Anyone around the BC lower mainland or Vancouver Island / Gulf Islands, successfully growing Araucaria bidwillii? Cheers, LPN.
Thanks Ron B. As I suspected from most reference material I have. I did see a nice specimen at a very reasonable price and that got my curiosity. Nice looking tree, too bad. Cheers, LPN.
Last winter, my big one (7') froze, after living through 7 winters. A smaller one, about 4' tall, lives on. Unfortunately I didn't keep track of the low temperature for that location over the winter, but it was probably somewhere around 18-20F.
I've seen large specimens of this species growing well in an area which regularly gets frost. Obviously BC gets more than just a little frost but it can be kept in a large container and brought indoors during the colder months. A similar species which has proved to be a lot tougher in the UK is Araucaria angustifolia. My own tree has survived two very cold winters and also tolerated a lot of damp weather this summer. Its still going like a train. If you do get either of these species ever, it is worth investing in a slightly older plant which is more likely to have hardened off. Mine was around 6 years old when I planted it. Any younger and I suspect it wouldn't have tolerated the weather so well.
Parana pine is being grown by interested parties here also but there are no specimens of much size so far. Monkey puzzle on the other hand exists in this region as living landmarks that go back many years. Bunya bunya freezes out in Seattle when still quite dinky, a friend visited a grove in southern California some years back and reported damage to the branches dating from a night in the 20s (F) on a previous occasion was noticeable. I've only seen big ones in Hawaii and mild parts of California.
I have a Araucaria bidwillii in my house in Champaign,IL it iis a 3 footer it grows in the warmer parts of the U.S. It native to southeast Queensland Australia. I also have 3 NorfolkIsland pine 1 4footer , 1 3footer and 2 seedlings. Wyatt reinhart