eucalyptus

My secretary just walked in with some left over eucalyptus her sister ordered for making flower arrangments. Could I start new plants by taking cuttings? What do I need to do to be successful? This is just a fun project . . . I won't be crushed if the task is impossible :-)

One form of eucalyptus looks sort of like a willow branch. The other is the sort of blue-green whorls of small round leaves along the stem

Thanks,
Seandor

Not sure about cuttings but they are very easy from seed.

Cuttings don't take and the arrangement branches are probably treated. Look for seed pods on the branches.

I tried and tried doing cuttings untill one day i bought some seed from an internet site. Wow how easy and quick!

Thanks! I'll just use the boughs in some arrangement and perhaps invest in some seeds in the future.

Cheers,
Seandor

Can anyone tell me.....Does eucalyptus grow fast from seed? I have always wanted to try but didn't want to wait forever to get a nice sized plant
Thanks,Nancy

three years to get a 8 foot shrub from seed here in florida Don

Wow Don!! Guess I will give them a try then.Thanks! : )

Very fast grower. I had a couple of trees that were about 15 to 20 foot tall in 3 to 4 years. Surprisingly hardy until an ice storm hit - then it looks terrible for quite a while because the burned leaves did not drop even after new leaves came out. I finally cut them down because of their fast growth.

If you stool them each year, then they usually will sucker back out. If you let them grow to become a tree and then cut them, it seems like you kill them for good. Maybe you can contain them (you probably would have to in your zone) and bring them indoors for winter.

Here is one of them (left of the Japanese maple). It actually put on more girth the next year before I cut it down.

Here it is during its first ice storm. The next ice storm (a year or two later) is what really made it ugly.

Here is the seed grown one i started early last summer so not even 12 months yet! But standing up to the frost so far.
It does depend on which variety as i also have some that are only a few inches tall from the same mixed packet.

I got them from www.jungleseeds.co.uk (hope thats the right spelling for that site!

Mike

You might be able to buy a small pot of it as well at Wal-Mart or maybe HD after it warms up. I bought two small pots of it for my mother at a WM a few years ago and notice it once in awhile at the big 3.

Again seed is quite easy. You can buy seed at Parks, T&M, or even eBay.

Thanks! I am not sure it would thrive outside - could I bring it in during the winter if I grew it in a large pot?

Maybe if you give it the right conditions. My mother's plants died but she probably kept them to wet in the basement.

thanks, hcmcdole.

You might want to look at this nursery: http://www.australiaplants.com/ although I don't see it in Watchdog. They are knowledgeable about growing Eucs on the east coast and the hardiness of the different species. I haven't had much success with Eucs indoors.

Thanks growin. What part of Vancouver do you live in? I grew up in North Van and graduated from UBC. Sure wish I had that climate now for my gardens. :-)

I live a few blocks from Hotel Vancouver, etc. Even here the Euc's went brown due to the combo of snow and high winds. 30+' Eucs brown - not sure if they'll come back. Stanley Park looks like a logging camp. Yes, I can't go to a colder climate...I still find this too cold.

I find that the faster growing types are less hardy. But you guys should be able to grow simliar ones to me.

Yes! We heard about Stanley Park. When I was a little girl, Hurricane Frieda struck the town. I remember we weren't allowed outside afterwards because of the downed electrical wires. My father was a labourer for the City of North Vancouver, so he, along with others, were commandeered to go to Stanley Park and help clear the causeway.

I tell EVERYONE on the east coast what an amazingly beautiful city Vancouver is. If I win one of these big American lotteries, I am moving back and buying an old heritage home in Shaunessy - and I am going to plant lots of roses LOL.

Gee, it's almost time for the camillia and bulb to start blooming in Vancouver . . . sigh. Lot's more winter to go here in Massachusetts.

Seandor

I don't know about growing eucs in colder areas, but in response to a question above.....we cut our 30-40' trees back to 4-5' all the time...they do bush out again. We're always cutting and shredding for firewood and mulch. My trees were started from seed 20 some years ago.
I love Vancouver also...Lion's Gate Bridge, the arboretums...I'd like to live there also.
Sherry

Here's some pics of the devastated Stanley Park from earlier this week: http://www.flickr.com/photos/growin I knew we had a Hurricane in the past but people said I was just making it up. Thanks for giving me the hurricane name.

As for the Euc's, Sherry, there are a number of trees that should have been hardy but the combo of wind, snow and temps did some unusual damage to exposed plants. Some of the Eucs seem to be dead in the trunk. We're waiting to see how dead some of them are.

I guess the grass is always greener...thanks for the complements about Vancouver. I'd move to California in a second if I was allowed.

Wow! I knew the storms were devestating - but I had no idea. My brother jogs on the sea-wall and told me that Prospect Point was basically unrecognizable - but I had no idea . . . I hope your gardens faired better.

growin, and I would move to B.C. in a second if allowed! Visted when we were living on Whidbey and was amazed at the climate there, didn't know it could be so mild. The Japanese current? And yes, we had unusual for us weather down here also. I usually don't even see frost...well, we still didn't...it skipped the frost and went straight to freeze. You really took a beating up there this year,though. I lurk in the PNW forum and I was following your miseries. I think the entire West Coast is re-thinking our plantings for coming years. Many eucs are looking bad down here.