floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK: In theory I like the idea of trees that live 200 years or more. Also, I'm not sure longevity and slow growth are perfectly correlated. maackia: I am planting hawthorn and craapples. The problem with the genus rosacea is there are A LOT of cedar in the area, so rust is a potential problem. Not to mention Japanese beetles. ken_adrian: No one thinks of a "legacy shrub", but I suppose a multi-trunked shrub that suckers can live longer then a tree. The creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) can live at least ten thousand years. Not aware of any equivalent shrub that has conspicuous flowrers, and you couldn't necessarily tell it was ancient by looking at it...but if anyone can think of one, tell me. brandon7 TN_zone(7) I was actually thinking of Ostrya virginiana for other reasons. (wind resistance). Considered sourwood, but it would probably need coddling on the sites I'm considering. Haven't heard of most of the others.

Hi Don't confuse "Tree fern mounts with Long fibered Sphagnum moss The mounts are the trunks of tree ferns compressed and formed into various shapes usually for the purpose of growing epiphytes ,mostly orchids . I've used them for many years in the form of pots,sheets even in the shape of bunnies lol I grow 5 kinds of tree ferns but have had no luck getting orchids to grow on the living ferns .Interestingly they produce a fiber that repels epiphytes from attaching . Dead ,the orchid will happily grow right into it. They discourage the use of tree fern mounts because they have wiped out whole forests harvesting them for that purpose. If you want to mount orchids use cork bark works as well and is a renewable resource. though if growing indoors would think a poor choice ?? gary

Agree w/Bill. Bigtooth aspen not uncommon in NJ hills, but trembling aspen rare/absent. In fact I saw catkins on a bigtooth aspen here just a day or so ago.

Embo captures well - via the report he read from China - that these things will struggle to survive, and often look like it. I saw one somewhere between Scranton PA and Allentown, PA, a hard 6a location, a few years ago...that looked absolutely awful. But like a mangy old feral tomcat, it was surviving. I didn't have time to stop for a pic. So...back to Sarah's interest in the species if she ever shows up again... 1) have a sunny site with good, deep rich but well drained soil 2) not a dry microclimate (7b in "the south" could be way over in OK/TX, very prone to summer drought, or lower elevation parts of the NC or GA mountains with > 55 inches of rain a year!) 3) make sure roots aren't knotted when planting 4) anticipate a cutting grown cultivar could take years to form a leader (I am waiting on one myself) and EDIT - I forgot 5) keep it to one leader because generally speaking most trees look and perform better that way: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4977109/we-agree-some-cutting-grown-trees-need-aggressive-waterspout-control