I have never seen the tree but this is the information on cultivation I can find in my books:

Ideally prefers moist, swampy organic sandy soil. Mulch heavily with pulverized pine bark prior to planting, amend clay soil thoroughly with generous (big emphasis) amounts of gritty sand [with so much that it might be better described as sandy when your done], pine bark, and peat moss.

If you're going to dig all that stuff in better do a huge area - never plant in a pocket of heavily amended backfill surrounded by unmodified existing soil. Would certainly be easier and more direct to get some sandy soil and dump it on top of the clay-like soil, plant in that instead. No returning to clay-like soil as the organic amendments decompose, either.

The one I have seen growing in a garden here was on a site beside a lake, where the prevailing soil was derived from heavy blue clay.

I have considered ordering this one before, but I always find a reason not to. My soil here goes to both extremes. It gets very swampy when it rains a lot, but it also gets very dry when in a drought. I think this tree may need year round moisture.

I think it is also related to Camellias.

Yes, a sort of evergreen Franklinia.

Yes, Alabama, it's related to camellias, and I love the pictures I've seen of it. I read up some more on it, and it says deer love it - just what I need! They've eaten my newly planted black willows down considerably, and I found where they've been chewing on one of my new carpinus carolinianas - the only one of these that's safe is the one that I planted in my yard, inside the fence. So even if I add sand, either like Bboy or Fledgeling described and one thrives, the deer will likely keep it from doing anything.
So, since they're not attractive to deer and since I've been pulling up all the loblolly seedlings I'm finding - the mature trees are brittle and don't hold up well in hurricanes - I'm thinking about planting a few conifers other than loblolly pine, of course.
What about pond or bald cypress? My mother grew a beautiful bald cypress in her heavy soil, and then had it cut down because they couldn't mow through the knees - made me sick! The areas I want to plant a few more trees in are variable in soil and wetness, but none of them have sandy soil. I've always loved the look of pond cypress, so I might like to give that one a try.
I'll be going to visit my daughter in Tampa next Thursday, so I thought I'd e-mail Amy at Mail Order Natives as to what I want and pick it or them up on the way - I pass right by her place.
What do y'all think about taxodium distichum and/or t. ascendens? Do they grow fast for most people? I think I've read that they hold up well in hurricanes. I like spruce pines, but I'm not sure if they do well in high wind or not.
I've also read that coast redwood/sequoia sempervirens can be grown in the Southeast, also dawn redwood, but, again, they may be brittle.
And since this is Thanksgiving Day, I'm so thankful, too, that we've been through two August/Septembers without a hurricane!
Sherry

Ancient coast redwoods withstand coastal gales in California. Some places you look inland from the coastal highway and the first tall woody vegetation the winds hit is rows of these, stabbing the often foggy sky with their marvelous towering shafts and bonsai-like branching.

Their eastern relations are also much-planted ornamentals, certainly worth trying. However, if you have regular deer activity there you really need to fence them out. What they don't eat now they may go for suddenly and wreak years from now, plus the bucks rub on saplings and spoil them.

I recommend asking conifer related questions in the confers forum too in addition to here. Its rather active.

I wish I could plant spruce pines where I was. If you have room, go for it. Actually I donÂt think I would pull up any pines that popped up in a area under my ownership, but I donÂt have hurricanes either.

Sherry, I like both Bald cypress and Pond cypress. I think I'd prefer Pond cypress because less people plant them and it would be a little different. Buy them from somewhere like MailOrderNatives, because most of the ones in pots that I have seen at nurseries are badly rootbound. If you ever drive over to Mobile, you can see they have been using Bald cypress extensively as a street tree. They're are several miles of them planted in the median of Airport Blvd.

Sherry - Alabama got me hooked on longleaf pines. The trunks used to be used as masts for sailing vessels so they are strong and won't snap in high winds.

Longleaf pines used to be the dominant pine in the southeast. In southeastern VA, less than 100 trees remain. Efforts are underway throughout the south to replant them and use them in reforestation. If you do a Google search, you'll find a ton of information. Some state nursery programs are offering seedlings.

You might also consider redwoods - either dawn redwoods or coastal redwoods. Dawn redwoods lose their needles in the winter. They are strong too. In the Conifers forum, some people are reporting growth of up to 5 feet a year. If you post a question there, you'll soon know if they thrive in your area.

Pam

Here is a link that might be useful: Longleaf Pine

Thanks, y'all!
Longleaf pines grow all over my property, Pam, and they survived the hurricane, even the biggest ones, very well - I only lost a few. They're much less brittle than loblolly pines, at least here - somebody else on this forum from North Carolina? I think said they lost them in a hurricane or high winds, but I suspect they might have been loblollies. I leave any long leaf pine babies that I find on my property alone to grow - for some reason, I'm not finding many, but I see lots of them coming up in the vacant lot across the street. I love longleaf pines, too!
I haven't driven Airport Blvd. in a long time, Alabama - I guess I could go the back way through Vancleave and see them. That might be fun, passing by all those tempting stores, then turn at the Belt Line, I think they call it.
Fledgeling, I guess you don't have many trees where you are - if I were you, I'd move! :) Loblolly seedlings are common to the point of being invasive, if a native tree can be considered really invasive. I haven't gotten them all, so I'm sure that some of them will grow too tall for me to pull them up. I much prefer long leaf pines.
Since I can't make up my mind, I'm going to e-mail Amy about pond and bald cypresses and spruce pines and order a coast redwood and a dawn redwood from Forest Farm - I'll see how they do. I know my coast redwood will never grow to huge, Pacific Coast size, Bboy, but after reading The Wild Trees, I'm so enchanted by them I've just gotta have one of my own!
I've read posts on the Conifer Forum, and, maybe I just picked the wrong threads, but there's too much arguing and insulting on that forum for me - native plant nazi? Sheesh!
Sherry

Native plant n- oh, that thread. First time I ever saw that term there.

I almost never open a thread on this forum that has the subject of Royal empress, Bradford pears, or silk tree anymore, for my own peace of mind.

There is a reason why you are not getting many longleaf pine seedlings your lot has lacked fire for a very very long time. How do I know? You have several American Holly plants, these are extremely sensitive to fire. Anyplace where fire is even occasional you will find American holly restricted to areas that cannot burn well. Longleaf pine on your lot says that fire was much more common in the past, as longleaf pine is superbly adapted to fire and needs it to maintain its place in the forest.

IMHO, Spruce pine looks best when grown out in the open. They will not get over 40-50ft tall and will be wide spreading and branched low to the ground. There is a nice looking one just around the corner from me, I need to get a picture of it.

I have several open areas on fairly wet sites, Alabama - that's where I planned to plant the two that I've e-mailed Amy about. Spruce pine must have been a popular yard tree years back, because there are quite a few of them growing in yards around old houses in Wiggins - I'm going to Walmart this afternoon, so I'll drive by where they grew before the hurricane and see if they're still there. I sure hope they're good hurricane trees!
You're absolutely right, fledgeling, about the fire thing! The lot across the street was burned a few years ago, and, needless to say, mine wasn't! I forgot all about the fire thing. I prefer native plants, but I don't mind trying a non-native every now and then - if I see any signs of it getting out of hand, then I'll get rid of it.
I also ordered a dawn redwood and coast redwood from Forest Farm, both tubes to keep the shipping costs down. I'll plant all these trees in containers with lots of chicken manure mixed in with the potting soil - you should see how much growth I get with chicken manure! :)
Sherry

Just a comment on the loblolly pine babies ... yes, they are prolific but if any of them grow too big for their space, just cut them down. They don't resprout from the stump. Far easier to cut them down then pull them out at that age. While I do pull out many, many of them, some of them make it to the teenage years and hang around a while. They make a nice filler until I need the space for something else. I've tried to transplant a few to the area between us and the neighbor (for screening) but they seem to be one of the hardest to survive the move. 95% of my transplants die. Conversely, 95% of other things that I move will survive!

That's good to know, esh ga - I guess I figured they might resprout.
I went by the houses in Wiggins that I knew had spruce pines before Katrina, and they're still there - that's good!
I kept wondering why the lot across the street had so many long-leaf pine seedlings coming up while I had none, so when I saw some grassy clumps coming up, I figured they MUST be LLPs, even though they're scrawny. With so many big ones throwing out cones and seeds, I figured I should have some. Now I think those grassy spots are just weeds.
I made two pictures of some of the seedlings in the grass stage on the burned over lot across the street. Here's a group of them -
{{gwi:476117}}
And here's a picture of one getting its first branch - it takes them so much longer to branch out than it does loblollies -
{{gwi:476119}}
Sherry

Here's a photo of the Spruce pine I promised.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:328055}}

That looks just like the ones here, Alabama. They're the only pines we have with real short needles - if short leaf pine grows here, I haven't seen any to ID.
I asked Amy for two spruce pines, but I haven't heard back from her - she's probably off for the holidays.
Sherry