Greetings from Whitby Ontario!! I had a call a few days ago, from a friend who has built a new VILLA in the south of Spain (Costa Del Sol) near Gibraltar. He's asking me, when I visit him and his wife in mid August to bring along a Canadian tree seedling to plant in their property, to mark the occasion of our visit. My wife suggested, a Blue Spruce. But here's where we need help, since we don't anything about trees!! Will it survive the flight, but more importantly, will it grow there, where the climate and soil is very different? It's very hot and arrid in southern Spain. Can anybody give us some feedback on this issue? Thanks, Vittorio.
you should check plant import regulations first, normally a transfer of soil is not allowed without inspection by the usual authorities. consider bringing seeds over instead, it might be easier.
Blue spruce will die there, as it needs below freezing temps for months in winter, never mind custom regs that don't allow any live plants without complicated paper work and expense.
The EU bans the import of live spruces (and all other conifers). It would definitely be confiscated and destroyed. It would have to be imported as seed. Rima is also right, southern Spain is too hot to grow Blue Spruce anyway; a good substitute would be Single-leaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla) if you can get some seeds of that from California.
Ehmm... single-leaf pinyon pine is not found in Canada (since the original request was for a Canadian tree). I'm not sure what to suggest, considering the different climates.
Can't see Red Maple being successful in southern Spain. I'd be surprised if there's any Canadian native species that would do well there, unfortunately - the southern Spanish climate is like central/southern California, not Canada (hence my Californian suggestion!).
Vittorio, I saw your question, when it was in the Test Bed, where we cannot reply, but did not see that it had been moved. I wonder if I caught you before your departure; if not, and if you went to Spain empty-handed, seeds can certainly be mailed in the fall. Sunsets Western Garden Book rates Acer circinatum for Sunset zones 1-6; 14-17. There is an interactive map of Sunset zones online, where one can check the areas in California they have designated zones 14-17, which include some of the central coastal areas: http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/article/1,20633,845218,00.html. Acer circinatum is [n]ative to moist woods, stream banks in coastal mountains of British Columbia south to Northern California, and thus is Canadian. Personally, this highly underrated species would definitely be worth a try in the shade of your friends garden, realizing that we are challenging climate zones. I planted a couple trees of this species in a protected spot in the shade of my moms USDA zone 6 garden, where it is so hot and windy. This July temperatures reached 110 F, but they live on. Apparently, if you take seedlings with you, you would have to bare-root them and put them in a plastic bag with really wet paper around the roots: risky. I would pack as many seeds as you are comfortable with in your pockets. Then I would grow them in pots, if someone is available to water them, probably daily in that climate, and keep them in the shade. Otherwise plant a young tree out in the shade of other plants, which have similar moisture requirements.
