For those who don't know what these look like...

Here is a link that might be useful: embothrium

Not to steal your thread, but sort of on subject, I just discovered this, and it is on the top of my want list....

Here is a link that might be useful: Grevillea 'Orange Sparkler'

You going to get that one for you nursery? It looks interesting.

I have a Chilean Firebush that is about 20 ft. tall and in full blom now. Ideal tree.Very narrow. Owned by hummingbirds. I bought a 6" tall start about 10-12 years ago.

Yeah, that grevillea looks like a must-have. Today I noticed my biggest, oldest fire-tree is more profuse than usual also - as it seems all sorts of trees and shrubs have been this spring. Some hybrid rhododendrons seem to have trusses (flower heads) on nearly every terminal.

Yes, I'd better get one sometime, but it's not available now. I've had a couple Grevillea seedlings pop up in my garden, but nothing worth propagating. My Embothriums are unexceptional this year, but some other things are blooming really well.

Ooh, now I want an embothrium! I've read about them in books, buyt wasn't sure if they would do all right in our area. Anyone who has one/sees one frequently... how much room should they be given? how are they with full sun? what do they do in our summer droughts?

What a nifty tree!

Full sun is great. They don't need a lot of space, since they primarily grow upwards. I'd say they are moderately drought tolerant, but a little summer water is better the hotter your summers are.

Brookings should use these as street trees.

Very nice! Is that a big ceanothus bush in front-right of it?
Need many acres ... so many great trees to plant. If I could live this life over again I'd get lots of land, 50 acres, out in the country on a riverfront at a young age, 17, and plant every day of my life. Now ***that*** would have been a worthwhile satisfying legacy of a life!

Yes, a blueblossom. Don't remember what the tree to the left was.

The tree on the left is some form of Magnolia grandiflora with the sun reflecting off the leaves making them appear yellow.

That's why I don't remember it.

Hi Ron,

Just was down at the Arboretum, and took a couple of pictures of the Embothrium there. Hope you don't mind me posting the pics on this thread. Here are two. Take care.

The more the merrier.

Here is a link that might be useful: The more the merrier. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002

Had it confirmed yesterday that somebody I know lives at the place with the fire-tree I first posted about at the start of this thread. Before I had noticed this specimen on my own someone else had said this party was growing the 'Norquinco Valley' cultivar, that would probably explain the heavier-than-usual flower production. This is the superior RHS Award of Garden Merit form, seldom offered (under the cultivar name, at least) over here.

Hmm, this fall must be time for a collection trip to the far reaches of north Seattle.

I must have one of these lovely trees. Do you believe it would grow well in Zone 7B? Also how brittle is it? I ask because I'm concerned about the high winds we had last winter.
TIA

If you're down low, near the coast should love it. Wind shouldn't be a problem, once established and well-rooted. Up in the mountains will be too cold. Canadian zones different from USDA, USDA 7B would not be warm enough. Here the more common deciduous form (Lanceolatum) seems to start having serious problems at about 5F, so allowing for a margin you want to have a climate that seldom dips below 10F. Having a borderline hardy plant like this grow 30 ft. tall and then freeze can be quite a bummer, although on the other hand if you don't plant one you don't get any enjoyment at all!

Thanks Bboy. 5F would be about 15C and that would be pretty rare here. We're only a block off the water so definitely coastal. Now - to find one!

Deer have chewed all the new growth off my 3 yr old Embothrium plants which had put on a foot of growth so far this spring. Also ate my Fremontodendron back to nubs, a plant they generally eschew. I would think those hairy leaves would be rather unpalatable.

5ºF isn't as rare as you think. 1983, 89, 90, 98 all had winters in that range, even to the salt water level. I remember Hood Canal icing over during those events.

The large one at the U of W arborterum made it through at least the 89, 90, and 98 events, so plant one and enjoy it until another really cold weather event comes.

Hi issafich,

Where I live there has never been a temperature recorded below 10F since records have been kept, with the exception of 1990. In that year it reached 7F at the official weather station for Bremerton. Both my neighbors claim it hit 11F on the water. Even if you live inland, 5F is quite rare. I grew up in Bothell, Washington. In my entire childhood we never saw 5F. I am 42 so I grew up in a colder time, but still.....6F was the coldest I remember, and that was in the 1970's and recorded near Duvall during a winter steelhead fishing trip. So......what is my point? Buy the plant if you can find it. Plant it. I it gets down to "5ºF isn't as rare as you think"zone, and assuming it dies, just plant another one!! I think Ron said it best "although on the other hand if you don't plant one you don't get any enjoyment at all!"

Early cold of November 1985 hammered them in Seattle, some even dying completely.

I heard that was a bad one here. I was in the Southeast at the time. Even on the Gulf Coast, native palmettos died, along with just about every other type of exotic palm down there. It was incredibly cold in the South. Single digits even in the Panhandle of Florida. I think Jacksonville got down to 2F or something. I don't think that happens often though. Take care.

-Brian

Brain,

I guess temperatures are all in one's prospective. I am 58 years old, grew up in the fifties and sixties as a kid and saw some really cold weather back then. I remember in the early sixties seeing our thermometer, Brady, WA, reading -6º F. The radio stations in Olympia were reporting -12ºF. We lost a brown turkey fig, roots and all during that event. Some people we knew who had a house right on the water at Hood Canal also lost the top growth of their fig trees. They came back from the roots. As a side note, a Fatsia japonica that was growing in the same area as the fig lost it leaves but when spring came, they resprouted on the bare branches and the plant continued its growth.

The 1980's and early 90's saw several cold event. I think which was caused by all the volcanoes that went off that decade, starting with Mt. St.Helens. All that dust cooled things off.

The first year I moved to Issaquah, 1998, we had a cold event that was down in the single digits. I remember seeing a 4ºF reading. Down town Issaquah is only 90 feet above sea level.

So even with global warming, another cold weather event could and will hit us. Even a cold spell that is in the high teens or low twenties can cause a lot of damage if it last a month or longer. This last winter, it didn't get below 15ºF at my place but I had a month of low to mid twenty degree nights with day time highs just below freezing to the low forties. I lost several marginal plants that made it through short duration temperatures in the past that were far colder.

I don't want to sound negative, just practical. I will still grow marginal plants. I can remember nursery people saying that we couldn't grow southern magnolia in the NW, but look at the number found here now. With gene splicing we might even be able to grow Jacaranda mimosidfolia and Delonix regia up here. I would pay a small fortune for a cold hardy version of one of those plants.

issafish,

I don't think you are being negative at all. Also, I really don't buy into the global warming hype. I think it happening, I just don't believe it is warming up to the point where we can count on not getting an arctic blast.

Where I live now, right on the salt water, It has not dipped below 20F since I moved there in the mid 1990's. So, really I just meant to say 5F or 10F is not a temp that happens often. That's relative I guess.

In saying that I am fully aware that next winter we could get hit with single digits, and widespread damage. It's happened before, and I am sure it will happen again.

Now being able to grow Jacaranda mimosidfolia and Delonix regia would be sweet! Maybe sometime in the distant future? Take care.

-Brian

Sooo -- I got one. It's all of a foot high! I'm going to put it in a large pot on a SW facing deck for this summer hoping that said exposure will provide it a good start on root establishment. Can anyone tell me how fast this little guy will grow and also what protection you might think apropos over this winter being as its still a youngun?

TIA
Holly

Holly,

My experince with it in pots is that when it gets really cold, less than the mid twenties, you might lose it. I have left fire-trees out in pots when the temperature has gotten into the mid-teens and lost half of them. So now I don't take any chances, I bring them into a cool but above freezing area when we are having a cold event. Then take them back out when the weather moderates.

They also seem to take a long time to put any height on and to bloom. In the ground it took me at least five to seven years to get any blooms from them, specially the ones that were taken as cuttings. I don't know how long it will take your plant in the pot to bloom since I never kept them in long enough to bloom.

Watch what you use as fertilizer. They are intolerant of phosphorous, so use a nitrogen fertilizer only. I lost several until I learned that lesson.

John

Thanks for the reply John. The *pot idea* is/was only for its first year. I was intending to put it in a good size pot - 5 gall or larger - hoping to allow it to develop a stronger root system over the summer. I have a smallish garden shed which has reasonable light and a heater in there should the temps fall drastically. I was thinking if I put the EC in there during say Dec/Jan + may Feb, then come March or so I could bring it out and plant it in ground.

Interesting your comments that they took quite a considerable length of time to put on height. The reading I've done indicated they were fast growers but seems that is not the case given your experiences!

I can live witih the 5-7 years for bloom thing if that's the way it is. I'm getting a couple of Davidia involucrata and gather that they also can be 10 years to bloom. Hope I'm still around for the bloom of both. LOL!!

Again, many thanks for sharing your experience.
Holly

Plants of all kinds in pots are vulnerable to frost, roots are much less hardy than tops. I've got a Chilean fire-tree blooming for the second year in a ~5 gallon pot (there are pods still on it from last year). Another, growing in the ground for several years is making about 2 ft. per year (but has not bloomed yet).

My biggest, oldest one got fertilized with lawn fertilizer (including phosphorus) one year and appeared to love the nitrogen boost. It has been suggested to me that the phosphorus danger is more important to specimens still in pots.

I was at a bbq Saturday night and saw one of these up close. A small 10ft one. It was beautiful. Does anyone know of a source in the Seattle to Portland area?

I heard awhile ago that Colvos Creek nursery near Vashon Island had just potted up a quantity of seedlings. Otherwise you can often even find these at independent garden centers, although since the bloom season has just passed maybe most have been sold.

Seattle to Portland places listing Chilean fire trees in 2004 included

Cistus nursery
Colvos Creek nursery
Sundquist nursery
River Rock nursery
Wells-Medina nursery

All have put up web pages.

MsK is listing it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Current Plant Inventory - 2008-09

Furney's, in Des Moines was taking rain checks for these trees, this past week end. Cisco had talked about them on the King 5 "Gardening with Cisco" program and they sold out that day (Saturday or maybe it was Sunday).

They are supposed to get some more in about 2-3 weeks.

JES

If anyone has collected seeds of these trees, I'd sure like to grow out a few for my yard. I've seen the Arboretum Tree but never in full bloom.
Does anyone have seed to spare?

I have open fruits from this year's crop with seeds still remaining within them present on three kinds.

E. coccineum oak-leaved form (name used by Heronswood nursery, leaves variably lobed and narrowish, partly evergreen - might fall under var. longifolium botanically)

E. coccineum var. lanceolatum

E. coccineum var. longifolium 'Inca Flame'

If you live near Seattle you may be near enough to want to drive here and get some. If down in the South Sound or across the water probably be better to order through the mail etc. Depends on how keen you are.