The first thing that came to mind was a Saucer Magnolia. The flowers look
just like a tulip flower, but the ones I see in this area are pink. I also
looked it up in one of my tree/shrub catalogs that I buy from locally. It
was called Magnolia x 'Jane'. It described it as hardy in zones 4-8. Does
best in full sun with average amounts of water and is deciduous. That's why
you see the tulip looking flowers now. The tree is bare in the winter,
developing 7-9 petaled purple-red flowers in March and developing just
leaves through the summer months. It also says it grows 10-15 ft. tall and
10 ft. wide.

They have been blooming for a couple of weeks now. I'm in Raleigh, NC, zone
7b. They are very pretty. The one you saw could have been a different
variety (color). I'm not really sure if they actually do have different
colors. The ones in this area have all been a pink color.

If you don't know your zone, you can go to Google or Yahoo and do a search
on USDA Hardiness Maps. A site there will identify your zone.
Hope this helps.

Penny
Zone 7b - North Carolina
"William McHarg" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I am new to gardening, having lived in a townhome most of my life. I
recently bought a house with an acre of land, and have been making
plans for landscaping it.

My wife and I were in Kentucky recently, and saw what we were told was
a tulip tree. I looked up tulip trees in my book on plants, and what
we saw was not what is described as a tulip tree in my book. That was
a very tall tree that has yellow flowers.

The plant we saw was more like a large shrub, and had flowers that
from the distance I was from them really looked like tulips. Can
anyone tell me what this is? The one I saw had deep purple flowers.

I live in Kansas City, and wondered if it would grow here. My wife
really liked them.

Mac