I am wondering what the hardiness of Fitzroya Cupressoides is and if anyone has tried to grow these in and around the Pacific Northwest. I haven't really seen any... that's why I was wondering. They look like truly magnificent trees and would fit in well with the native trees we have around here....
Cool ... definitely sounds like it would be worth a try around here if one can find any to plant. Maybe someone knows of a specimen already around here that I could see...
It's an Andean plant according to the web. Part of the temperate rainforest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzroya http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Fitzroya+cupressoides
No old ones here, may have frozen out in the past. The tallest one at the Seattle arboretum was measured 8' high several years ago. A friend's smaller, very slowly progressing specimen behaves as though copious additional irrigation would be required to produce a normal growth response on his dusty soil. Characteristic of very moist places in the wild, sites with both damp soils and high precipitation. Not attractive close up, rather more weird and scraggly than beautiful.
Personally I find it more attractive in close-up detail; the trees can be a bit shapeless, but the foliage is nice in detail. Worth adding that even very young plants just a metre or two tall often produce plenty of cones.
Tends to form a large, sprawling shrub in the UK and definitely does better in areas with higher rainfall.
