No rush now, tree has been returned since it had a hefty price tag and we were unsure about its suitability.

If anyone has ever grown this tree in zone 19 please let us know your experience.
Renee

Hi Renee, a guy from Tarzana said these are grown all over southern CA. Check out Dave's Garden for his comment.

They are quite impressive in 23.

That's what I thought. Gorgeous a few zones away. I saw Palmbob's comments, Eloise. Thanks for the research.

I have never seen one in Simi. I think there may be a reason for that. This tree also seems to require specialized pruning for the first ten years to strengthen the branches. I don't doubt my neighbor's skills, just the amount of free time he has at his disposal. I'm going to start a new thread on the never-ending question of good trees for Southern California.

Renee

I'm glad you mentioned that...I've foolishly been looking through the book 'Trees and Shrubs for Fragrance'...( I should never do this, I should know by now) and the hymenosporum is one that I was thinking about. I'm not up for pruning the first ten years to 'strengthen'. I'm leaning toward lower maintenance now....lol..

It should be fine in a hotter summer location, but they aren't a good choice for locations that get strong winds. So, if the spot you've got in mind for it gets Santa Ana winds, don't bother. I use this tree a lot here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it's a great tree for the fragrance. I find it especially useful when you need a tall slender evergreen tree with summer flowers that are fragrant. Knowing that this tree grows within rainforest habitat in Queensland into NSW, helps one understand that nature didn't prepare this tree for open windy spots. On the other hand, it can sometimes grows short and wide rather than tall and narrow.. I don't typically spend a lot of time pruning to thicken it up, but avoid using of in windy spots.

Considering I posted photos of the same neighbor's Coral tree in my driveway from last year's Santa Anas, it's probably a poor choice for his yard.

It gets very windy here.
Renee