WOW...I have to think about this now..How can I tell if it is a female?

The only way to tell if a cottonwood is male or female is to wait the many years it takes for it to flower. The male catkins are reddish, while the female catkins are green/white. Of course, after being pollinated, the female will produce fruit which, when ripe, will produce all of that cottony seed. That is the biggest signal. Nothing about the immature tree can clue you in, which is the way with any plant species that happen to be male OR female. Ya just have to wait until they flower or fruit.

I've heard that the pollen from the male is a bad allergen, too. Figures.

I may plant it in the wild part of my yard. WAY in the back..I am going to find out from the Dr if I am allergic to Cottonwood too..

I will think about it all summer and plant it in the fall if I decide to keep it.

THANK YOU

I love plants, but have to honest, I HATE cottonwoods... here is why. Females send of the cotton but even males are very "messy trees" they drop limbs and leaves all year long on your perfect lawn and gardens. We had several huge branches break off and land on everything from our gardens, car to home before we invested over 3K in having them totally removed. Unless you can put them in a part of your yard where they can be enjoyed from a far and not a bother to your neighbors either, DO NOT PLANT THIS TREE!! There is no way to know if you have amale or female till they are mature and your neighbors will not appreciate a female as they will congest EVERYTHING, mostly air conditioning units. They care pretty and make a prety water fall sound in the wind, but short of that they are only good for mulch :o) Oh, and it is fun to set female cotton on fire when it is piled up or on the edge of your lawn... youtube it ! :o)

Apparently I'm in the minority of lovers of one of the largest native hardwood trees. Sure it's messy, but all trees are. Maples drop the helicopters, oaks drop strings and acorns, pecans drop huge limbs, and on and on... As far as picking up sticks, I have to do it before I mow every time from the oaks, pecans, and pines. After having a yard of cottonwood, silver maple, and ash trees and now a yard of pine, oak and pecan, I can say that of those, the cottonwood and pine are the least work. That cotton only lasts a few days and I remember picking up tons of sticks all the time from those maples but not as much from the cottonwood. It was 70-80 ft. tall when I moved.

The shimmery, audible leaves have been mentioned and that is my favorite thing about them. Gorgeous bright yellow leaves in fall. As far as beauty goes, cottonwoods have it.

If you have a spot that gets bog-ish, a cottonwood can keep that area dryer and dry it more quickly when it floods.

With any "plant" the important thing is right place. If you have a good spot for one, I say go for it. It sounds like you're living in a grove of them anyway. Even if you don't plant this one, you'll probably have one pop up sometime. Might be fun to try some arborsculpture with your potted specimen.

Cottonwoods are a relative of willow there a types of poplar. There are different kinds of cottonwood trees plains,Eastern,swamp cottonwood. They are my all time favorite tree even though there a dirty tree. There not the worse of the worse how ever there better than Lombardy poplar,Box Elder,Sumac. Cottonwood trees are soft wooded trees the wood is used for card board boxes and crates and pallets the wood tends to warp. Cottonwood trees can live 60-70 years sometimes 125-200 years if they have right conditions and don't get struck from diseases. There are cotton-less cottonwoods available also. Cottonwoods make excellent shade trees that is one of the few great things about them there excellent fast growing shade trees. How ever be careful see how big your yard is before planting it. Just like its relative willow the roots love water and they will travel far for water cause damage to pipes and septic systems and get into house foundations Cottonwoods grow between 70 to 100 to 125 feet tall they need lots of room to grow because of there size. Make sure you have a large yard if you do plant it as far back as possible away from house to prevent damage. If your yard is to small find a place in the woods to plant it with other trees. If your yard is really big and you plant it make sure you water it regularly and prune die back that helps keep them healthy. Sometimes Cottonwoods are planted in parks as shade trees or really large back yards. They are the state tree of Nebraska and Kansas.

I heard somewhere that you can change the sex of a cottonwood tree how true this is I don't know but I'd like more information on it if anybody can steer me in the right direction

I'm not sure what a cottonwood tree looks like, but I love when the cotton fluff is blowing. The first time I saw it, I was at work and it looked like it was snowing. That is the only time I saw the cotton fluff that prolific. Of course after I gushed about how pretty was, a co-worker complained about her allergies. I can't stand popcorn trees nor Bradford pears, but some people love those. To each his own. If you like it and don't mind the maintenance involved with it, plant it.

Still missing the gorgeous cottonwood tree that was in the yard of the last place I lived in OH.