Eucalyptus in the Southeast U.S.

[Estlander]

Here’s my Silver Dollar Eucalyptus(“Eucalyptus cinerea”....I think). It’s been in the ground for almost two years now. Saw 26F with icy rain and between 22-23F the next night in the 2017-2018 winter with absolutely no damage. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by Estlander

[Estlander]

Delete

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by Estlander

[Matthew92]

23 hours ago, Estlander said:

Here’s my Silver Dollar Eucalyptus(“Eucalyptus cinerea”....I think). It’s been in the ground for almost two years now. Saw 26F with icy rain and between 22-23F the next night in the 2017-2018 winter with absolutely no damage. 

 

Very nice! I never get tired of E. cinerea. Come to think of it, I have noticed more than one peeking above some fences of neighborhoods I've driven by in Destin.

[Turtlesteve]

Well here in 8B I have three Eucalyptus that are decently established - one each of E. dalrympleana, gunnii, and cinerea.  The E. dalrympleana has done the best so far, and has outpaced other fast trees like red maple and dawn redwood. 

I am trying to get a couple more E. cinerea established but the first year is really tough (I started with something like 10-15 plants to get the three noted above).

Steve

[Matthew92]

17 hours ago, Turtlesteve said:

Well here in 8B I have three Eucalyptus that are decently established - one each of E. dalrympleana, gunnii, and cinerea.  The E. dalrympleana has done the best so far, and has outpaced other fast trees like red maple and dawn redwood. 

I am trying to get a couple more E. cinerea established but the first year is really tough (I started with something like 10-15 plants to get the three noted above).

Steve

Cool! good to hear you those are doing well for you, especially the dalrympleana and gunnii. Could you share some pictures? How long have you had them? I almost wonder if Eucalyptus are more finnicky when it comes to transplanting because every one I've transplanted has had a stunted period for longer than many other shrubs and trees I've done the same with.

[Turtlesteve]

19 minutes ago, Matthew92 said:

Cool! good to hear you those are doing well for you, especially the dalrympleana and gunnii. Could you share some pictures? How long have you had them? I almost wonder if Eucalyptus are more finnicky when it comes to transplanting because every one I've transplanted has had a stunted period for longer than many other shrubs and trees I've done the same with. 

Yeah I'll get some photos. 

I almost gave up on them actually.  I agree with them having transplant issues and in general, they seem to have problems getting a good root system established in this climate.   In moist ground either the roots rot, or the foliage grows too fast for the roots (meaning they suffer if it gets dry, or blow over in the wind).

For the two I have just planted, I am leaving a ring of tall grass around them.  It's completely the opposite of normal when planting a tree, but I'm hoping that competition with the grass will slow them down enough to let them get established properly.

[Turtlesteve]

OK, finally got around to taking photos:

E. dalrympleana foreground with a much smaller E. gunni behind it.  Also featuring Sabal minor and some weeds.

 

Here's E. cineraea.  Butia odorata barely visible behind it.

[palmsOrl]

I have only seen a couple in the Orlando area over the years and they never looked very healthy.

[Matthew92]

1 hour ago, Turtlesteve said:

OK, finally got around to taking photos:

E. dalrympleana foreground with a much smaller E. gunni behind it.  Also featuring Sabal minor and some weeds.

Here's E. cineraea.  Butia odorata barely visible behind it.

 

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Wow! both are beautiful! and the dalrympleana is much more robust and healthy than I imagined. To get such a nice Euc to thrive like that in Northwest FL is my goal. Since they are from a more mild/cooler climate in higher altitude areas of Southeast Australia, I had always suspected they might struggle in our hot, lowland summers in the Southeast. But your specimen is proving otherwise! 

How has it taken freezes? Also may I ask where you got the seeds from?

Edited July 26, 2019 by Matthew92

[Turtlesteve]

Winter damage seems to be inconsistent - never any foliage burn, but I do see a little dieback after it warms up good.  The E. gunnii died back to the ground once, but recovered.  I tend to think the problem is root damage due to wet soil rather than actual freeze damage.

The seeds were from some random seller on Ebay and had good germination.  I managed to germinate E. coccifera and E. nicholii too, but killed all the seedlings. 

[Matthew92]

19 hours ago, Turtlesteve said:

Winter damage seems to be inconsistent - never any foliage burn, but I do see a little dieback after it warms up good.  The E. gunnii died back to the ground once, but recovered.  I tend to think the problem is root damage due to wet soil rather than actual freeze damage.

The seeds were from some random seller on Ebay and had good germination.  I managed to germinate E. coccifera and E. nicholii too, but killed all the seedlings. 

Cool- what's the lowest temp they have seen?

[Turtlesteve]

Lowest was about 13-14F.

Steve

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

We have several euc's in the ground testing with cauldescencs actually making seed this year!  Cineraea are finicky when young.

[Matthew92]

Update on the Destin, FL Corymbia citriodora I stealth planted back in March 2018 (seed sprouted Aug 2017). Amazing growth. Taller than a person now. The holly tree nearby has grown a lot too and was causing the Coryb. to lean outward- so my Dad went and cut the branch that was overhanging it recently. This past winter it saw temps no colder probably than 30 degrees. However, as is typical for the northern Gulf Coast, there were plenty of nights into the 30's and some very chilly highs many days. Through it all was still unfazed. And although I think it did slow down growth, through winter it always had new, small red leaves at the tip of each twig. Will be interesting to see how it does when inevitability there are lows well into the 20's or lower again. Not too bad for a 2 and 1/2 year old tree (from seed)! If I had to bet I'd say that this is probably the only Corymbia citriodora in ground in this part of Northwest FL. 

Bark is already peeling to reveal a progressively more white/gray, smooth trunk.

After overhanging holly branch was cut. It should shoot above that holly in no time. And although it has a resulting lean, I think it will compensate on it's own and still have a good branching structure.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Matthew92

[Matthew92]

Update on Eucalyptus dalrympleana in my parent's yard just north of the bay in mainland Okaloosa county. As seen in previous pictures on this thread- it was putting out some modest growth the last two years, but was developing a somewhat lanky, weak branching structure with all the leaves on the outer tips of each branch causing what should have been the inner canopy to be pretty much nonexistent. Part of this seemed to be due to a leaf fungus that would cause the oldest leaves to die and fall off. So last year I had staked it because it was very unstable, and when I came home this past Christmas I found a couple of the ties had come off and the tree was at a crazy angle and being whipped around in whatever direction the wind was blowing. I got fed up with the poor branching structure and cut the top 1/3 of the whole top off along with all branches only leaving a few inches left on some of the larger ones. I had read that eucalyptus can respond well to such hard pruning so I though I might as well try. So going into spring the tree had no leaves at all; but in March, it started growing back and has since exploded with growth and is doing the best it's ever had. It also seems that when I cut all the leaves off, the leaf fungus it previously had has disappeared (for now). I knew this pruning would sacrifice a clear leader for the tree, but I think it really needed the rejuvenation. And with some careful pruning, I believe a decent branching structure and leader can still be made. As for cold tolerance, this past winter it got to about 25-26 deg F with a few other below freezing nights; but as seen- that didn't affect it at all (although most of those freezes happened while the tree was cut back to the main trunk). Still, I think the dalrympleana shows promising cold hardiness for this climate in that the leaves seem thicker and more tough/rigid than the E. viminalis which browned very easily in temps as high as the mid 20's (although I think the E. viminalis I got may have had less cold hardy genetics). Also, the dalrympleana seems to go dormant and not actively grow at all in the winter months.

Also, you'll see in the top picture that the tree has a trunk split. From what I know- this can be due to fast growth or other environmental factors. I inspected it up close and beyond the outer bark layer, it seems to be fusing/callusing back and it doesn't to be adversely affected at this time. After the hard pruning, I also left it un-staked (even though the poles are still there) after reading in another thread here on PT that it can be best to let the tree naturally develop its own trunk resistance/strength. Regardless, its center of gravity is not as top heavy now and is already much more firm/sturdy.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Matthew92

[necturus]

I'm surprised the Corymbia citriodora isn't a little taller. I'll take a picture of mine tomorrow, planted about the same time and shooting towards the heavens. Maybe a difference in shading? I figure if mine gets frozen it'll make a nice decorative piece of wood.

[necturus]

Here's mine. It's difficult to appreciate its height from the picture, but it has to be thirty feet or so. The fern-like foliage next to it is  Peltophorum dubium.

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, necturus said:

Here's mine. It's difficult to appreciate its height from the picture, but it has to be thirty feet or so. The fern-like foliage next to it is  Peltophorum dubium.

Great growth on both.   Honestly though, that's going to be an interesting battle as both of these beasts fill out ( if not knocked back occasionally by future freeze events ). Hope they're a tad further apart than it appears in the picture.

[necturus]

1 minute ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Great growth on both.   Honestly though, that's going to be an interesting battle as both of these beasts fill out ( if not knocked back occasionally by future freeze events ). Hope they're a tad further apart than it appears in the picture.

I have planted a lot of things closely on purpose. I like the jungle look, live in a (relatively) cold climate, and do not have a huge lot. I have already done some editing and am okay with more in the future as need be. I favor the Peltophorium. 

There is one large Peltophorium dubium in Houston that I am aware of. It is not nearly as big as the ones in Florida, likely because it gets frozen back rarely. When only a few feet tall mine froze to the ground two years ago. Of course, that was our worst freeze in thirty years. 

[Matthew92]

@necturus how tall was your C. citriodora when you planted it? For mine, keep in mind the seed sprouted 2 and 1/2 years ago and was planted 2 years ago when it was only about a foot tall (it had suffered some damage while it was still in a pot in the 2018 freeezes).  As mentioned previously, it was sort of stunted for a good 3 months or so after planting from transplant shock/getting established. It was still somewhat slow in the several months after it did get over the transplant shock in 2018. It did most of it's growing in 2019 where it probably put on 2/3rd's of it's current height. Somewhere around 4-4/12 feet of growth in one year is pretty impressive I'd say.

Edited May 27, 2020 by Matthew92

[necturus]

It was a seedling. 4 inch pot. Yes, you've had pretty good growth and I expect it'll only pick up more steam from there!

[Matthew92]

Update on the E. dalrympleana. Photo taken in early July. Looking even better with strong growth. No sign of leaf fungus returning.

[SailorBold]

Just thought I'd share a pic of my silver drop although I'm not in the southeast...  im actually thinking about removing it.. its getting almost too big... and i think its going to shade out my yard.

[Nj Palms]

E.cinerea had no damage this mild winter with a low of 12°F. Vortex winter will knock this totally out or down to the ground. Nice to look at for now. Have some gunnii too.

[VA Palmer]

I ordered five 'Big O' Eucalyptus Omeo Gum (neglecta) trees this past Spring from ToGoGarden/Gardener Direct for 7a in Northern VA.  They are in pots on the deck this summer (maybe two 1/2 feet tall) and I will keep them in the greenhouse through Winter.  I hope to plant them in Spring in my row around the pool area between my Windmill fortunei and Yucca recurvifolia.

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, VA Palmer said:

I ordered five 'Big O' Eucalyptus Omeo Gum (neglecta) trees this past Spring from ToGoGarden/Gardener Direct for 7a in Northern VA.  They are in pots on the deck this summer (maybe two 1/2 feet tall) and I will keep them in the greenhouse through Winter.  I hope to plant them in Spring in my row around the pool area between my Windmill fortunei and Yucca recurvifolia.

Having grown up around 1000's of them, wouldn't recommend planting any   Euc. anywhere near a pool.. Roots - on many sp.-  tend to be quite aggressive and will destroy sidewalks/foundations if stuffed into a small area.  Also, when bigger, many are weak wooded and can drop limbs/branches during relatively normal storms/ high wind events, -a consequence of being fast growing.

[VA Palmer]

Super Thanks!  Right now the row is about 30' from the pool and well away from any other structures.  Think that's still too close?

[Silas_Sancona]

Just now, VA Palmer said:

Super Thanks!  Right now the row is about 30' from the pool and well away from any other structures.  Think that's still too close?

30ft would be the closest i'd come to the pool.  I saw some sources list it as staying shorter -say in the 15Ft to maybe 25ft in height range- so possible wind related damage issues might not be as much of a concern. On the other hand, other sources list E. neglecta reaching 60ft..  Which could be a problem in time.  Beautiful trees no doubt, just have to be placed where they won't make you regret planting them. lol..

[VA Palmer]

1 minute ago, Silas_Sancona said:

30ft would be the closest i'd come to the pool.  I saw some sources list it as staying shorter -say in the 15Ft to maybe 25ft in height range- so possible wind related damage issues might not be as much of a concern. On the other hand, other sources list E. neglecta reaching 60ft..  Which could be a problem in time.  Beautiful trees no doubt, just have to be placed where they won't make you regret planting them. lol..

Thanks again

[Matthew92]

Just visited Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville this past December. Found a couple large Eucalyptus that unfortunately weren't labeled. However, I'm about 99.9% sure one of them is E. viminalis. Not sure about the other one though it is very similar looking. Unfortunately the garden was going to close somewhat soon when I got there and there was no staff close by to ask. I figure this viminalis may be the one featured on this website (scroll down to portion of article with photo of the E. viminalis at Kanapaha). Growing Eucalyptus that look like this is exactly my goal of replicating in the Western FL Panhandle. It truly was discouraging in my previous endeavor trying to grow E. viminalis with them getting so easily cold damaged. I still think the seed source I got them from was of lesser cold hardy stock. But being that Gainesville's isn't a terribly different climate, I think I can pull it off if I can get the same seed source as the trees here (as well as getting them past the juvenile phase after which they should be a lot more hardy). These trees at Kanapaha saw low 20's F in January 2018 and upper teens F in Jan 2010 and yet don't seem to show any evidence of previous setback from major cold damage, so I have high hopes for having similar success at my location.

E. viminalis on left

E. viminalis on right

E. viminalis trunk closer up

E. viminalis higher up

Other unknown Eucalyptus species

Unknown Eucalyptus species' leaves up close. E. viminalis' leaves are much more narrow and long compared to this one

[Matthew92]

The Corymbia citriodora in Destin sure did not like 19-20 deg F. The bark at the base was already splitting due to growth (it’s done that before), but I noticed that after this Christmas freeze, higher up the bark it is also splitting as well. Will be interesting to see if it will resprout from the lignotuber or base of the trunk.

[thyerr01]

Corymbia ptychocarpa after -8C (17f) and 36+ hours below freezing during our Christmas freeze. All six, including the 2nd from the left which is either a hybrid or something else entirely, have lots of new growth from the lignotubers. I doubt any amount of cold in Houston can kill them, but they are probably destined to be a multi-stemmed hedge. Euc. tetraptera seedlings will go in the ground in spring.

Edited January 14, 2023 by thyerr01

[richtrav]

My ptychocarpa had some leaf scorch on it but shouldn’t have stem damage (min 28F). It’s a cool tree that unfortunately gets chlorotic if irrigated with river or well water. I don’t know of any Corymbia that weren’t heavily damaged in the freeze of 2021 down here.

The eucalyptus at Kanapaha may be amplifolia, the University of Florida was working with that species extensively for use in Florida and the Southeast and they had a small plantation of them in Gainesville. As the name suggests the leaves are wider than many eucs, especially when young:

[Matthew92]

The Corymbia citriodora in the above post has sprouted back vigorously from the lignotuber! Will post pictures soon as well as an update on my other Eucalyptus endeavors.

[Turtlesteve]

Just as an update - our December lows at 12F killed eucalyptus to the ground, except for E. neglecta which was basically not damaged.  The cold was severe enough that most of what was killed is not re-sprouting.

[clinenotklein]

A while back this thread was influential in me starting with Eucs and I started with some Grandis (because they're good in tropical conditions and the fastest–great for experimentation even where they aren't hardy) and Camaldulensis (the results in Houston seem to bode well for 9a Southeast). Seeds from both and one Grandis plant from ebay. I've killed everything I've germinated (but still have seeds–need to retry). The potted Grandis is great but is not doing well this Spring (because I haven't fed it yet—I know it's a no-no but it literally doesn't grow otherwise 😆). Our neighbor has a thing about feeding deer and it's threatening the well being of any future things that could be planted and Eucalyptus are infamously deterrent to deer so it's in the ground, in a strategic spot to piss off the deer (you can see the neighbor's new fence–it's lower in the back so she can have deer time! 🤦‍♂️). Should be a great multitrunk plant next year 😉

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by clinenotklein
File problem and changed wording.

[KsLouisiana]

On 4/26/2017 at 11:46 AM, Palm crazy said:

"Because of our weather here some of the hardy ones grow bigger here than they do in Australia."

Doubt it

[ShadyDan]

On 7/27/2023 at 4:55 PM, KsLouisiana said:

Doubt it

Little late to the party on that one dude with a 6 year delay. 
 

But he’s right. Many of the species we grow in the PNW are alpine species used to cold weather year round and thin, crappy mountain soils. They reach larger sizes here on average due to our much longer growing season and more favourable soils. Not saying that we have any size records, but just bigger trees on average. 

[Blueman]

My experience is with growing Eucalyptus seeds & seedlings in penninsular Florida, along with reading various books on them:  

Central FL 9B, rich loam 

- Deglupta & saligna took off, becoming large beautiful trees in only several years.   The deglupta were purchased in 3 gallon pots, the saligna was dug up as a 4' sapling.

- Torelliana, citriodora, & robusta grew well.  The torellinana were dug up as 3' - 4' saplings, the citiodora I grew from seed collected in San DIego, & the robusta form a potted seedling.   

- Camaldulensis were purchased from a local nursery in 3 gallons and grew half-heartedly, but nowhere near their potential.   

- Nichollii purchased as a big healthy plant in a large pot, struggled & died it's first summer.  I later learned these don't like wet subtropics.

- Cladocalyx & preissiana purchased as potted plants also didn't make it thru a summer.  These are from winter rainfall of SA & WA respectively.  

- Globulus, viminalis, perrriniana, & regans seedlings (all native to cool climates) died at the onset of their first summer heat & rain.

No frost/cold issues with any of these.

  

Southern FL 10A, pure sand

- Torelliana grows well in sand, surprisingly because it's the only eucalypt that naturally lives near, and sometimes in rainforests.  It's also the dominant eucalypt in SW FL and soil tolerance has a lot to do with it.  

- Torelliana x citriodora hybrids, brought from my yard in central FL, grew very fast, reaching the native pine tree height in 5 years (50').

- Ptychocarpa from seed has grown to 15 - 20' & has been flowering (pink).  

- Saligna grew tall from seed, but not as robust as the one I had in central FL.

- Deglupta stuggle in sand and grow slowly with slender trunks, never looking like they should.  

- Citriodora hates sand.  

 

 

As I've found out, many can take various degrees of frosts & freezes, but cold hardiness isn't the only consideration in central & southern FL.  This far south, warm winters, heavy summer rainfall, and poor soil make most species a long shot here, like those:

- From Victoria & Tasmania, as those are cool climates.  Many of the spectacular giants grow there.  Probably just as well, as FL hurricanes would knock down or break the huge ones.

- From mountains, especially if they annually encounter snow.  Mild climates and cool nights in the summer, often with even rainfall throughtout the year.  

- From Western & Southern Australia, along with inland Queensland & NSW.  These are mostly semi-arid winter rainfall areas with dry summers.  Unfortunately most of the species with colorful flowers are in SW Australia. 

- From the arid center of the country.  

- Some of the northern monsoonal tropical species do poorly even in Australian subtropical areas and probably would in FL too.  Many of the northern species drop their leaves during the dry season. 

 

This whittles down the list quite a bit for central & southern FL.  The best candidates are from the summer rainfall regions of Queensland & NSW (both west of the mountains).  Also some from the northern parts of Queensland, NT, & WA are possible in FL although most are frost tender and best grown in 10B.  If you have sandy soil, the list is reduced further.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blueman]

Correction to my above post.  It should say:   

"The best candidates are from the summer rainfall regions of Queensland & NSW (both EAST of the mountains)."