they are very columnar growing with a small canopy way up. ive seen one in Lari-Anns yard in Homestead that is probably 80 foot, they look like technicolor telephone poles.

beautiful tree, ill update my thread with new pics soon, the color in the bark is really vibrant after a hard rain.

Here is a link that might be useful: my new Eucalyptus deglupta (Rainbow Eucalyptus)

Does this have the brittle limbs that plague the other kind of eucalyptus?
Or is this a form of Malalucca?
Thank you for the info. They are stunning trunks.I have never seen one and would love to.
Good luck.
D

Robert Haehle (auther, plant guru, etc) would tell you no, you don't have the room. I think he planted one in S Dade and it grew to be huge. I remember this conversation during a MG function.

Robin,

I grew one for several years and eventually had to have it removed. If you're still in the same house and when you hosted your swap, I'd say your yard it too small for this tree. It's exposed root structure is tremendous. Mine was starting to lift my shed after only 2 yrs! There is a stunning specimen at Fairchild. I suggest seeing that one in person before making any decisions :)
Bren

I have always assumed it would be to large for my yard but a reputable nursery in Sarasota stated that they have had one which remains small. I do remember yours Bren and I actually thought you were a little nuts (in a good, plant geeks way) to put it in your yard. Then after hearing the nursery and thinking about yours, I thought (hoped) maybe I was wrong. The ones I saw in Maui last year were amazing.

Well if there is such a thing as a dwarf, sign me up! Yes I am a little nuts, I think I've taken out and removed as many tropicals as I have in the yard now. There isn't much I haven't tried. Live and learn.

I'd LOVE a rainbow eucalyptus. How far away from the house would you recommend planting a rainbow eucalyptus? Would it withstand a zone 9 temp range?

AND

Is there such a thing as a dwarf rainbow eucalyptus?

we have a lemon eucalyptus that grew to be forty or more foot in a couple of years. very narrow trunk(1.5ft.) and not alot of foliage. i read that they just added it to the list of mosquito repellants. laeves smell of lemon and gasoline. bark peels in the spring with the new growth. love to get more, but can't find them anywhere. leu gardens has a couple as you walk from the house to the garden.

We have a lovely Rainbow Eucalyptus at the Polasek Gardens in Winter Park. I will have to measure the circumference someday but my best guess is the diameter is now about six feet or more. It is probably 50 years old and 60 feet tall, also a guess. Huge is the best descriptor. It is in our East Garden, about 1.5 acres, and there are no buildings for root encroachment to become a problem. It also may be somewhat brittle as it suffered lots of limb loss during the hurricanes of 2005.

Just picked up two 4 footers from Lari-Ann at the Mount Botanical Gardens Plant sale yesterday. I expressed all of these concerns to Lari-Ann who said, 'if you plant them according to instructions they will not invade building foundations, septic systems and such.' The planting instruction are to dig a hole 4'x 4'x 4'. Remove debris from the soil. Mix the soil 50 50 with organic composted cow manure and fill the hole back up then plant your tree and as long as you keep the roots moist with occasional light feeding they will not have to go searching water and nutrients. Note on the fertilizing. Use a mild slow release and use 1/2 the amount stated on the packaging these roots burn easily according to Lari-Ann. I live on 1.25 acres and will put both trees in my front yard about 40 feed from each side of the driveway. Any comments or advice would be appreciated.

1.25 acres is plenty of room for two of these trees. BUT, to say all you need is a 4 foot hole of good soil to keep it in bounds is a little......inaccurate. In Homestead, where there is all cap rock, a 4 foot hole cut into rock would tend to keep them small, but in sand or any soil they get absolutely huge. You should not plant one closer than 30' or 40' from your house just to be clear of falling branches.

Sorry for this old thread ressurrection, but when I read that bit of planting advice, I near rose right out of my chair in stunned disbelief! I don't even live in FL, much less know who Lari-Ann is, but that has got to be the worst bit of nonsense I've ever seen on a web-based gardening site.

First of all, it is beyond ludicrous that that method, or any other, is going to keep this tree from becoming what it is-a very large-growing species. Secondly, that planting advice, if applied to any tree species, is just plain whack. In particular, the advice to dig to a four-foot depth: Trees should all be planted such that their root flare remains visible at the grade line. And then the part about placing soil amendments in the backfill-that was shown to be inadvisable what, fifteen years ago?

Again, I do apologize, and of course, with such an old thread, maybe my rant is simply missing its mark! But maybe someone was led astray by that nonsense. And especially in a state with such a great horticultural research program with Mr. Ed Gilman at UI-FL-Gainseville (I hope I got those details right), it makes it all the more shocking to see.

+oM

I cannot speak to eucalyptus or the planting instructions, but I can provide some information on LariAnn Garner. LariAnn Garner is an incredibly well-respected botanist in the area of Aroids. She is the founder and Research Director at Aroidia Research. She has a Bachelor of Science in Botany, and a Masters Degree in Plant Physiology from the University of Florida. See link below.

Carol in Jacksonville

Here is a link that might be useful: Aroidia Research

Knowing nothing about LariAnn Garner, other than what Carol posted, the planting instructions do seem a bit extreme and I'm wondering if there were errors in transcribing them.

I have planted dozens of Rainbow Eucalyptus over the years, every size from 3-gallon trees that went in the ground at around 4 to 5 feet tall, to massive 25-gallon trees that were planted with a Bobcat and lots of help. All of them were planted where they would get maximum irrigation and all of them were planted in low mounds - usually a couple of inches to as much as a foot above the original soil.

This is a fast-growing, massive tree, that will grow several feet a year to reach 100 feet and more in height. I've never known their root system to be invasive, however a storm will rip huge branches from that height and cause serious damage when they fall. When planted as a grouping, 12 to 20 foot center-to-center is advisable.

I found LariAnn Garner's Rainbow Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus deglupta) website. It includes links to two YouTube informational videos, a magazine article, a rainbow care sheet, photos, how to purchase, and other information. See link below.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Rainbow Eucalyptus

Well, thanks for not jumping down my throat for making that post! I have no doubt (now) that LariAn is a person of considerable knowledge and achievement. I still don't agree with those planting instructions, but I see that that is but a small part of her whole deal.

In any case, just quite possibly the coolest trees I've ever seen. No, I'm not entertaining thoughts of trying one up here in sconnie! At the very least, I'd have to wait for the snow to end.

+oM

I do grow them from seed in South Carolina and they're doing fine.

Can u root a clipping from the branches. I'm having problems growing them from seeds

To clarify: I notice the planting instructions say to dig the 4x4x4 hole, amend the soil, and RE-FILL the hole. THEN plant the tree, presumably at it's original depth.

I'm hoping to get a vacation home in Pensacola to flee the polar vortex, and would SO like to have one of these show-stoppers for my front yard, if I have enough space.

I sell rainbow eucalyptus trees in st.Petersburg Fl. I have small trees available to buy for $40 each. you can see pictures of them on Facebook like Aquaponics cafe. if you would like one send me your address and $40 via PayPal mattc87lmt@gmail.com I ship them out same day of payment. WWW.aquaponicscafe.com

Cool trees, and LariAnn is an accomplished plantsperson but nevertheless, that is severely out-of-date tree-planting tech. I've got no horse in this race...it's not my planting techniques which are being ignored in her directive....but it does fly in the face of say...Ed Gilman of your very own UFL, a leading tree researcher worldwide, based in Gainseville. Under no circumstances should one place soil amendments of any kind in the backfill when planting a tree. Under no circumstances should the planting hole be dug any deeper than such that the tree's root flare will be at or just slightly above finish grade. The watering idea is equally without supporting data. Huge-growing trees, genetically programmed to spread far and wide, about the only realistic way to keep them smaller would be the various bonsai techniques.

I'm done here, unless anyone should seek the reasoning behind those couple of points I made above. Just don't want to hog up all the bandwidth here.....but I surely could.

I found this whole thread interesting - thanks, folks! And WTom, I learned a new word from you, "sconnie". How do you say it? The pronunciation below surprised me with the emphasis on the second syllable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f05zNStaB5E

They are a borderline zone 9b/10a tree. Young trees are tender and will get damage below around 30F and below about 27F will kill them back to the roots. Once they get some size brief dips into the upper 20s causes little damage.

We have a couple planted here at Leu Gardens. The oldest was planted back in 2001 and is about 70ft tall now. During the winter of 2001-02 we got down to 27-28F one night. The tree was about 4ft tall and it froze back to the roots. In spring it resprouted and grew very quick. In Jan. 2003 we had one night at 27F. By now the tree was about 15ft tall and it only had minor leaf burn. Since then it quickly grew to 70ft. During the long cool/cold winter of 2009-10 it had no damage. That year the coldest we had here was 29F but there were 11 other nights at 30-32F and quite a few days when the highs were only in the upper 40s/low 50s.

Our 2nd tree was planted in Oct. 2013 and was about 3ft tall. It now is over 20ft.

Eucalyptus deglupta also bears nice white flowers once it matures. Our big tree suffered no damage during the 3 hurricanes of 2004. I have heard of them shedding large branches, as many big Eucalyts do, but ours has not done that yet.

Lol. irma....I just hit the first syllable-if I say the word at all-it's just a silly slang thang.

Pretty impressive growth Eric. Then too, this is a euc we're talking about here! Not especially known for slow growth, anywhere in that tribe.

Yup a 4 foot tree can freeze back to the roots- in the 20's. More established trees can withstand upper 20's without freezing back. The good news is a 4 foot tree planted in early spring can be 8-10 feet
tall by the winter season- especially if fertilized regularly with a
liquid fertilizer.

The key to growing one in a transitional area outdoors is to get is as far along as possible before the first winter- and be prepared to cover it with frostcloth the first winter if needed. That way you have two full seasons of growth on the tree before it goes through winters unprotected.

The trees grow rapidly, so this is doable if timed correctly. Another method, as I mentioned above, is to pot grow them up to about a 7 or 15 gallon pot, and get it as established in the pot as possible (bringing into a protected area during winter freezes) before planting out in the early Spring. You can get a tree upwards of 15 feet tall this way before planting out.

As Eric said above- its the early juvenile stage when they are tender. They have softer "juvenile leaves" at that stage. You want to push them out of this stage to harden them up.

Leu Gardens has done a great job of showing off this tree, and how it can be grown in Orlando.

I'm currently doing some experiments with Eucalyptus deglupta to do a "medium bonsai" with it- seeing if I can keep the tree at about 8-9 feet using bonsai techniques and drop-crotch pruning. My experiment will take a couple seasons, but I would like to know if it can actually be grown indoors in a sunny location, if given water. I know it can grow indoors, as I've been doing that at my nursery for a few years now (when I run out of room in the outside area, I sometimes will keep them inside near big south-facing windows).. the question is, can I keep it stunted. Many people in internet forums, etc say no, but I'm really not so sure.. I have a few ideas and I'm trying them all. I have been working with this tree for many years now, and I feel I know it pretty well- I'm not sold on the notion that it can't be bonsai'ed.. we will see!

Below is a link to my nursery website, Exotica Tropicals- with some more info/photos, etc

Rainbow Eucalyptus - Eucalyptus deglupta for sale

Hi

What reason do they give for why it can't be dwarfed?? I've done that a lot with various tropical trees and found none that didn't respond to some degree. Just keeping in a pot will result in a MUCH smaller plant ime.

Have never tried the rainbow but since you're really not going for a true "Bonsai" and you're not wanting fruit or flowers Most woody types respond very well especially fast growers. The big problem I found was that the tree did not mature Example a white form of a Delonix regia My goal was under 5 feet but failed to flower so kept going up ended at 10 feet. Was transferred to a neighbors yard where it is still growing but has expanded to arounded 20 feet but still no flowers and obviously permanently stunted . Similar experience with jacaranda and colevilles glory though those were lost to the hurricane lol

Also tried many species of palms BUT found it necessary to start from seed and root pruning on trunking ones resulted in death lol

Of the four I have left which I moved to the ground when it became obvious that they would not mature two are normal and two are still way under size

but all have seeded so obviously reached maturity .

There used to be a poster on the palms forum who showed tantalizing pix of coconuts in Bonsai pots sitting on a coffee table well under 3 feet!!!

He posted pix during a discussion and never posted again. My attempts all died lol So much wanted to find out the details.

Good luck with your experiment .I think it'll work !!

gary

Thanks Gary- yes I think the chances are good if done correctly. All I'm going for is a decent looking canopy staying around 8 feet- and of course, hoping the trunk thickens up nicely and peels as usual to reveal the colors.

Most people that I've seen write that it can't be done seem to just be doing so in passing- not that they've actually made a real attempt. From my experiences with Eucalyptus deglupta- in addition to the canopy pruning, it will most likely need root pruning as well from time to time.

I'm mostly curious as to how it will look on year 3 and older as the main trunk thickens up.. will it look funny, or will the bonsai pruning keep it looking "to scale"? I guess we will see how my bonsai skills are :)

Rainbow Eucalyptus - Eucalyptus deglupta for sale

I've always wanted a Rainbow Eucalyptus. Unfortunately, there's no room left in the garden for one or three. But reading this thread, I'm interested in your bonsai attempt. So much so, that I'm going to zip down to Homestead and pick one up next week in a 3-gallon can and try it myself.

If you are closer to East Central Florida, I do sell them in 3 gallon pots at my nursery - currently have some nice 6 footers and some smaller ones as well.

Exotica Tropicals Nursery - Rainbow Eucalyptus

I'm an hour and 20 minutes from Homestead, nearly 3 hours to you. Thanks anyhow.

I wonder if the Rainbow Eucalyptus can be topped to keep smaller? I have 3 sausage trees (Kigelia pinnata)which typically get really large (about 45ft or more in their natural habitat) and would be monsters here if I didn't cut them back every winter. I cut them back to about 8 ft to get them into the greenhouse where they grow about 2 ft in the few months before March when I bring them back out. Then they grow at least 10 more ft or more and branch all over the place during the /spring/summerfall lol. I really don't know why I keep them all lol. I just wanna see one flower and fruit.

~SJN

Hey sultry.You r not alone.I have one sausage,one rainbow in the ground.For over a year.Will see.I am in daytona area.Where r u?

"Topping" refers to arbitrarily lopping off branches, paying no heed to branch junctions, target pruning, or any other proper technique. As such, no tree should ever be "topped". Now if you will bear with me, there is a funny-sounding name to a technique by which trees really can be held to a smaller size than their genetics dictate-drop-crotch pruning. You can look that up and if things are still not making sense, hit me back here in this thread and I'll give it a go.

Drop-Crotch pruning is the trimming method I am using in my bonsai experiments, as well as a couple other techniques for root pruning etc

Buy Rainbow Eucalyptus - Eucalyptus deglupta for sale

Excellent. Funny name in today's immature world perhaps, but an ideal means to keep a plant at more or less a certain size range without destroying its structure. Bravo!

Secretsquirrel, I am up in the Jax/Callahan area. I have 3 sausage trees that were started @ 6 yrs ago from seed. They generally require me to put them in the gh in the winter here (as described above). One year I left one out that I had planted in the ground and it died back to the root level because we had several freezes. Surprisingly, it came back from the root in the middle of the following summer so I tried to dig it up and couldnt get the rootball out so it was basically just the trunk that had regrew...so I put it in a pot and stuck it in the gh that winter and it grew new roots LOL! It is about 6ft tall whereas the other two grew to 20 ft last summer. Amazing how some things can survive (root hardy) in this zone that aren't supposed to.

Has your sausage tree bloomed yet? How old is it?

~SJN

Wisconsitom

My entire grow area is 35x75 feet so i got into "dwarfing "right away lol

The goal from the start was to keep the plant from eating the house not an art form like true "Bonsai"lol I keep most of my plants in pots so right away I'm dwarfing Generally the most responsive were "woody" plants they responded to severe pruning of the limbs and roots the best. Worst by far were palms solitaries the worst while clumpers the best. To me the worst results were plants that failed to produce mature characteristics such as flowers .fruit, fat trunks whatever lol even though it produced a healthy attractive plant..

One of the best responders was dwarf poincianna I maintain it at around 6 feet with multiple trunks Flowers as well as normal ones and just as ambitious at seeding Only quality missing is size. Others that were extremely easy were ficus with those you can even remove the growing media!!

Another is powderpuff can easily maintain it under two feet and it still flowers and seeds as well as normal.

Greatest disappointment was a white form of Delonix regia grew well but failed to flower. After 10 years gave it to a neighbor who put it in the ground has quadrupled its size but still has failed to flower Still have no idea if a true white or was rooked from the seed co.lol According to Kew there is a white form but they suspect it is another species lol Still have an areca palm that is growing epi with no media using another palm trunk as a support. While interesting it's incredibly UGLY lol gary

There is a white poinciana, Delonix elata, native from eastern Africa to India.

That^ would be my guess as to what you had, Gary. Not that I'm some Delonix expert (eric probably is), but never have I heard of an actual white form of D. regia.

I totally get what you're after Gary. I envision your yard as a riot of containerized stuff. I know you know what you're about.

May be a weird question but has anyone ever seen a cross section of a rainbow eucalyptus? Is the inside of the tree "colored" as well? Or is it something to do with the bark and outside elements that give the outside the color?

Hello, new to this site. Reading all the comments and am curious to how the bonsai attempts were going? Would love to plant this tree, I'm in zone 9a. But don't want it to get massive. 15-20 foot would be perfect. Has anyone had success in this?

Lauren, this is an old thread....but here is my experience, about a year ago I got 2 rainbow eucalyptus, one to keep it in a pot and the other for the backyard since I needed something to replace a lemon eucalyptus that I lost it in a big wind. The one I planted in a pot was in a good soil, the one in the yard was planted without amendments in the ground.

I went on a week vacation and my daughter was complaining that she watered the pot every day and at the end of the day was wilted, it needed a ton of care and water while the one in the ground was fine. Because I cannot give this kind of care I decided to plant it in the ground....

There is a big difference in how they look today, and keep on growing rapidly, the one that was in a pot looks ten times better than this one.:)

The one that was in a pot...

Silvia

Whgille, thanks for the reply! I decided that I'm going to go ahead and plant one in my yard, even though I don't have tons of space. I've seen people planting in a corner of the yard next to the fence, which is where I think I'll plant.

Looking for some advice on my Rainbow Eucalyptus tree. I purchased the tree in the photo below this past winter. Its taken to its new home and is starting to grow rapidly!! I would estimate it's 15 feet right now. However, I have not seen any of the bark start to peel exposing the colors. The new branches are very green, but I'm afraid I was sold a different specimen. Has anyone had a tree that didn't show it's colors right away? Thanks for any help!

Brian, I have to tell you that I lost mine with Irma, it was one of the first trees to go, I am afraid that even it was beautiful I would not plant it again.

When it was thin, it did not show the colors but when wider, the colors started to show.

Hope that you have the right kind and not other eucalyptus, they all grow fast.

Silvia

Sorry to hear that you lost your tree Silvia....I would have been heartbroken. I lost a large banyan tree in Irma and decided to give the Rainbow a go. Your experience with the colors gives me some hope!!

I live in Tallahassee (Zone 8b) and have what was sold to me as a Rainbow which I planted in the ground four years ago. It is now about 25 feet tall and has suffered very little during the winters here although I have put Christmas lights around the trunk which I turn on when the weather is cold. However, those lights extend up only about 10 feet. It has experienced temperatures as low as 22 degrees without serious damage. It has the characteristic orangeish bark before peeling but there is only a uniform light brown color under the bark when it peels. Ironically, if I take the peeled bark and run a hose on it the peeled bark changes to a dark maroon color. The tree is planted on a small hill in full sun. I am reasonably confident that it is in fact a Rainbow. Any thoughts on the possibility that keeping a Rainbow on the dry side would keep the bark from turning to show various colors?

I'm in zone 9 b Florida i have noticed that when the tree is more dry the color is more dull, after a rain the colors are much more vibrant, keeping the bark on the dry side will not stop the color changes. I've had my tree for about a year and I got mine and they wouldn't refund me bc the tree was diseased but it seems to outpace the disease in the growing season still would look better if it didn't have a disease tho, i have mine when I got it and a week ago so what do you guys trees look like, also to mention the central leader has broke 3 times from strong winds and i trimmed some of the lower branches to make the trunk more visible so ill post a pic of that aswell