New South Wales?

Yes thats right

just in case you did not see my response to your original post---consier arbutus unedo, andrachne, glandulosa, cupressus glabra (arizona smooth cypress) or maybe the native cypress pines (callitris), eucalyptus like sideroxylon, leucoxylon, nova-anglica, scoparia, larger bottlebrush like callistemon citrinus, viminalis, and salignus, and melaleuca linearifolia, stypheloides, ericifolia, etc. no doubt there are many other species/genera to experiment with so your possiblilites are wide but these might be of some help....

Thankyou, I'll do some research into what you have listed. I'd prefer not to use Eucalyptus. Nothing against them.... but I have paddocks full of Eucalyptus & I'd like something different.

might also consider carob tree (ceratonia siliqua) heat and drought tolerant with an interesting shape when mature and eatable pods ("loqust beans").

Thats great, I'll just go & look them up. Theres just so much to choose from... Its just a shame how long I'll need to wait for them to grow.

grevillea robusta---"silky oak" and "she oak"---casuarina cunninghamiana (or c. stricta or c. glauca) fast growing trees tolerant of heat and reasonably drought tolerant...

Grevilla robusta is a bit iffy with frosts if they are too heavy..
Brachychiton populneus would look great.

{{gwi:338529}}

Grevillea robusta

They would defoliate in a NSW highland climate.

well, Phil, the O.P. didnt disclose his exact location or elevation so I at least was "flying blind" so to speak---he definitely did not indicate the frequency or severity of frosts so maybe grevillea robusta MIGHT not be a good suggestion but then the brachychiton MIGHT not be that much hardier to frost either (its behavior in the northern central valley of california seems to indicate that it may be somewhat more tender in colder than average winters). once again, unless he comes out with more detailed climate specs we both may be less than perfect with our suggestions. OTOH,i think that bottle trees of all sourts are great and if the climate is suitable would make a great planting. what would you say to suggesting crepe mrytle (lagostromea indica) as a good tough small tree that might work in a place with hot summers and some frost in the winter????

Thre is no question that Brachychiton populneus is frost-hardy; it is native in the highlands of NSW and grows with gusto in Canberra. You might be thinking of B. rupestris which is native to inland Qld and is probably only marginally frost-hardy, but has a more spectacular swollen trunk so it is probably the one grown in California.
Crape myrtles would be terrific; I agree.

Phil, actually b. populineus is regarded as the most frost hardy brachychiton in california (acording to the "sunset western garden book"---"the (so called) bible of western horticulture" believe it or not). the northern california central valley climates i was basing my suggestions on is a reasonably close analog to the canberra area with hot summers and relatively cool (some frost) winters---in such areas you will see some g. robusta but "b. p." is rarely seen at all (no b. rupestris)---lots or river red gum, red iron bark, washingtonia robusta, olives,citrus, phoenix canariensis, callisteomon spp, etc. so we are not talking cold winters by any means but at least some light frost every year. what this really signifies i cant be sure---either the brachychiton IS under those conditions less hardy or that hardy provenances of that species have never been available or used or nobody has ever seriously tried the species around there period though the landscape seeems to show that a number of aussie plants and similar mild temperate plants do just fine?????? and we both still do know nothing about the o.p.'s growing conditions!!! as always, appreciate your knowledge and willingness to share your observations and experience.

Thanks for that information; it looks like silky oaks are hardier than I thought. That area (around Sacramento?)sounds similar to Canberra climatically; perhaps the summers ar a little hotter?
It looks like we'll probably never know where kerodan lives.

Phil, the area in northern california that i am referring to is the area from red bluff to sacramento and is listed in the sunset "western garden book" as their zones 8,9, and 14 which is ROUGHLY equal to USDA 9a and 9b. summers are indeed hot and dry (essentially no rainfall from mid may to late october/early november). winters are normaly mild with relatively few "hard" frosts (below 28f/-2c)but it can get significantly colder occassionally and this winter things got that way for several consecutive days in early december with temps to -8c or lower ending up with severe frond damage on mature trees of washingtonia robusta in certain areas and more to the point severe damage to g. robusta which had previously been doing well for years---there were 30'/9m tall g. robusta plants in one area and even fairly large red gums in some areas had complete foliage burn---dont know what the long term effects may be on the silky oak but would guess that the gums will recover fairly handily. agree that there is a fairly good chance that we will never learn more about the area we were attempting to suggest appropriate plants for but we at least had a nice "chat". BTW, the photos you post on this and various other plant websites are always interesting---please keep them coming.