@shaxhome - thanks for that link. I was totally unaware of this development. As david correctly recalled, right from the beginning, it was made very public that the location had to remain a secret, because of the threat of pathogens. This did not prevent some canyoners and/or bush walkers who discovered the location either by acccident or by deliberately searching it out, from publishing the location on the web. From what I have been able to discover, yes it is a bit remote, but not so remote that you cannot walk in and out again within a long day. You're not actually correct, when you say it is only accessible by abseiling into the canyon. This is how John Noble entered the canyon when he discovered them, but they are also accessible by bush bashing through the canyons. @david - yes our frosts are radiational freezes and it is far from being a 'pocket'. I live in the middle of the Cumberland Plain :-). The east coast of Oz generally has its highest rainfall during the summer and autumn. We get quite 'warm' conditions during this time, with mean daily rainfalls for Oct to April of between about 60mm and100mm, with the rain falling as very heavy falls 2-4 days a month. When it rains, it RAINS!!!!! That is why I built a mound a couple of years in advance, prior to planting the Wollemi. Yes the soils here do tend to be fairly shallow, very leached and low in humous as the predominant organic recyclers are termites and fire. Apart from Tasmania we have very few deciduous trees like in USA and UK, when the fallen leaves are recycled by fungi and bacteria. It is a very variable country. Don't forget we are actually larger than the USA, if you exclude Alaska and Hawaii.

G'day Jaro, The pics in the first set are a combination of plants from Botanical gardens, here in Hobart as well as a few from my garden and an arboretum as well. Fortunately I have them all under cultivation but most remain relatively uncommon and much the domain of the collector, I struggle to give them away. The woolemi foliage is very unusual indeed and much like a cycad as you suggested. The Phyllocladus glaucus superficially resembles a Ginkgo but foliage is only a quarter of its size. The Phyllocladus genus (total of 5 species) is quite unmistakeable once you have seen it. The second set of pics were taken on Tarn Shelf, a heavily glaciated geological feature on the north eastern side of the Rodway Range in Mt Field National Park. Tarn shelf is at an altitude of 1150-1250m ASL,which in a worldly sense is not high, but it does constitute "alpine zone" over here. Unlike most parts of the world, the diversity in flora increases with altitude and there is a high level (around 50%) of endemism here. Here it receives up to 2600mm (100+ inches) of rain per year as well as snow and ice. Soil is shallow,fibrous peat over a stony clay subsoil derived from dolerite. The shelf itself runs for around 3-4 kms in a roughly NW-SE direction and approximately 500 metres at its widest point. Along its length it is dotted with a myriad of small lakes and tarns formed from glacial scouring, and of course......some amazing plants. I am fortunate in that my work requires me to visit here fairly often but you can never tire of it, it is a very special place. It is a must see if you are ever in Tasmania. Cheers Tasmanii

Mine did exactly the same thing, and then eventually died. It seems a lot of gardeners are experiencing this - not sure why. It makes for a very expensive excerise! I don't think the suppliers are telling us exactly the right conditions they need in order to survive. They should have this data after 14 years or so. I suspect that despite what they samy, you cannot just plant them anywhere and expect them to thrive.

Is it yours?? A very interesting plant. There was going to be a release of them over here, but due to some bug /disease or something they have been delayed. Heather