The Eastern Cottonwood is from eastern North America and typically found growing along streams, rivers, and in lowland areas and swamps, and here in Houston, we like to plant them as a showy, fast-growing shade tree! Their botanical name is Populus deltoides, and they can grow to be a large size tree with a broad, open-rounded growth habit, and a large canopy with attractive green leaves that turn to a bright yellow or brown in the fall. In addition to its showy foliage, is an equally impressive bark that when mature, produces an ash-gray bark that is thick with deep furrows and ridges. We like to plant them in larger yards that could use a generous shade cover for picnics or for basking in the natural surroundings. They look stunning when the leaves fall too, revealing the interesting branches and trunk for all to see!

Eastern Cottonwood is an excellent choice for Houston because they adapt to a variety of soils and can grow in full sun, partial shade, and shade exposures. Once established, they are drought tolerant and have low to moderate water requirements.

Due to its rapid growth rate, the Eastern Cottonwood tree is often used as a quick solution to provide shade around campsites, picnic sites, and around recreational developments. They are also a good choice for use in multi-row installations for use as a windbreak. Moon Valley Nursery custom-grows Populus deltoides on our farms so that we can assure their quality is the best you will find anywhere. We have them available in bigger sizes, so buy them as big as you can to bring instant maturity to your site!