I've also noticed more male "puzzles" than female specimens. Yes, the females litter the ground with seeds for an extended period of time. One puzzle owner gets a hobby grower to clean the yard from these seeds. I notice that laurel seeds germinate with ease in random locations. I actually keep some seedlings because they are deer resistant. But puzzle seeds seem to require help from gardeners. I have planted a small BC-grown Puzzle tree that is being compared to a Dinosaur tree (Wollemia nobilis). The Dinosaur tree started growing at a later date but is faster, especially in warm, dry summer weather. I'll hand out cones to elementary school science classes if the tree produces. That might help spread Dinosaur trees in Greater Victoria if they do well. I'm assuming they do well here but time will tell. We need a full La Nina to El Nino cycle to confirm. Well, it did start off with a La Nina spring. This spring was good for me because I could move many plants later and the summer started with more moisture. The little rain we get in summer was timely. So I'm happy. But sensitive rhodos were lost in hot weather. I hope that you don't loose plants in the dry heat. I used to prep for frost at our latitudes in Ontario because frost was a few weeks away. The first weeks of Sept would bring frost... and important ones by summer's end. Over here in Greater Victoria my concern is how some plants or trees cope with summer drought. I no longer get big thunderstorms with 50 mm in a day. Our rain falls during winter but I can strangely make use of it by growing things like kale. The plan is to adapt the yard for all-season gardening. There's a lot of cemented patio surface to get around so rubber boots are no longer required for winter. Plants & trees are planted in linear rows for ease of summer irrigation. No lawn space because summers demand too much lawn watering. I rather use less resources, time & energy growing laurels, photinia & palm trees. I welcome you to visit the garden when you drive down to Victoria. Cheers Here is a link that might be useful: Male (mature) Monkey Puzzle

Air escaping sounds odd. Even if it doesn't mean they're not viable, don't squeeze them. That might break them. Also, I thought some P. Geayi seeds I had were non-viable because they were basically transparent and like... honeycombed, but they still worked, so it's hard to say. It SOUNDS LIKE the seeds for A. Araucarana should be fairly rubbery. By the way, are there sites selling seedlings for like, A. Araucana or A. Bidwillii online, anywhere? If anyone knows?

Actually, Araucaria araucana (monkey puzzle) have a problem with both severe cold and "long, hot, steamy summers". They really prefer life on the cool side. Think Pacific northwest. Think Seattle. I am in a zone 7 and this winter has been fairly mild. Still, I have noticed a strong degree of burning (more for those areas exposed to sun--less on shaded areas of the plant). Mine may recuperate. I am assuming the damage was cold related, and was a bit surprised by the burning because I have read that they can take a zone 7. I did NOT protect it at all and this was its first year in the ground. If it does not make it, I will not try it again. Worrying about winter is bad enough, but with this one I would have to worry about high heat (day and night) in the summer as well. I really would not chance it in a zone 6. Good luck!

It's highly unlikely that a Monkey Puzzle would grow in the Queensland subtropics, unless perhaps in some cooler, humid locations such as the summits of the Bunya Mountains or McPherson Range (both mostly National Park!). As I tried to emphasise in my earlier post, it seems to be unknown in the Sydney region and indeed in all NSW coastal lowlands, though you would think it must have been introduced here many times over the last 150 or so years. It only appears to have been grown successfully in the tableland areas in NSW, in the central highlands of Vic, and in Tas - see Spencer 'Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Aust.' vol. 1. A Google search shows that Araucaria araucana has its northern limit in Chile at 38 deg 40 min S and grows at altitudes between about 900 and 1700 m. From about 1850 onward it was discovered that it would happily grow in many parts of the British Isles (50 to 55 deg N). The Qld-NW border is around 28 deg 30 min S! This prompts a generalisation that has sometimes occurred to me, namely that most conifer species can be grown in climates somewhat cooler than those of their natural ranges, but few will thrive in climates that are warmer. One exception that occurs to me is Platycladus orientalis, which I have seen in coastal N Qld. As for where a Monkey Puzzle can be bought in Australia, I looked in my 2000/2001 edition of 'The Aussie Plant Finder' and find listed 3 suppliers from Vic, 2 from NSW and 1 from Tas. You could seach on the names Yamina, Dicksonia, Quindalup and Vintage Trees to find if any still stock them. Here is a pic I took just recently of a Monkey Puzzle in a private garden at Mount Tomah, planted c. 1982 as a small seedling. Its height is about 7 m.