A fine tree! I have quite a few Eucalyptus as well here on Vancouver Island. Which species is the one shown?

Cheers, Barrie.

Hi Barrie. The tree pictured is Eucalyptus dalrympleana x viminalis.

-Brian

Barrie, I have offered seed of that tree.... I can't remember if you ordered it.

Ian...no I did not order that one. Looks like I should though!
I did order and start E. microtheca. So far an awesome performer. I dropped some at Joe's on Saltspring Island and at Tropic to Tropic (Ray Mattei's) in South Delta, BC.
They're growing great and I hope to have another Euc success story here.

Cheers, Barrie.

Wow you must have got a lot of seedlings.... I haven't planted any yet!!

You will regret it.

This isn't California. I hear that all the time from Californians that move to our island. Most of them hate Eucs. and palms. On Monday I will be removing a 10'ft Trachycarpus fortunei from a recently transplanted California fellow. He just moved here and there happened to be a palm in his garden ,and he can't stand them. Fortunately I love them so on Monday the excavator will be digging it and loading it on my truck. I have a couple of hundred eucs. in my garden and they have never caused any problems here. I have them self seeding now. I even found two seedlings in my second story gutter. They are beautiful trees and I make sure to plant them around our island each year. There are some very impressive specimens growing in our town and personally I think they look much better than a boring deciduous tree in the winter months. I believe eucs. are more appreciated in the PNW . I'm sure they are just weds in areas of southern California. Cheers, Joe

By the way, that is one very beautiful euc. in your pic. I would never think of cutting that tree. Cheers, Joe

Calling deciduous trees 'boring' is about on the same level as 'hating' gums and palms. What bores me is monomania: exotics only, a certain kind of beer only, a particular make of motorcycle...I don't like conversations coming to a halt because the other party cares nothing about anything beyond the particular aspect (of the larger topic) that turns them on. Why one group of plants, but no others? I don't get it.

"...I have them self seeding now. I even found two seedlings in my gutter."
This addresses the big question I have about Eucs up here. What's to keep them from wreaking the same kind of havoc on this native habitat that they've wreaked in California?
Yes, they are supposed to freeze back if it gets too cold, but has that happened in the last ten years?
Can someone tell me why I shouldn't be concerned about them?

There aren't nearly as many gums here as in California, and in the past these have all frozen off periodically, for the most part. Individuals predating 1990 scarce, with some of those tending to be a bit derelict on top of it.

Current run of mild winters allowing Zone 9 plants (like gums) to become common up here not nearly long enough yet to demonstrate a persisting pattern, tender plants have grown for long periods in the past only to be lost when it finally got cold enough. Look at annual minimum temperatures for local metropolitan areas in tables posted online, they all have at least a few low (

The oldest Eucs. on our island were planted 35 years ago and they have not been bothered by the cold yet. E.perriniana and gunnii from good provenance are the oldest here. Joe

'Never' is a long time. The largish spinning gum I saw at the small botanical garden up there near Victoria had clearly frozen back severely at one point.

I didn't see that it had gone back that far.

Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of Eucalyptus perriniana

>>What bores me is monomania:

Of course if everyone has completely eclectic tastes then we would get bored with eclecticity. (Is that a word? It is now.) It's like "individuality" defeating itself.

About the question of Eucalyptus invasive potential in the Northwest.... I have had many eucs in my garden flower and set seed and not one seedling has come up, because there is too much competition from other plants (mostly grass). I think it also depends on one's soil.... eucs are more apt to seed themselves into sandy/loamy soil in cold climates than in clay. Eucs also depend on sunlight and frequent brushfires to regenerate themselves from seed, which we also have a lot less of here in western Washington than in California.

And one further consideration is that California is plagued primarily by just two species of Eucalyptus, E. globulus and E. camaldulensis. (There are some other local exceptions but those are the main two.) As we see with other genera (Prunus, Rubus, etc), just because one or two species are problematic doesn't mean the whole genus has the potential to be invasive. It's possible that none of the hardier species that are more usually seen in the Northwest have that invasive potential.

Having most of the population freeze off periodically kinda puts a damper on going wild in an area. It has been suggested that the spontaneous pampas grass that have been appearing around here recently, often on highway margins, haven't been seen before (or persisted and built up into a nuisance population, anyway) because most earlier winters killed them.

Hey to each his own. Most of the deciduous trees I don't care for, they bore me in the Winter months. I think Magnolia soulangiana looks great when in bloom and even with it's foliage throughout the warmer months, but in the Winter it just doesn't do anything for me. As for Eucs. taking over this area, I don't think so. Every so many years we get a killer freeze that cuts most of them back. Ron there are two older E.perriniana on our island that I haven't seen freeze to the ground and that goes for that big gunnii in town. It was planted in 1986 and it is one big mother of a tree. I had niphophila and gunnii survive the early Feb. 1989 freeze and they were both planted in a sheltered area. It's the cold winds that usually freeze dry the foliage and since we aren't prone to those winds the cold snaps have't bothered my stuff lately. Old Man Winter is good at weeding out the wimps. I bet E.debeuzavillei would have the best chance in our coldest freeze here on the coast and I'm not talking Feb. 1989 or Dec.1990. DEc. 1968 and Jan. 1969 come to mind. Of course early freezes seem to be the worst. Nov. 1985 nuked a few trees. Joe

Silvery, silky-hairy overwintering buds and curved branches of the saucer magnolia are great in winter. Coarse summer foliage of its many cultivars isn't so great.

Evergreen plants don't provide the line pattern interest of bare deciduous trees. Most also have less effective fall color, if any.

"Most also have less effective fall color, if any."

The ones that don't flower in the fall anyway. I think what some people are saying is, that a lush look in the winter, no matter how boring, gives a little warmth to an otherwise leafless, grey, dark time of year. It's nice to see things in the winter that aren't dormant, or gone for the winter. That includes birds, and other wildlife as well. I do love winter flowering deciduous trees and shrubs myself, but I get enough fall leaf color from the surrounding landscape to keep me happy on that front. All of my neighbors have more than enough to look at. To each his own I guess.

-Brian

Fully realized, finished-looking mixed planting uses all of these groups:

Deciduous trees
Broadleaf evergreen shrubs (with or without a few conifers)
Deciduous shrubs
Climbers
Perennials
Bulbs
Annuals

Hi Ron. I have to agree with your list above. I have all of the above in my yard, with the exception of deciduous shrubs, and conifers. When I bought my house, there were large flowering cherries, and plum trees here. They would still be here today, except for the fact that they all were in decline, and were disease ridden, so I cut them down. Every spring I take my wife and kids to see the fantastic spring bloom at the U.W. Arboretum, and have made many home movies during that time. Saying that, I really like the winter garden there at the Arboretum, that always gives me great pleasure during the darkest days of the winter. The fragrance to me is more important than the appearance of the plants there. Most of our gardening experience comes from the trial and error of the English, since our climates are fairly similar. I do notice the same passion for many exotics in the U.K. as well. I think the planting of many of these plants come natural to people living in such a climate. Some people stay in Arizona, or Florida in the winter, some people like to try and bring a little of California and Florida here, to thier own back yards. I know it gives me great pleasure and happiness when I have success with some of these beautiful plants here. I travel to California many times a year, and if I lived there I would become bored with the plants there as well, and would probably try to grow some temperate plants to offset all of the Washingtonias and Eucalyptus everywhere.

-Brian

I think most annuals are a complete waste of time. I guess there is a place for those that are competitive and require very little care, but I still don't bother with them. Conifers on the other hand... there are so many cool ones that I would not be without them! Especially all those Araucarias, Dacrydium, Dacrycarpus, Lagarostrobos, Podocarpus and friends, etc. etc.

Hi Ian, how are things going? I like all of the conifers you mentioned above. I don't have any in my yard though as you probably know. The conifers I mainly would avoid would be the common, and native ones around here. We kind of live in a modified coniferous forest anyway, you can see them in every direction no matter where you live around here. I love the untouched native forest though, like the Hoh River valley.

-Brian

And so the preconceived notions continue to flow. The main reason to take it easy with conifers, relative to broadleaf evergreens - if you are trying to make a pleasant effect - is that they are shadowy. Otherwise, there is a great variety of them, with plenty of devotees building up private "Aberratums" full of weeping, golden, variegated, columnar and blue conifers. Such scenes tend to be even more bizarre and tiresome than those created by Zonal Denial enthusiasts.

Popular annuals are useful (and popular) for providing continuous bloom. There are also 'Connoiseur's Annuals' (a book with that title being written by Graham Rice in recent years, I believe), same as with other groups.

I enjoy 'hardy' exotics as much as the next person, grow some myself. But, like I said, I don't get the 'this is all there is' mentality, same as with people who grow only dahlias or roses.

Hi All,
I just joined the site, and was hunting for information about the Eucalyptus...I see that the last posting was awhile ago (July 26th), but I'm hopeful one of you will read this & HELP!?!

I brought home a very small Eucalyptus (don't know the variety) that fit into my miata (with the top down of course), so it was only about 6' tall, and very skinny. I remebered the ones I had seen along Hwy 101 between Eureka and Arcata, California and thought how pretty they were, and nonchallantly (sp?) planted it in my back yard near the walkway, about 6' from our garage.

Well, two years (maybe 3) and some months later...it's HUGE, and leaning into the garage...not touching it with the trunk, but the branches do brush the roof all the time, and the leaning trunk is only about 5 inches from the edge of the roof!

Now...obviously, the tree has to come down for certain. I checked with a few of the "big tree" places to see if they wanted it since it's very healthy, but no takers. So, my husband and a friend are going to cut it down, which saddens me a bit, but...what else can be done! MY BAD! My question is...does anyone out there know what kind of root structure this kind of tree has? You see, we have an oil tank somewhere in the vacinity of the tree, and once cut down, we're going to have to dig up the roots. I know that for certain, we can find out the hard way, but I was hoping to find out whether the roots go straight down to you know where?, or if they grow out, more laterally. I'm not sure how to include a picture since I don't have a website, but I'll try to look up how to do that, and then include a picture. Suffice it to say (for now) that it's about half again the height of the garage...and climbing!

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

maituffyluv,

Copy and paste your posting on the Hardy Eucalyptus page.
(link below)

Cheers, Barrie.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy Eucalyptus Page.

Just had a question. I am on the exchange forum trying to identify my eucalyptus tree. I bought it about three years ago...when it was small. The leaves, when crushed, are highly scented and arrow, sickle-shaped. Within the past year, this tree has shot up at least 6 ft and is actually becoming very attractive. Still is very willowy (that's how it survives the hurricanes, I know). Any ideas? I saw an e.aromaphloia (spelling?) and thought that might be it. I know you guys know best what this tree is. Thanks for your help.
Becca

Becca,
That pretty much discribes most Eucalyptus in cultivation. Without a pic and sometimes even with a pic, it's very difficult to distinguish species. Flowering helps identify them as well.

Cheers, Barrie.

Barrie, I did plant one of those Euc. microtheca a couple of months ago. We will put it to the test. So far it has been growing quite fast. I also gave one to Bruce at Grace Point for him to test. On Saturday I went down to Bob's old place on the beach. I haven't been there for just over a year. That place is a jungle and nobody around to enjoy it. The place has been vacant for a year now. The Butias are amazing and big. The Cordylines even more massive. In that garden grows a very large Acacia melanoxylon and E.dalrympleana. The Sabal minor is mature and flawless, it even had some smallish seeds forming. The S.palmetto is also unreal. The Livistona he planted several years ago is also triving. Next time you are down my way I will have to take you over there. Also Ian, I was wondering if you started any of those E.globulus seeds I sent you? Just curious. Cheers, Joe

Joe, yes I did and they're already coming up! I'll let you know how they do....