Ken, You can grow your cooperi outside at all times in your climate IF you protect it from temperatures below 28F. I grew this one easily in Gainesville, FL for years. The only problem is moving the damn thing once it acquires size. I had mine in a 50 gallon nursery pot and moved it into a garage every time the night temps were gonna go into the 20's. I used a two wheel handcart to do this. I'd just leave it lying on its side on the cart until the temps went up in the morning a put it outside again. It will stop growing in the deep winter months (maybe push one frond), but rebound quickly once the warm weather returns. To get these happy all you do is give them bright shade, tons of water (but with excellent drainage), and an aggressive fertilizing schedule (temps above 65F only). Man, they take off when you do that! Over a foot of trunk a year. Your little guy can be twice its size now by fall if you double the pots size and treated as I suggest. You'd be amazed. Don't try it inside, you'll kill it eventually. Never let it dry out, this kills them everytime. Good luck and have fun. PF

You mean Cyathea australis, yes? Without a working link to some good photographs there's nothing useful anybody can tell you - either about the apparently dying frond you describe - or about the overall status of the tree fern itself. There may be absolutely nothing wrong at all, but it's impossible to say without some visual information. Is the fern even rooted or just a bare trunk specimen? That's vitally important to know too. Nobody wants spots ON TOP of their leaflets, but you're not just making a fuss about the rows of spot-like sori on the UNDERSIDE of a sporing frond, by any chance...? One frond dying off is nothing to worry about in an otherwise healthy tree fern, especially in winter - C.australis isn't necessarily evergreen and defoliates entirely in many habitats - but some good pictures are going to be necessary to elicit the sort of advice that might set your mind at rest,

Hi I have a 20 foot Schizolobium grown from seed started in 2001. My only objection to it is that it is VERY brittle has broken several times in 40 MPH winds. Yet another writeup on the plant that doesn't mention it's most interesting habit at least to me. lol It produces a sticky resin so adhesive it actually catches lizards yet at the same time seems to repel insects. The resin is so adhesive thatyou can pull the legs off the lizard before it will let go. Have checked all over the web and have found no mention of it. It is grown extensively in S. America for a cheap plywood due to it's rapid growth rate. I'm hoping to get some flowers this spring as I see no way it's going to make it through hurricanes though it's survived three so far but was cut in half each time . Find it interesting that such an interesting habit does not even deserve a paragraph?? It isnot related to the famous "birdcatcher tree" and does not appear on any "carnivorous plant" lists that I've found. I'd just grow one from seed as another feature is the astounding growth rate. Was almost two feet high before developing the first true leaves.. gary

Hello, allow me to add a couple of points for those tree ferns that I so envy growing in your part of the world. Cyathea cooperi and brownii are a group of Cyatheas that require exposure to sun when they grow older. These belong to the Sphaeropteris group that is generally made up of fast and large growing tree ferns. When young, they need filtered shade. AND they need good drainage and constant moisture. 39C in the day? does the night temp drop to 20C or lower? If so, the Cyathea cooperi or brownii might be able to take a spot with sun. (Best is morning sun and afternoon shade) The other tree fern Cyathea australis on the other hand is a strictly forest shade creature.