Catalpas are probably a matter of personal taste. They have a distinctive look. Particularly with the beans hanging down. I think you either like it or you don't. Besides their distinctive look, they grow fast, have pretty flowers, are fairly adaptable to a wide range of conditions, and are good trees for kids to climb. The worms are often considered a plus. They don't always come. Assume you could spray tree to get rid of them if they do come.

One of my favorites -- a N. catalpa I planted ~1973 is about 65' tall w/a 50' spread now. Hard to say if it'll be attacked by worms or not. My current 12' N. catalpa has had a couple catepillars on it -- ones I can reach get pulled off & tossed into the stream for the fish. But the damage on it has been insignificant & most catalpas I see in this region show none either.

There's hardly a faster tree you can plant, but make sure it has enough potential space -- this is not a small tree, tho S. catalpa stays smaller than N. catalpa.

OIKOStreecrops has a dwarf hybrid catalpa for small areas.

I have a Chinese Catalpa. It gets completely defoliated each summer with catepillers. Unless you plant a dwarf version, don't even consider trying to control them with sprays. The older I get, the more my landscape choices are based on maintenance issues. To plant a tree commonly associated as being a very normal host plant for something you don't want is a practise in frustration. Pick something else.

Man! I wish I had a catalpa tree, complete with scads of 'worms'. Those catalpa sphinx moth caterpillars are GREAT fish bait. I never see the caterpillars on any trees here.
Guess I'll have to get calliope to send me some to get a population established.

I have never had a problem with caterpillars/worms on the Catalpa, but maybe they are a bigger problem in warmer zones. I personally love Northern Catalpas, they have beautiful flowers and the bean pods look neat. A good choice in my opinion!

Anyone know why they make such good fish bait? Is it just Catalpa Shinx Moth that is so good, or are all sphinx moths good? Or all very large caterpillars?

Resin

Nearly my whole catalpa worm population this year were predated by some sort of wasp. The poor little buggers all had white cocoons hanging out of them and looked pretty miserable. They won't be around to breed for next year's population. One year, the tree got defoliated twice. I'm surprised it's still alive.

Don't get me wrong, I love catalapa trees. Here they're often referred to as Indian Stogie trees. I've read that the moth's preference for certain catalpas over another of the same species is noted. IOW, nobody knows if their tree is going to be chewed up or not. If it were me, I'd plant the catalpa if you really like it, but not if you don't "do" worms.

Pine, they've been a fisherman's friend for many, many years. Old timers swear by it for bait. You know how that goes, maybe other sphinx moths are just as good, maybe not. If catalpa worms are available, nobody is going to try something else.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I think I will probably forgo a Catalpa right now in favor of something else, being as I don't know what kind of problems I may be creating for myself, and I've never even seen one in my area, so I don't have any firsthand experience with them at all (and since I don't fish....) Maybe I'll have an opportunity to plant one again some other time - in a place that is not right in the middle of my yard. :)

The website below seems to suggest some trees are more likely to be "eaten" than others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Auburn Ag

Go look at a mature one first. They are rather coarse textured. The leaves are light green. They are well liked trees but may not be the look you're going for in a formal garden.

In my area, they are almost weed trees and considered course for landscaping. I suspect part of this has to do with the fact that they can and do produce many volunteers, not to mention the seed pods and some people consider those "dirty" and don't want to deal with it. I have a little catalpa growing immediately against the foundation of a house I own in the city. The seed could only have come from clear across the street on a tree cut down the first time nearly twenty years ago, but what has sprung from the stump to live and procreate again! LOL

can any of you send me some catalpa pods?

Purple1222, I have plenty of "beans" on my tree that I can send you. Mine is the southern species (catalpa bignonioides).

E-mail me your address to escambiaguy@frontiernet.net

I have a Chinese Catalpa C. Ovata. It was pretty distressed this year between the late freeze and defoliations. I am not sure it even flowered, but I can check for pods. If there are any, I'd be glad to send you some of those as well. Even the southern catalpa is pretty cold tolerant. What's your zone?

I had those ugly SOB all over my apple trees. I would suggest just cutting off the tips where they have their nests.
Proved to work, because this year I had big healthy apples and no catapillars!

Hey,
Tell your friends who love fishing about your caterpillars and they will flock to your home for fish bait. My father-in-law kept a small grove of the trees just for that purpose.
KK

I like the N. catalpa well enough. It wouldn't be a priority tree to plant if I had space for a tree, but I think they're quite impressive and enjoy seeing them as street trees etc. I don't know that I've ever seen the catalpas in this region attacked by any insects. Maybe a more Southern problem?

+oM

The catawba caterpillars are a southern insect, I'm not sure you'd see any north of Tennessee. As far as attractiveness goes, I consider Catalpa a backyard tree. They look good in spring and early summer, but by August they are looking kinda rough with dull fall color.

Oh my gosh, we have those worms in Appalachian Ohio. It can dip to 20 below here.

I sure didn't think they would be that far north.

This tree does fantastic in my area, the Northern species atleast. The catalpa worm does not range in my area and these trees are blemish-free all year up here. A Chinese species has been planted in the area with pronged leaves and is seeding slightly, as evidence by the young trees around, but those small plants donÂt survive a really dry summer usually, but there are atleast 3 juvenile plants that are 15 feet tall now. Mature plants are very hardy here. Also pretty, but I prefer the northern.

We seem to be just north of where the worms hit badly, I've seen a few here and there but nothing like central VA and points south and west.

The worms are disgusting! We had a catalpa in our yard in Indianapolis when I was a teen. I hated cutting the lawn under that tree. Those insects are big, fat, very active and wiggly. My friends would grab them for catfish bait.

Catalpas are cool trees -- in someone else's yard.

My heart broke to see my 25 ft tree defoliated this year. Never had a problem before. I am getting a Trombone sprayer and will douse with thuricide or bt next year in addition to attracting more parasitic wasps. I never use Sevin, but this is war. I'm putting sevin all 'round the canopy since I hear they pupate in the ground. This tree was brought as a tiny one from my dear deceased Grandma's house and had already survive a little buck who scraped all the lower bark off before the rut.

Yes, I have the caterpillar problem on mine, tho they seem to have mostly disappeared from a month ago. I noticed it looked earlier like there was a fungus infecting & killing them (like the fungus killing gypsy moth caterpillars). And yes, I'm familiar w/the wasp eggs on them, but this was different -- some were covered w/a white coating like powdered sugar or flour. It's been extremely wet here and fungi/mold/mildew and bacteria are rampant.

While in COVID lockdown I planted a lovely shade garden under my large catalpa. The caterpillars eat the leaves and they fall all over the garden. It looks terrible and it is hard to keep up with removing them. My garden is ruined. Is there any way I can get rid of the caterpillars. They also crawl all over my flagstone terrace. Thank you for any recommendations or suggestions.

I don't think there is, other than some kind of massive spraying of insecticide on the tree. As above, mine get the caterpillars, but numbers of them vary -- this year there were hardly any.