Sure plenty of trees have great fall color, but how many smell like cotton candy? As the county’s autumn fairs finish, it’s a way to recapture that festival scent a little later into the season. The lovely heart shaped leaves of the Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) turn a mix of bright yellows, pinks and orange-reds in the autumn. But after they’ve dried and fallen, the fragrant leaves release a strong sweet fragrance when crushed or chopped in a mower. The scent is often described as burnt brown sugar or cotton candy.
It’s a fast-growing shade tree, often multi-stemmed, when it planted in moist soil, but is very sensitive to drought. When mature, it also will exhibit some bark peeling for winter interest.