Trippy plants which can be grown in a Mediterranean climate......

[trioderob]

some of you guys seem to be gurus on plants in general and the post about the silver tree got me thinking. so here goes:

what trippy looking plants and especially trees can be grown in a mediterranean climate ?

one that has my interest (but dont have room for of course) is the monkey puzzle tree :

Araucaria araucana

which ones can you think of ????

Edited November 19, 2010 by trioderob

[dalmatiansoap]

Olives! With a biiiiig O!

[peachy]

Just about all the flowering eucalypts grow in a med climate. Maybe not exactly trippy but gorgeous when they bloom.

Peachy

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Protea's

[bahia]

This could be a really large list of trees, but I'll just mention a few that I like to use in designs and do fit the category of being out of the ordinary for a suburban California garden. Being that you are in southern California, you may not consider the Chorisia speciosa anything unusual, but those green thorny trunks and orchid like fall blooms make it a favorite, although it takes a lot longer to reach blooming size here in the SF Bay Area. Several South African trees that I really like include the palm-like Cussonia species such as C. paniculata and C. spicata, which both have great foliage, (powdery blue in the case of C. paniculata), and corky textural trunks. When either of these trees finally blooms, it will appear as if it is an ivy on steroids, and some excellent examples can be seen at the Los Angeles Arboretum. Cunonia capensis is another South African with interesting glossy deep green foliage, red stems and showy white flowers that look like Prunus laurocerasus when blooming. The new leaf buds are also curious on this tree, looking like spoons. Another tree with great looking colorful trunks as well as showy fruits would be Arbutus 'Marina', which is much easier to grow than our native Madrone, but similar in appearance. Trevesia palmata, the Snowflake Tree from Burma, is another tropical looking tree with very large cut-leaf foliage and spiny trunks that fits the "Trippy" category. Casuarina torulosa is one of the Australian Beefwoods that has very ornamental corky bark on the trunks, and an interesting weeping structure to the tree. Of course there are many Erythrina species that are commonly grown in southern California as well, but not so much up here. Again, I think many are interesting because of the massive trunks and thorny branches which typically bloom in winter while bare limbed. E. crista-galli is easily grown anywhere here as it is hardy, but E. coralloides is more interesting in my opinion, if one has the room, and the smaller growing E. x bidwillii is a more shrub-like grower with amongst the most beautiful saturated deep red flowers of any of the Erythrinas, and also grows very well here in the SF Bay Area and will bloom over an 8 month period.

I like some of the smaller Acacias for foliage texture as well, such as A. podalyrifolia and A. cognata and A. merinthophora, to name a few. Another South African large shrub/small tree that is fast growing but not particularly long lived is the Scurfy Pea, Psoralea pinnata, which when not in bloom looks like it could be a soft foliaged pine tree, but has massive amounts of fragrant sweet-pea like blooms in May/June. I'd also suggest that another South African, Calodendrum capensis, is one of the most beautiful blooming trees if it will grow in your part of southern California. The hardier Tabebuia species such as T. chrysotricha and T. impetiginosa are also favorites of mine, but may not be unusual enough to be considered trippy.

There aren't that many other trees similar to Araucaria araucana for the dramatic skyline form and interesting foliage, but the more common species A. heterophylla is also pretty spectacular when mature.

Again, this may be too common in southern California, but a couple of pine species, such as our native Pinus torreyana look more massive and dramatic in gardens than in the wild, and P. canariensis is a pretty dramatic skyline tree as well. I also like the distinctive shape of Pinus pinea for the flat shaped canopy with age.

Eucalyptus deglupta, or the Rainbow Gum is another tree with gorgeous trunks, but is not hardy enough for most of California except along the coast. I know you probably wouldn't consider E. citriodora as a candidate, but as they are seldom planted here in northern California, they always attract attention for they smooth white trunks and graceful form in the SF Bay Area.

[Moose]

Just about all the flowering eucalypts grow in a med climate. Maybe not exactly trippy but gorgeous when they bloom.

Peachy

If you eat the flowers do you get trippy?

[fastfeat]

Agathis robusta, Acrocarpus fraxinifolius, Ficus macrophylla if you have the room...

[trioderob]

bahia-

what a post!

thank you for taking the time to respond !

you people are great