wollemi pine

[ZPalms]

Does anyone own one of these? They look awesome and I'm really interested to see if anyone has any in colder regions or any in general, I've seen post that they can grow all the way up into canada but I don't know how true that is but if so that's pretty cool it has a wide range of locations it can grow but maybe they have to be brought indoors?

The Royal Botanical Garden Sydney says "Wollemi Pines are the least heat tolerant of the Australian Araucariaceae species. We recommend growing them in areas where the maximum temperature is 35°C (95°F) and a minimum of -10°C (14°F). A cool, shady area, such as a gully, is ideal."

Edited February 8, 2022 by ZPalms

[Chester B]

They seemed to be available a number of years ago not too long after discovery, but have since dried up.  Wollemi have fairly specific growing conditions (mild - not hot, not cold)  so outside the West Coast, these seem to be a no go, and those in areas of Coastal California being ideal.  The Brits have success with them as well and Wollemi appear to be more common over there.  

I've been looking for one for a few years now, but the only source of seeds or plants are from Australia and the UK.  So chances are anything shipped would be confiscated by customs.

[ShadyDan]

Very hard to find, but I've heard of a few growing happily and successfully in the PNW (including BC) unprotected.  As Chester mentioned, they have a narrow climate band they thrive in. Northern hemisphere places like the UK and PNW seem to suit it well. I saw a nice one for sale at a nursery outside of Vancouver a few years ago, but the price tag was way outside of my comfort zone!

I'm pretty sure I drove by one in Parksville (neighboring town) the other day, I need to go creep by it again on a nice day to make sure its not just a super nice looking Abies. If it is a Wollemi I'll take some pictures without weirding out the home owner too much.

Here's a picture I stole from Facebook of one growing happily at the Point Defiance Zoo in Seattle.

[ZPalms]

On 2/8/2022 at 11:19 AM, Chester B said:

They seemed to be available a number of years ago not too long after discovery, but have since dried up.  Wollemi have fairly specific growing conditions (mild - not hot, not cold)  so outside the West Coast, these seem to be a no go, and those in areas of Coastal California being ideal.  The Brits have success with them as well and Wollemi appear to be more common over there.  

I've been looking for one for a few years now, but the only source of seeds or plants are from Australia and the UK.  So chances are anything shipped would be confiscated by customs.

On 2/8/2022 at 11:45 AM, ShadyDan said:

Very hard to find, but I've heard of a few growing happily and successfully in the PNW (including BC) unprotected.  As Chester mentioned, they have a narrow climate band they thrive in. Northern hemisphere places like the UK and PNW seem to suit it well. I saw a nice one for sale at a nursery outside of Vancouver a few years ago, but the price tag was way outside of my comfort zone!

I'm pretty sure I drove by one in Parksville (neighboring town) the other day, I need to go creep by it again on a nice day to make sure its not just a super nice looking Abies. If it is a Wollemi I'll take some pictures without weirding out the home owner too much.

Here's a picture I stole from Facebook of one growing happily at the Point Defiance Zoo in Seattle.

That one looks really nice, wollemi pine remind me of cycads in a way

If I ever got my hand on one, I'd grow it in mostly shade because I have a ton of shady spots in my yard with high tree canopy so it would have plenty of growing space and remain in a bright, cool location in the summer months, Do they mind high humidity? 

I did find this site but the prices are way to expensive than I would spend on a single plant 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by ZPalms

[Chester B]

18 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

I did find this site but the prices are way to expensive than I would spend on a single plant 

If they survived the trip from Australia they'd be confiscated by customs, that's the issue.  No local sources anymore as far as I can tell.

[ZPalms]

2 minutes ago, Chester B said:

If they survived the trip from Australia they'd be confiscated by customs, that's the issue.  No local sources anymore as far as I can tell.

Why do they confiscate it? Is it because the rarity?

[Chester B]

5 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

Why do they confiscate it? Is it because the rarity?

If they don't have a phytosanitary certificate they're not coming in.

[ShadyDan]

Crappy pictures (had to do a sneaky walk by photo shoot) but here is what I believe to be a Wollemi Pine in Parksville. This area is only a few km from where I live and probably saw similar temps to me this winter, I guess anywhere from -8 to -10C. Looks pretty good! 

[Chester B]

It looks like one to me @ShadyDan  I didn’t think they would be ok that far north. Cool stuff. 

[amh]

3 minutes ago, Chester B said:

It looks like one to me @ShadyDan  I didn’t think they would be ok that far north. Cool stuff. 

I've read reports of survival down to 10F, but I do not know how accurate they are.

[ZPalms]

On 2/13/2022 at 12:47 AM, amh said:

I've read reports of survival down to 10F, but I do not know how accurate they are.

That's pretty impressive if true or even just 17F to 14F

Edited February 25, 2022 by ZPalms

[amh]

12 hours ago, ZPalms said:

That's pretty impressive if true or even just 17F to 14F

I think what I read was from Japan, but it was quite a while ago. My hot, semi-humid, alkaline environment is not suitable for the species, so I haven't actively researched growing conditions. There should be newer information, but I haven't seen any from the states.

[ZPalms]

3 hours ago, amh said:

I think what I read was from Japan, but it was quite a while ago. My hot, semi-humid, alkaline environment is not suitable for the species, so I haven't actively researched growing conditions. There should be newer information, but I haven't seen any from the states.

Too bad they aren't available here in the states, I would love to try one but getting my hands on one without dropping a bunch of money seems impossible along with what chester said 

[amh]

2 hours ago, ZPalms said:

Too bad they aren't available here in the states, I would love to try one but getting my hands on one without dropping a bunch of money seems impossible along with what chester said 

I will occasionally see them for sale in the PNW, but they are specimen sized and would require freight shipping. Hopefully someone in the east will begin cultivation.

[ZPalms]

2 minutes ago, amh said:

I will occasionally see them for sale in the PNW, but they are specimen sized and would require freight shipping. Hopefully someone in the east will begin cultivation.

How much do they go for?

[amh]

1 minute ago, ZPalms said:

How much do they go for?

I really cant remember, but not cheap. The trees were 10+ feet tall and shipping would probably cost you over a dollar per mile.

You best bet would probably having relatives or friends in Oregon do the foot work. Start making contacts in the PNW.

I wish I could give you more info, but I haven't seen anything new on the species myself. I love the primitive gymnosperms from Gondwana.

[ZPalms]

2 minutes ago, amh said:

I really cant remember, but not cheap. The trees were 10+ feet tall and shipping would probably cost you over a dollar per mile.

You best bet would probably having relatives or friends in Oregon do the foot work. Start making contacts in the PNW.

I wish I could give you more info, but I haven't seen anything new on the species myself. I love the primitive gymnosperms from Gondwana.

I suppose I'll be waiting awhile before I get the opportunity to try and get one, I wanna go cross country roadtrip with nothing but a bag and some friends and wanna stop in oregon so maybe i'll get a chance to see some physically and figure out what I wanna do cause even if I found one I would not be able to afford one atm 

maybe one day they will be as common as the norfolk pine or monkey puzzle tree 

[Chester B]

20 hours ago, amh said:

I really cant remember, but not cheap. The trees were 10+ feet tall and shipping would probably cost you over a dollar per mile.

You best bet would probably having relatives or friends in Oregon do the foot work. Start making contacts in the PNW.

I wish I could give you more info, but I haven't seen anything new on the species myself. I love the primitive gymnosperms from Gondwana.

Never seen one for sale here in Oregon and I’ve been looking.  There were a couple distributors in California years back but since then zip. 
 

Update:  Iseli wholesale nursery does have them listed in their current catalog. You can’t buy direct so how to get one??  It’s a bummer because they’re 15 minutes from me  I guess it’s worth contacting them  

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by Chester B

[amh]

20 minutes ago, Chester B said:

Never seen one for sale here in Oregon and I’ve been looking.  There were a couple distributors in California years back but since then zip. 

I notice this sudden lack of availability. I don't know why, I haven't seen it listed in the CITES appendices.

 

[Chester B]

46 minutes ago, amh said:

I notice this sudden lack of availability. I don't know why, I haven't seen it listed in the CITES appendices.

 

I know once they were discovered and made available to the public they were around.  My guess is they weren't good looking enough and failed in most places aside from some areas on the west coast.  Not a hot seller.

[hbernstein]

On 2/26/2022 at 7:12 PM, Chester B said:

I know once they were discovered and made available to the public they were around.  My guess is they weren't good looking enough and failed in most places aside from some areas on the west coast.  Not a hot seller.

Wollemi Pine were nonsensically touted when first available as nearly miracle trees, surviving cold, heat, poor soils, houseplants. Ridiculous. 

[amh]

6 hours ago, hbernstein said:

Wollemi Pine were nonsensically touted when first available as nearly miracle trees, surviving cold, heat, poor soils, houseplants. Ridiculous. 

Everything but Laurasian soil pathogens.

[Austinpalm]

27 minutes ago, amh said:

Everything but Laurasian soil pathogens.

[ahosey01]

I know where to get these and I can confirm that a healthy, full specimen is growing in a hot, inland valley in California.

PM me if you want.  There’s an interesting book on these I have been reading that explains how the discovery happened.  The author says he is aware of specimens surviving 10F with 0 damage.

[ZPalms]

18 minutes ago, ahosey01 said:

I know where to get these and I can confirm that a healthy, full specimen is growing in a hot, inland valley in California.

PM me if you want.  There’s an interesting book on these I have been reading that explains how the discovery happened.  The author says he is aware of specimens surviving 10F with 0 damage.

How much do they go for?