Chinese Douglas Fir in the Boston, Mass., USA area?

12 years ago

I recently visited an arboretum in the Boston, Mass., USA area (zone 5 or possibly zone 6). They had tried Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), apparently without success. I wasnÃ¯Â¿Â½t sure if the reason for the demise was "too cold in winter" in the Boston area or "too hot and humid in summer" in the Boston area Ã¯Â¿Â½ or both.

I was guessing that the problem was summer heat and humidity and made the suggestion that, maybe, a Chinese Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga sinensis) would be more suitable, thinking that many Chinese conifer species can handle our US East Coast summers when their US West Coast counterparts may not be able to.

But that raised the concern that Chinese Douglas Fir might not be cold-hardy enough; apparently, it is typically listed as suitable for zone 7.

I have seen Chinese Douglas Fir in Silver City, New Mexico, which is much colder than zone 7 in winter, but of course, has no humidity ever!

What is your assessment of the likelihood of success with Chinese Douglas Fir in the Boston area? Is there more than one species (or variety) that would more likely be suited?

Thanks for your consideration.

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Comments (13)

salicaceae
12 years ago
Strange - there are surely P. menziesii sources that would do well in Boston. They are common in Ohio, PA and NY for sure. The var. glauca is very cold hardy.

P. wilsoniana is even better adapted to heat and humidity and does really well in Atlanta and even here in Florida. I have a seedling from a Taiwan source doing very well.
Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
12 years ago
Does really well here (var. glauca) and north to Ottawa (5a) & have seen mature specimens in Banff, Alberta (4a) and Edmonton, Alberta (3b). Boston would be a pretty solid zone 6 so cold can't be the problem.
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pineresin
12 years ago
Worth a try, it probably hasn't been tested enough to know exactly how hardy it is.

Japanese Douglas-fir is also worth a try.

Resin
davidrt28 (zone 7)
12 years ago
So strange, I was just about to bring up this plant...hadn't visited the conifer forum in about a week.
I have a small. P. wilsonii from Cam Forest. The needles seem to have no detectable scent when crushed. Disappointing! Can anybody else who has one confirm this is the case? I know Douglas Fir is known for its fragrance.
As for Boston, I can only say I've read about the tree being grown in New England so who knows why they have problems there. For example Weston Nursery sells huge ones from their specimen plant collection.
davidrt28 (zone 7)
12 years ago
for the second part of my post, I was talking about the plain old American douglas fir.
The Arnold Arboretum has some...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/names1?ETI=pseudotsuga
davidrt28 (zone 7)
12 years ago
yes, I meant P. wilsoniana for the plant I have
blue_yew
12 years ago
A specimen of pseudotsuga willsoniana I have doing well here.
davidrt28 (zone 7)
12 years ago
Blueyew, thanks for the picture. Looks like mine although mine is smaller.
Maybe like Abies firma, the other conifers from low elevations in Asia had no need to have fragrant resins in their foliage.
davidrt28 (zone 7)
12 years ago
As I mentioned on the forum a couple years ago, there was once a 15-20' douglas fir that looked quite happy, planted on a steeply sloping parking lot embankment at Tyson's Corner, VA. Might have been north facing. The cones were unmistakable so I'm sure of the ID. I doubt the plant is there anymore and certainly am not going to go to the trouble of looking for it, but it demonstrates they can survive on the East Coast in a place much hotter & more humid than Boston! And there are a couple at Longwood Gardens.
davidrt28 (zone 7)
12 years ago
I found a few pictures of the Chinese Douglas Fir here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mingiweng/4759209917/in/photostream/

I wonder if they will look so misshapen in cultivation.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mingiweng/4759209917/in/photostream/
pineresin
12 years ago
"I found a few pictures of the Chinese Douglas Fir ... I wonder if they will look so misshapen in cultivation"

They look in very good shape to me, considering all the typhoons [hurricanes] they get in Taiwan! Remember the one a couple of years ago when they got 2ÃÂ½ metres of rain in 2 days?? And of course, the winds to go with it . . .

Resin
sluice
12 years ago
Wow, those forest pics of Pseudotsuga wilsoniana look so lush. I guess that's what a meter of rain per day will do!
davidrt28 (zone 7)
12 years ago
You have a good point Resin. They even remind a bit of old Loblolly pines one sees in the south, on occasion, most are much younger but I've seen a few that look like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41460075@N08/4300999837/

The low elevation US SE, although it's rather still for much of the year (http://windy-future.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/us-wind-energy-map-8946.jpg) is definitely windy during thunderstorms, tornadoes, or hurricanes!

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41460075@N08/4300999837/

Chinese Douglas Fir in the Boston, Mass., USA area?

Comments (13)

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Smivies (Ontario - 5b)

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