Other Common Names:  Persian Parrotia, Golden Bell Tower Ironwood

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For such a handsome, adaptable, durable, colorful, and easy-to-grow tree, Parrotia persica, commonly known as Ironwood or Persian Parrotia, is an underutilized tree in residential landscapes, perhaps because it is not widely recognized. That said, you might've seen them in commercial landscapes, where they are heavily used due to their hardness and low-maintenance attributes, but couldn't put a name to the tree. Not only are they beautiful, but they are also highly adaptable and easy to grow, thriving in moist soil and being drought-tolerant once established. They tolerate both full sun and partial shade, as well as cold and hot conditions, and are suitable for both acidic and alkaline soils, including clay soil. What more can we ask from a tree?

The Golden Bell Tower is a unique selection discovered in the early 2000s in Washington. In trials ever since, it has demonstrated superior hardiness, robust growth, and maintains its upright, columnar form even with age, reaching approximately 30 feet tall and 10 feet wide in 25 years. With its consistent gold and apricot fall color and narrow form, GoldenBellTower is a perfect specimen for smaller areas where space is limited, as well as in groupings in larger landscapes. It is also ideal for lining streets, driveways, and property lines, making it the perfect urban tree. As the tree ages, it develops attractive, mottled, exfoliating bark that reveals shades of green, white, and tan for outstanding winter appeal in the landscape. 

Special Attributes
If you're into butterflies and beneficial pollinators, Ironwood trees are a larval host plant for butterflies and feed early-season bees and other beneficial pollinators.

Growing 30 to 35 feet tall and 12 to 15 feet wide, the Golden Bell Tower Ironwood Tree is ideal as a specimen or in groupings or rows to line a street, drive, walkway, or property line. It can also be used in design to frame the corners of taller homes and other structures, and is a fine addition to pollinator gardens and Xeric gardens (low water needs).

Suggested Spacing: 8 feet apart for a solid screen; 20 feet apart for space between trees

The Golden BellTower Ironwood is exceptionally easy to grow in various soil types, including clay, rocky, and chalky soils ranging from 5.0 to 8.0 on the soil pH scale. It prefers a moist but well-drained soil and at least five hours of sunlight daily for the best fall foliage color. It has moderate drought tolerance when established. Maintenance is minimal with no pruning necessary. That said, if you want to expose more trunk, the lower branches can be removed to the desired height, or it can be pruned into a tight form or for standard topiary.