paulownia tomentosa -foxglove tree' soil'fertile well drained, shelter from cold winds.in full sun, hardiness rating, fully hardy down to 15%c ( 5%f) frost can damage young trees, size h12mx10m spred. adult. shape rounded to broadly columnar, deciduous' likly pest and diseases' canker- honey fungus,- leaf spot,- and powdery mildew. hope this covers what yo want to know.

Likes rich, damp soil in a sunny sheltered site. Add humus rich materials when preparing the area for planting, i.e., compost, organic soil conditioning compost, leaf mould, etc, plus some chicken manure pellets if you're not using composted horse manure or similar.

If you want the big leaves every year, coppice it in early Spring before the new growth starts. It can reach about 8 ft in one year. If left untended it will get huge and send out runners.

We have a monstrous specimen growing in heavy clay soil which is wet in winter and baking dry in summer. It grew from a pot plant in 2003 to a 25ft tree by last year. So I don't think it's too fussy!
To get the flowers, the buds form in the autumn, and the flowers open the next spring. So if there's lots of frost, you lose the flower buds.
It's seen as a new 'wonder tree' as it's fast growing, will grow again if you cut it down, and the timber is very good to work with. Here's something we could help solve global warming with!
I've over a hundred plants from seed overwintering in pots which I will plant out in the spring. They are going into a lighter soil, but far drier one.. so I will let you know if they all die or shoot up like the other one!