall, and the summer isn't over yet. I also purchased another on for the front of my yard and it hasn't done much this year. I plan to cut it to the ground next spring, let keep our fingers crossed.

Reviewed by Tim on 8/1/2008:

We planted this tree late last year so it did not have time to grow. but this year it has gone crazy on May 1st it was 29.5 inches now on August 1st it is 172 inches and it grew 66 inches last month alone. We thought it would take four or five years to get some shade on the back of the house but at this rate we might have some by the end of summer!!!! If anyone is looking for a tree that grows fast you have to get yourself one of these.

Reviewed by Carolyn on 8/1/2008:

I love the color of the blooms on this tree. Can't wait to get one for my yard.

Reviewed by Linda on 7/30/2008:

just received my trees that I ordered on June 30. I hope that they grow as well as everyone says. we will wait and see.

Reviewed by Danny on 7/18/2008:

I love the looks of this flower.

Reviewed by Carolyn on 7/17/2008:

Very impressive. Hope I can buy on for my daughter's new home.

Reviewed by Annette on 8/1/2007

In May I sent you an email saying how displeased I was. I was so disappointed in the shipment I had received from you. I was expecting a healthy looking specimen but instead received what appeared to be a dead stick.

But much to my astonishment, this stick has thrived! I planted it on May 10 - in spite of the laughter of my husband! - and today the tree is about 3 feet tall. It's exactly at the stage that your literature said it would be by this time.

I owe your company a great apology! I'm very happy with my 'very healthy little tree!!!

Reviewed by Lea on 7/30/2007

I ordered a queen empress and received a stick of 2'. Dutifully it was planted and cared for, and with record rains in San Antonio, TX is now 11 feet tall.

Wow, what next?

Reviewed by Karen on 4/26/2008

We just received our second purple empress tree yesterday and can't wait to see it grow as big as the first one we have. We have had the first tree for 2 years and it grew from an 8 inches to over 25 ft. today! It is the most beautiful and unique tree my husband and I have ever seen. We have had so many compliments on it's beauty.