It is a beautiful flower and one of my favorite trees. The flowers open upwards so for best effect leave some lower branches on.

As a bonus it has unique leaves.

I've been looking into getting a tulip tree. The flowers aren't immediately obvious (kind of lost in the foliage ) but once they were pointed out to me they were pretty. Blooms in late May in Zone 6. Big, vaguely tulip shaped flowers. Fast growing tree that supposedly sometimes has good fall color. Looks pretty generic the rest of the year, except for it's funny shaped leaves. Immune to a lot of local diseases and insects. (eg Gypsy Moth, Japanese Beetles, Asian Longhorn Beetles, Turpentine Beetles). Supposedly weak wooded, but I know of one growing fine in a windy coastal area where trees have fallen to storms. Maybe not the best tree for right near a house if you get a lot of wind, but a good choice for a yard with acreage.

Tulip poplar is a great tree if you want shade, but the flowers are not obvious from a distance. Why not a larger variety of crepe myrtle (if your climate permits)?

Crape myrtle will not be a 'shade tree' in zone 5 MI. At best, likely to be a die-back-to-the-ground-every-winter shrub.

On 30 acres I would definitely have one - or more. I love them. I was just trying to emphasise that although the flowers are lovely when you spot them and examine them it isn't really a tree you plant for blossom. The OP referred to it as 'a flowering tree' and I felt they had the impression it would be on the lines of a Magnolia or Cherry.

Agree.

The flowers are not obvious in the way that, for example, Magnolia flowers are obvious.

I think it gets its common name from the shape of the leaves, not the shape of the flowers. The leaves are sort of tulip-shaped. (Put it this way: I've wondered about it.)

I don't know 'Majestic Beauty'. I know only the straight species of Liriodendron tulipifera.

Not sure if the flowers wold be more apparent on this cultivar then the species. In the straight species they are fairly obvious if you are beneath the tree, but because they aren't bright colored and occur after the tree leafs out they are hard to see from a distance. Bees would certainly appreciate them.

Agree crepe myrtle isn't a good shade tree suggestion for Zone 5. There is a limited portfolio of big Zone 5 trees that flower. Catalpa and horse chestnut have more prominent flowers but are much uglier the rest of the year. Yellowood, sourwood and fringe tree are prettier but more finicky and smaller. There are a bunch of invasive species you should avoid.

If making bees happy is your goal American Linden and Tupelo are good choices...but the flowers are nearly undetectable to me.

Thank you all for your input. It sounds like most of you think it is a good tree for what I need. I don't need to plant it too close to the house, just want its shadow to cast some morning shade. I have a closer tree that already gives me my afternoon shade on the other side. I think I will love searching for the flowers - I like seeing beauty in things that are not immediately apparent.

This species can grow into a forest sized tree so make sure you give it enough space. Apparently it can reach 60ft high and 25 wide. Also I discover that this name is the same as the cultivar 'Aureo marginatum', so you will have variegated foliage.

On 30 acres you could plant every species mentioned in this thread. Lucky you!

Btw the flowers are tulip shaped so I would say that is where the name comes from.

Actually, a 60 ft. Liriodendron would be but a babe. Capable of much larger ultimate height. But you get Floral's point-give it some space!

If you are interested in considering the long term at all then like the typical species 'Aureo-marginatum' is an eventual landmark tree not in scale with anything smaller than a mansion. For instance, an example of this cultivar growing in British Columbia was 80' high and 65' across during 1992; another, in England, dating from a 1906 planting was 29 m (95.7') tall 100 years later.

The problem with planting large vigorous trees for quick shade is that you still might be waiting 20 years for a pool of shade of the desired size to be produced. And then later the tree is too big for the location. For something like shading a deck it is better to use architectural solutions like arbors - or even patio umbrellas.

....albeit with the architectural solution, you do not get the added cooling effect of evapotranspiration. It is cooler under a given amount of shade if that shade is produced by a living plant than it is under an exactly equivalent amount of shade produced by an arbor, roof, or what have you. Me, I prefer trees to constructed solutions, although the latter have their place.

A given party has a deck that is too hot right now, every summer, all summer. Are they going to wait 20 years for a nice big pool of natural shade, or do they need to do something else to get relief - preferably immediately? Probably not the case in this instance, because it is such a large place* - but many property users aren't even going to be present on the site themselves in 20, or even 10 years.

*Although a lot of the clients a retirement age landscape architect I know who is working mostly on residential projects - and in recent years has been the busiest he has ever been - are well off people bringing him in to work on upscale properties that they talk of selling in a few years.

Well, I am in my 50s, but I do hope to be here in 20 years to see this beautiful tree and have it give me a bit of morning shade. We have decided that we will see how things go with this new deck and then decide if we need a pergola or awning of some type. I'm hoping it won't be too hot since we do have mature trees on the west side giving us some nice shade. Time will tell, but at this point, I am sold on the tulip tree out of intrigue alone!

Embothrium(USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA)

She said she likes flowers and keeps bees. This is a multi purpose tree.

I hate it when people go on this forum with the purpose of talking people out of planting trees. I get it when it's someone with a tiny property, but she has 30 acres. And an architectural solution and tree are not mutually incompatible...you can (and should) do both. Most canopies and pergolas don't last forever anyway.

(As an aside, not enough thought is given to making architectural solutions that work well..by rights they should be light colored so they don't heat up in the sun. And there is no reason you can't use the evaporation effect...a pergola with a green roof or an old fashioned arbor would be great, but not enough.

since you have 30 acres, it may be worth the time to plant a sourwood. They provide a whole year of interest, and the bees love them. The challenge is getting one to establish because they are very finicky trees.

Ed - I am not sure if you are including me as trying to dissuade the O P from planting a Liriodendron. I think you'll find I consistently said that it is a great tree and given 30 acres I'd have one, or several, like a shot. I was simply trying to ensure that ggh appreciated the nature of the tree.

Just looked up Sourwood and thank you for that suggestion. I think I will be planting both as I do have plenty of room. Maybe I will put the Sourwood closer to the bee hives. What a great forum! Thank you all!

No personal experience, but I've researched them and a number of folks have said Sourwood are hard to establish and tried to dissuade me. May be a regional thing,,.the United States encompasses a lot of different climates. Although now I'm intrigued by your saying they are easy to establish. Wondering what the difference is and weather my climate is more like theirs or yours,.

Regarding sourwood, when I was in a mountainous forest in Virginia that had them in the woods, I had no problem transplanting & growing them even in deep shade. Here in MD on a lawn (soil is acidic), mine hardly grows and is little more than a shrub after 10 yrs, tho it blooms OK. Read something about them being very dependent on associated forest-soil fungi. Below in foreground:

I realise now I thought Caldwell was referring to Liriodendron as finicky, not Sourwood. Apologies.

Ok, so no Sourwood! I'm happy with the tulip tree decision. Heading to the nursery later today to see what they have.

I had a really nice sourwood until someone cut it down........

You have 30 acres...can we sell you on a. Sourwood TOO? They are gorgeous trees if you can get them established... :-).

Sorry we we got side tracked,

I don't sell sourwood ;) just thought it was a good suggestion for bees

We're not talking about somewhere out on 30 acres, we're talking about close enough to a deck to shade it before decades have elapsed.

Sour-wood is a heath and has the usual need of the family for acidic soils that are not heavy and airless. In the Carolinas for instance the typical wild habitat is bedrock outcroppings.