The test will be when it gets down to single digits. Lots of stuff grows for years here, until it gets down to 5 degrees F. etc. - that's when the herd gets thinned. And is why most places in metropolitan areas - and all places in outlying areas - have no old, large examples of novelties like this. It's not like even the big boxes don't truck in California Specials and sell them to the unwary in quantity. A new border that went in recently, maybe just this past month, up the street from me has something as a centerpiece that looks like it is probably a Cestrum.

"It's not like even the big boxes don't truck in California Specials and sell them to the unwary in quantity."

I doubt this particular plant was ever a home depot special though. When I first looked for them in the late 1990s using the old paper version of the UMN plantfinder, only 1 nursery listed it. The now closed one in Northern California that had some odd name like Pacific Forest Services or something. They wanted $90 a piece. They were quite expensive on everything, and in that sense struck me as the west coast version of Louisiana Nursery, which must have been one of the most breathtakingly expensive mail order nurseries ever. I still have their 1992 "50th anniversary" (IIRC) catalog somewhere. Many Magnolia grafts were $100.

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Fri, Dec 7, 12 at 0:08

Ian your tree looks good. Where did you get the seed or plant?

Looks good - though much more open and Cunninghamia-like than they usually look here. I wonder if it is due to the climate or seed source. We have one here that is almost fastigiate.

Yes, Parana pine comes on the market when interested parties get seeds and produce some stock - not a regular, frequent occurrence. All examples I have seen had this same open, China fir-like aspect. The one I have planted on Camano Island remains tiny and grows very slowly, has been singed once or twice. It did green up after I fertilized it. One I used to see on Vashon Island was also always small and poorly colored, the collection it was part of received pretty much no post-establishment watering and was probably more or less never fertilized either. The property sold so I have not been able to see if the tree ever got more than about 2' tall. One about twice that size seen in a Seattle garden some years ago was quite green, could easily have been taken for a Cunninghamia with its similar leaves and open habit.

It should be noted that when planted on properties in the Hawaiian cloud forest China fir is quite dark, lush and more dense. So the familiar sparse and pale appearance, with dead leaves visible is a factor of site conditions and not genetics. Arborvitaes are also able to grow on less prime sites, resulting in numerous unattracive examples in the planted landscape, with those more fortunately situated showing what they are actually supposed to look like.

FWIW Sonoma Horticultural Nursery had a slew of them a couple years ago. He has a producing tree. He doesn't do mail order though.

Yes, one in the border near the parking. And I think I saw a hedge(!) of it along another side of the property as well. Also a nice Glytostrobus, in the stream area, and many other interesting specimen trees. The lack of mail order sales may have made this special place a bit of a sleeper.

Agreed, it's an amazing place. If I could garden anywhere in the US it would be that general area, as long as I knew I had a good well or some guaranteed access to water. It's a little warmer than the immediate Bay area but still mild enough in summer for things like the Cinnabarinum series Rhododendrons. I don't recall him having any orange trees but there were some in his neighbor's gardens. There aren't too many places in the world where the twain can be grown together.
Of course, there are even better climates overseas.

I have lots of photos from SHN and also collected lots of Araucaria seeds there. My dream would be for that place to go up for sale and for me to win the lottery so I could afford to buy it.

I bought it at Colvos Creek Nursery, as you might expect. We bottomed out at 9F in December 1990 and 13F in February 1989, which I consider to be not so bad compared to what it could have been. I suspect it will grow until someone cuts it down but if it is ever killed by cold - or survives worse than it has - I suppose we can all learn something. I haven't been to Sonoma Horticultural Nursery in 9 years, probably didn't know half what I was looking at back then - I guess I should go back.

Property has a nice representation of evergreen magnolias of the Manglietia and Michelia persuasion, most of noteworthy size. And, of course, nursery is good for things like Maddenia rhododendrons etc. - all at good prices.

I have a bunch of seedlings of these. I brought them inside when we had a cold spell (temps into the lower 20s F) this past winter, but I think I now feel more comfortable just leaving them outside. One less thing to worry about!

One reason I'm not going to mess around with them is one of the most locally well-known advanced gardeners in the DC area tried them at least a couple times and the coldest winters would always take them out. (initials A.H. for anyone local) It's the kind of thing where sure it might last 5 or even a few more years but a winter like PV-I, PV-II or 1994 is going to leave you with a massive prickly carcass in your garden.

Dean if you don't mind me asking, where did you get seed? It's hard to come by although I suppose Sheffield or Schumacher might have it on an occasional basis.

Yes, Sheffield's had seed for a short time last summer. I bought 10 seeds, 7 germinated, and one of the seedlings I gave away. So I've got six remaining. I'm going to graft A. araucana (monkey puzzle tree), which I'm also raising from seed, on to several of them this winter. And then I'm going to successfully grow a monkey puzzle tree, to the amazement of the locals. That's the plan, at least.

It's a good one!