This is one of our long-time favorites that we have seen in gardens around the world from the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The Persian Parrotia, also known as the Persian ironwood, tolerates the hot, dry weather we tend to have in the greater St. Louis area. In summer the parrotia has clean, deep green foliage that holds up to the heat. During the fall we see a muddling of yellows, oranges and reds with the foliage giving way to a unique branching structure and exfoliating cream, green and grey bark in winter. No two parrotia are alike. They can be single or multi-trunked and grow to 20-40’ tall with a 15-30’ spread. They would prefer full sun to partial shade with moist, well-drained soils.
