I just got back from a spectacular holiday in Seattle and can't wait to come back. In the meantime I've decided the next project for my green thumb should be to try and successfully grow a Monkey Puzzle Tree. I've been online for two hours now looking for a mail order nursery to send me one and cannot find one. Getting very frustrated. Can anyone help?? Thanks. Feel free to email me @ Janelle.Norris@tlc.state.tx.us
Hello Janelle, welcome to the forums. Maybe next time you come up to Seattle you can make it up to see us here in Vancouver. There is a discussion forum dedicated to monkey puzzle trees in the Woody Plants area of the forums. You might want to read through some of the postings to learn more about the monkeys. You may want to post a request in the Sourcing Plants Forum. I did not quickly find a source in your area on the web either, but I think they should be available at nurseries in Texas or by mailorder. Be sure you have the room for the tree. Araucaria trees grow very large and do not respond well to pruning.
Sorry to say, but it won't grow well in Dallas - the summers are too hot for it there. It is adapted to oceanic climates with mild winters and cool summers.
Which I should have told the guy three yeas ago, but I didn't know. Yes they only grow in cool mild climates.
Check with the Hartman Prehistoric Garden? http://www.zilkergarden.org/gardens/dino.html They certainly have some neat cycads, and if anyone in Texas has coaxed an Araucaria to grow, it might be them.