Okay, I'll try to grant that request.

I've heard that one of the two will grow in pretty much every US state, but that they won't reach the tremendous size they do in their normal range. But hey, as I've been known to say- "An optimist is a person with 2 acorns and a hammock." Go for it- we'll be here waiting patiently to see how it works out...

First, I think you should spend a few days traveling all around your state, seeking the elusive sequoia and giant redwoods. Take pictures of all that you find, and post them here. ;-)

Hope remains!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Redwood Myths

That website about Redwood myths is interesting!

Very early last spring I purchased a bare root Dawn Redwood 'Gold Rush' from Wayside Gardens. They shipped one about 5.5 feet tall with an almost 1/2 inch diameter trunk. When I planted it I staked the tree, but plan on removing the stake by next winter. It stayed alive all summer even though the leaves showed stress from our summer and fall drought conditions. I did water it enough to prevent it from dropping its leaves.

Now the tree has gone dormant, and appears to be the same size it was when planted.

Hopefully the roots will be developed enough for me to remove the stake by next summer.

It will certainly surprise me to see this tree survive and grow well in NE OK.

Another surprise I found was that Ponderosa Pine trees will grow in NE OK. I planted 2 of those on a lot which does not yet have piped-in or well water, which means I did not water them. Even though they were planted toward the end of our hot and dry summer, they still looked green and healthy when I saw them just before our recent, record low temps and ice/snow event occurred.

Hopefully I find them still doing fine when I get to check on those pines again.

Cityboy,
'Hazel Smith' is a named selection of Giant Sequoia with bluish foliage. The original tree is doing fine in northern NJ. Also a beautiful specimen in the Gotelli Collection of the Nat'l Arboretum. You can grow this one in OK, might have to be coddled in the beginning.
There is a 79' tall California Redwood on southern part of Maryland's Eastern Shore, but this is very unusual.
Link you provided says Ca. Redwood should survive from Savannah to Williamsburg. You're in 7b Oklahoma, I'd say go for it.
Post same query on conifers forum, see what replies you get.
Sam

Coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) and giant redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) are ill-suited to the continental climate of the midwest.....they don't call 'em "coast" redwoods for nuthin'! No doubt with enough attention, especially with regards to siting and watering in the summer months, one can get them to live, but they are unlikely to thrive, as they really need a cool, mild and moist coastal climate. Dawn redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, is the least fussy of the trio and also the most cold hardy - you might have the best luck with it. There is a pretty sizeable one growing on the Uof Ohio campus.

Sunset NATIONAL GARDEN BOOK has most of Oklahoma zoned for dawn redwood. In addition, of course, to various western climates it also indicates coast redwood as being suitable for "warmer parts of [Sunset] 32", which it calls 'Interior Plains of Mid-Atlantic States; Chesapeake Bay, Southwestern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey'. The same eastern zone is listed for big tree, as well as several others. None of these, however, fall over Oklahoma.

In other discussions of growing big tree in the East there has been mention of a fungus problem. Dawn redwood likes moist soil, some of the first seen in China by western collectors were situated on rice paddies.

The giant sequoia is my favorite tree also.In eastern Wisconsin you would think they could not survive.But I have six sequoia's that are going on there second winter.I realize they need to endure more than that,but I've got my fingers crossed. Check out this website---- www giant-sequoia.com

Hi, I'm a new gardener with a new yard and also love redwoods. My original straight species sequoia and coast redwood require so much water that I planted 2 coasts & 2 sequoias in creeks, but they died of too much water in the summer. Now have 7 different varieties of coastal redwoods growing, 8 giant sequoias, different varieties, and one dawn redwood that is doing really well. None seem to require the enormous amounts of water the 1st 2 originals do. Good luck! Forest Farm has good variety of coast redwoods. Hazel Smith sequoias are unusually pretty, gray-blue and fluffy. Powder Blues are also really lovely.

"...these are my favorite trees. So I ordered some seeds and I'm going to give it a try."
Cityboy is not the first one to feel this way. While the US was preoccupied with it's Civil War, Grand Duke Friedrich I ordered seed of Giant Sequoia. He planted them at his arboretum known today as Insel Mainau. This is on Lake Constance nr Black Forest. I have seen the trees that grew from that seed and they are spectacular.
Britain's champion Sequoiadendron is 174' tall. It is at Castle Leod, Highland.
Sam

Hi Sam,

There are several taller than the Castle Leod tree in the British Isles:
Benmore, Argyll: 54m
Caledon Castle, Tyrone: 53.5m
Blair Atholl, Perth: 53m
Caledon Castle, Tyrone: 52.5m
Then four (including the Castle Leod tree) all on 51m.

The stoutest has a diameter of 3.55m.

Resin

Conversions:

54m = 177.17ft

53.5m = 175.52ft

53m = 173.88ft

52.5m = 172.24ft

51m = 167.32ft

3.55m = 11.65ft

lmao bboy

Thanks for helping with the math.

There was an interesting article in Fine Gardening several years ago titled "Trees in a snuff box" that detailed vitorian era planting of Giant Sequoia outside of california that is quite interesting.

You might as well try growing redwoods, since the only way to truly see if trees will grow outside of the little boxes that companies such as Sunset put them in is to test them.

My seeds arrived yesterday. Coast Redwood and Giant Sequoia. I have them in the refrigerator right now. I'll see if I can get them to grow after winter.

Hi Cityboy,You sound as if you would fit right in with Ca. people: its the land of Fruits and Nuts. Since my abode was in Midwest City, 0k. for 32+ years, just felt like saying that. Live about 5 miles from the Pacfic ocean in the middle of Monterey Bay. Have panted over 250 Coastal redwoods with about 95% surival rate. Also planted 650 Rugosa Roses with only one to bite the dust till now. They were planted in Jan/Feb 06. A few have already grown over three feet. Also new to this type of thing. Where do you reside in 0k.?

Sounds like we traded places eata.

I lived in Ca, in the East Bay, for 32+ years. Now I'm in Ok, not too far from Lake Murray.

Here is what your plantings require: equal measures of optimism, gambler and patience.

Vegas probably would put the odds against you rather high.But, hey, you might hit the lottery anyway.

Roll those bones, baby needs new shoes.

hi there, city/country boy... i live in muskogee county oklahoma and my husband and i were wondering exactly the same thing as you... where did you get your seeds/seedlings?

I have been to the Sequoia Avenue in Benmore Younger Botanic and it is nothing short of breathtaking, even a little scary.

Eduarda

Hi there,

here you can see some images of the Benmore giant sequoias, the tallest ones outside California. These are only about 150 years old and are still growing vigourously, so image what this avenue will look like in about a thousand years...
Click here

The tallest English one (Benmore is Scottish) is in the New Forest near Southampton: click here

All across western Europe giant sequoias are doing much better than in de midwest and east of the US.
For example, this is me next to a 110 year old giant redwood in Belgium: {{gwi:491106}}

Regards, Tim

Here's some nice Sequoiadendron in an experimental plantation northeastern England, doing very well. About 45m tall or maybe a bit more.

{{gwi:491108}}

Resin

Awesome pictures. By the way...Who's sick of Indiana Wesleyan University pop ups? Just expressing my inpatient's with some advertisers.

Wow! Really glad to see that these gorgeous trees are doing so well in other parts of the world. Does anyone know if their little cousin, the bald cypress has been successfully planted outside of US?

"Does anyone know if their little cousin, the bald cypress has been successfully planted outside of US?"

It does very well in most of central and southern Europe, north to southern England. Further north (northern England, Scotland, Scandinavia) it doesn't get enough summer heat to grow well. It is also widely planted in China.

Resin

Just at a guess, giant sequoias might do better than coast redwoods in a climate with cold winters. After all, they grow in the Sierras.

Coast redwoods once had a much larger range than they do now. These days they are happiest in the fog belt of the coast, cool temperatures and damp air. I honestly don't know how flexible they are about conditions. I was surprised to see them at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. Or were those sequoias? I thought I saw both.

The third member of this family, dawn redwoods are wonderful trees. Please be aware though that they are deciduous. Sometimes this comes as a shock to people who thought that all conifers were evergreen. They are one of the exceptions.

I am blessed to have four coast redwoods growing in my yard, sixty or so years old. No credit to me (they were planted before I was born), but I do feel fortunate to have them in my care. There is something wonderfully inspiring about these magnificent living things.

Rosefolly

That is one superb Taxodium!

Resin

Stumbled across this old thread in cyberland.

Fantastic taxodium in the photo.

I don't much evidence of any knees from that tree, but I reckon the ground stays mowed.

Any thoughts on how old that taxodium could be?

The growth rate must have been phenomenal.

I have looked at several web site for Giant Redwoods (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and have seen prices from $30.00 up to $75.00 for a 3.5 - 4 foot tree in a gallon pot. I went to a big Garden Center in Woodburn, Oregon (just south of Portland) and bought a 4ft Giant Redwood in a gallon pot for $7.99!!! I just had to share my "bargain of the day" YOHOO!

I am in Oklahoma as well. I am curious to hear from "cityboygonecountry" to hear how his experiment is going. I have 3-4acres of open land, and I am very interested in trying to grow some Giant Sequoias and also some Coastal Redwoods.

Would anyone have some recommendations on planting arrangements? Would it be best to plant single specimens? Trios? etc.