I have been at a meeting in Vancouver for a few days, just a few blocks from the Van Dusen Botanical Garden. Each day after the meeting I wandered around with my new camera. Mipii I thought of you when I saw the Monkey Puzzle Trees. I think the green 'flower' is probably the stalk of an old male cone? That tree had no cones on it that I could see, just these 'flowers'. They are very neat there, seemingly vacuuming up all cones and detritus under the trees, making IDs more difficult!
Araucaria araucana - growing like a weed there, eh?
I've always the ones in my in-laws hometown in northwestern Germany, which grow very happily in their acid sandy soils and regular cool moist climate.
The female cones will be high up in the crown, and I think they cone in winter months (January?).
Boy, you got that camera working pretty well.
I especially like the last shot!
Oh man, I'd love to have one of those trees as well. Very nice!
Cones pollinate in late spring (May - June), seeds ripen 14-15 months later in Aug-Sept of the following year.
Resin
Oh wow that's just beautiful! Thanks so much...great pics as well! Argh, want one even more now. Any chance you'll be going back in Aug-Sept...around 14-15 months from now?
Oh wow that's just beautiful! Thanks so much...great pics as well! Argh, want one even more now. Any chance you'll be going back in Aug-Sept...around 14-15 months from now?
I was thinking Resin, if I planted a whack of seeds and slowly acclimatized them to MI weather, I could select the seeds of those that survived and start the process all over again until I have a zone 6a tolerant Araucaria araucana.
You plan to live a few million more years?
That sounds pretty fatalist. Let's just say; I have no immediate plans on dying. If something doesn't get started, its guaranteed to never finish...lol.
I think V V is being a bit excessive there . . . you could probably succeed in a few hundred years, perhaps a thousand at most ;-))
By which time MI will have changed to zone 8 with climate change anyway!
(so more realistically, you'll need to select for Texas-like summer heat tolerance, more than for winter cold tolerance)
Resin
Some Germans had Mipii's idea. I have a 1983 Timber Press translation of a German book 'Manual of Cultivated Conifers' by Gerd Krussmann. He describes a slow growing dwarf form, from seeds collected in a park in Chile, first grown on an island in the North sea (zone 8), then the variety was raised inland in what looks like zone 7. The seed source park is from 850-1830 m elevation, I can't figure out the zone there.
Another cultivar 'Kurt Sachs' survives in Hamburg which is zone7-8. Maybe those are the ones VV has seen.
If they could get some more cold hardy forms to survive in one lifetime, maybe you could make something happen in under a million years. Seems doubtful tho, It would take years to produce seeds, and a single cold snap (or hot spell) would wipe out your immature trees.
Mipii I probably won't go to the Arboretum this fall, but there are a lot of Monkey Puzzle trees around here where I live, people plant them in the front yard as a specimen tree. I will keep an eye out for cones for you. They have huge cones, but I am not sure if the seeds are still in them when they fall, and there would be no way to climb up to get them sooner (it's a People Puzzle Tree too).
I wouldn't want you to climb a tree for me, that's endangering your life (much more precious than tree seeds)! I'd take my chances with the cones on the ground. I have access to a greenhouse, I could grow them there for a nominal fee. Of course, I would consider the endeavor worthwhile. Thanks MLM for the seed offer, I'll not only pay you back with seeds from your 'want' list, I'll also name the first 'hardy to zone 7' after you...unless they are all hardy to zone 7 off the bat/get go...
Here are some cell phone photos of some local Monkey Puzzles. This week I just decided to photograph whatever ones I drove by. The poor exposures actually help show the silhouettes well. As you can see, the young ones are pyramidal, the old ones get more of a flat top, and usually lose lower limbs.
Mipii- I never got you any seeds. I kept an eye out for trees overhanging a sidewalk where I might find cones, but never noticed any that were accessible. In terms of climbing, it would be a puzzle for humans too- they are way too prickly.
Thanks Pistil, the photos are almost as good as seeds and I sure do appreciate the effort. That's quite a gift really. I'm not as big of a fan with the mature flat top but am still enthralled with this magnificent tree.
'Tis good to have friends in warm places!
Throws you off when a DGer changes identity...old threads like this are like brand new!
I also can't believe I never posted any pics of the trees in Germany - near the Dutch border west of Dusseldorf.
Here are a few - like puppies, I don't think you can take a bad photo of Araucaria araucana...
I can't believe you've been holding out either. In fact, I'm totally puzzled. Beautiful pics, I haven't seen an Araucaria up close and personal before; that trunk is awesome. Sure looks like a zone 6 to me.
Thanks for the indulgence!
A little compliment will get you everywhere...
These trees are just down the street in the small town where my in-laws live. I've watched them grow up over the years when we go visit. Kinda like nieces and nephews - with sharp edges.
nice pix, VV !
Oh wow...
wow!
Okay, looking for one right now.
Yes, nice pictures. I would've thought Germany too cold for this conifer. It's interesting there are no monkeys in this tree's native range...
Germany is not exactly a small place, and it ranges from a lot of coastline on the north to the Alps in the south.
The Rhine valley environs in the Nordrhein-Westphalen state are relatively benign. I think that this area is rated zone 7/zone 8.
Pistil could look that up in her Krussman book...
Yep, probably zone 7/8 border in that part of Germany.
Resin
PS They're even more successful in Britain, self-sowing in some places ;-)
Ooooh self sowing! I have looked for that here but not seen it. It's a tad warmer in Britain, and with a moister summer I hear, so that must be it.
VV-I like my Krussmann book. I found out he wrote one on Broadleaf trees and shrubs, but even used it is a lot of $ so I did not buy it this year. I just spent a bundle on a new camera. Hopefully my photos will improve. However, like most folks, the best camera is the one I have in my pocket so my poorly exposed cell phone pics will continue too.
Not just one - there are three volumes in the Manual of Cultivated Broad-leaved Trees & Shrubs series. Along with Bailey, Rehder, and Hortus III, you'll have a grand slam.
Gerd Krüssmann wrote some excellent texts. I found them very useful early in my career when I acquired them in the late 1980s - after they were published in translation by Timber Press. These opened my eyes to a broader range of plants from around the world, and gave great clues to where collections were located and specimens could be viewed.
It also turns out that the translator was a horticulturist from Ohio that I knew from participation in nurserymen trade shows and educational sessions in Columbus. Small world...
While these tomes don't list all the latest selections that have been produced in the last 30 years, they are still excellent plant descriptions, images, comparisons, and distribution references.
Put it on your gift list - bound to be a birthday, anniversary, or holiday opportunity coming up for someone...
Ooh Resin...are those prickly spheres considered cones forming or seed heads? Yes, yes, I'll take either of those seedlings in pic #4 & #5. It seems Araucaria araucana is hardy most everywhere...but here, argh.
Thanks so much for the pics!!
Hey, thanks for the book info VV. I was just thinking what I need is to open my eyes to a broader range of conifers from around the world, I can't have.
Mipii, have you tried Sciadopitys verticillata or Pseudolarix amabilis? They may not be quite as exotic as Araucaria araucana, but they are definitely worth having and would likely do well for you.
Yep, those are the cones - at the end of summer they break up to a shower of seeds. And yep, those are self-sown seedlings ;-)
Not hardy in zone 6, though!
Resin
Resin-I read somewhere that the seeds are edible. Have you tried them?
There you go Pseudo, those are both really good distractions, thanks for coming to my rescue. Both Sciadopitys verticillata and Pseudolarix amabilis are exotic in their own right, I can easily pine for them.
Resin-I read somewhere that the seeds are edible. Have you tried them?
Cunninghamia lanceolata is another sharp-tipped species that could tickle and tantalize - and rates slightly hardier.
