x Gordlinia grandiflora 'Sweet Tea'

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Sweet Tea Gordlinia is new intergeneric cross that produces abundant, huge (5 inch diameter), showy flowers with 5 white petals surrounding a showy boss of yellow center stamens that make them look like big fried egg. Flowers occur over a long period from July through September and are backed up by very handsome elongated leaves 4 to 8 inches in length. The leaves are semi-evergreen though some will turn colorful shades of red and orange in fall, adding to the overall appeal of this spectacular fast-growing shrub or small tree. All grown up your Sweet tea Gordlinia will top out at 25 to 30 feet tall and 8 to 10 feet wide. Easy to grow but make sure and check out the helpful planting and care tips under the Planting & Care tab on this page. 

x Gordlinia grandiflora is an intergeneric hybrid resulting from a controlled cross made in August of 2002 by Ranney and Fantz of the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University between Franklinia alatamaha (deciduous female parent commonly called Franklin tree) and Gordonia lasianthus (evergreen male parent commonly called loblolly bay). Nine hybrids were propagated in December of 2003 from seeds produced by this intergeneric cross and 'Sweet Tea' is the most fragrant one.

Gordlinia grows best in an acidic, consistently moist but well-drained soil rich in organic matter and in full sun to part shade. As mentioned, it needs a well-drained soil but doesn't like the soil to dry our for too long. Avoid planting in poorly drained soils that stay constantly soggy or wet. In zone 7 it will grow well in full sun or part shade. In zones 8 and 9 it would prefer some shade or filtered sun during during the mid-afternoon. We suggest 4 hours or more of direct sunlight per day for best performance.