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El Niño® Chitalpa

SHRUB

Description

  • A truly unique option for your garden or landscape.
  • Intricate pink/purple flowers resemble orchids!
  • Flowers emit a delicious vanilla-melon fragrance.
  • Vigorous, heat-tolerant & deer-resistant.
  • Zones 6-9, sun to part sun, 10-15' tall x 8-10' wide at maturity. 
Zone 6-9
Light part sun/sun
tall

Sale $23.99
$25.99 Each
Total
$23.99
Buy 3 get $0.50 off each
Buy 6 get $1.00 off each
Buy 9 get $1.50 off each
Buy 12 get $2.00 off each
Size
white plant in hand icon

Hand-picked at our greenhouse

white shipped to door icon

Shipped to your door

Young plant icon

Arrives as young plant

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More Information

Description Seeing is believing, and El Niño® desert orchid (×Chitalpa) is a shrub that must be seen – and smelled – to be believed! In summer, it blooms continuously, with spires of pink-purple flowers that look like orchids. They have a truly unique fragrance that’s a bit hard to describe, but most people we ask describe it as vanilla and ripe melon. Since it blooms in the summer, that sweet scent wafts on the warm breeze, perfuming the area and drawing you to it, making its unusual blooms all the better.

If you’ve never heard of Chitalpa before, you’re not alone! This is a new hybrid of two North American native trees: Chilopsis, also known as desert willow, and Catalpa, also known as cigar tree, Indian bean tree, or Catawba. These two species combine to create a heat tolerant, disease resistant shrub with the color and fragrance of the desert willow and the hardiness of the cigar tree. You already know we’re big fans of Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs around here, and this is one of the coolest and most original introductions we’ve ever seen from them.
Details How To Grow

Did You Know?

15 Companion Plants for Chitalpa

If you’re already growing chitalpa in your landscape and wondering what perennials, shrubs, and ornamental grasses will thrive planted next to this statement shrub, you've come to the right place. Here, we'll discuss what to plant with chitalpa and give growing tips for this buzzed-about shrub.

Beautiful purple orchid-like flowers from El Nino Chitalpa

Customer Reviews

Based on 37 reviews
73%
(27)
14%
(5)
8%
(3)
3%
(1)
3%
(1)
J
J.B. (Maryland)
Healthy Plant

My plant arrived healthy and just a bit thirsty, but planted in the ground and have been watering due to the heat wave in my region. I hope that it will thrive in the Maryland soil.

B
B.H.

Arrived in great condition

J
J.G.I.

Arrived in good shape & in very shott time (as advertised). Looking forward to planting it & watching it grow.

S
S.V. (Missouri)
El Nino

It died in less than a week. It’s black.

We're sorry you're having trouble with your plants. Our team of horticulture experts would love to take a closer look! Please contact us at claims@greatgardenplants.com with your order number and photos of the plants so we can better assist you. All orders are covered by our 60-day guarantee. We look forward to helping! https://bit.ly/ggp-guarantee

J
J. (Massachusetts)
El Niño Chitalpa

The plants arrived perfectly packed, healthy and bigger than I expected them to be. I have them planted in full sun and can’t wait to watch them grow and smell their glorious scent.