Cold hardy Aussie natives?

[Starfox]

Hi all,

We will be moving from our mostly frost free corner of Spain to a totally different environment in Provence, France. While this is exciting in itself it poses many questions about what plants will tolerate the climate there.

From my research we can probably expect nearly 4 months over winter where the temps will barely get above 10degC in the daytime and averaging 0 by night, with swings down to about -7. Snow is also quite likely depending on exactly where we end up. It's probably not as extreme as I first thought but my Bougs and Ficus will likely be staying behind.
I guess my Casuarina Equisetifolia and Corymbia Citriodora wouldn't do well over there either. Probably not my Brachychiton cuttings too.

I'm not even sure how I would get some of my plants there so if I were to take some I don't want them dead from winter when we arrive.
To be fair most are in nursery or grow out containers and some are saplings.

Trees I'd consider taking with me are...

Hakea Laurina
Hakea Drupacea
Callistemon/Mel Viminalis
Acacia dealbata and melanoxylon
Banksia Ericifolia and Intergrifolia
Maybe some Eucs if I ever ID them.

Anyway, I'm prepared to leave them all as I may have to anyway, it would be a shame but I knew such a day would come but it is also a good opportunity to try some new species, heck I may even check out some of the local stuff too.
Checking the local garden center websites they are lousy with Acacia's, some Euc's and Bottlebrush which is encouraging, enough for my Aussie fix at least.

So if anybody has any personal recommendations for some Aussie natives that can deal with such winters that would be great and if there are any book recommendations even better.

[Watto]

You could try Callistemon Pityoides (or is it Callistemon Sieberi) both the same plant I think.
They grow well in a cooler climate.
Good luck with the move.

[Rory]

Eucalyptus pauciflora is another to try.

[EdwardH]

The following link has Australian native plant which are snow tolerant.
http://www.australianplants.com/plants. ... st&value=2

[Starfox]

Cheers Watto and thanks for the replies Rory and Edward.

C. Sieberi was one I found on a local garden centers site yesterday so that is probably a good shout.

E. pauciflora was the first that sprang to mind, I think I may have a couple growing from seed here(not sure as I don't label much), gunnii was another that popped to mind too but I so much as look at one of those and that seems to be it's death knell. I have a few Dean Nicolle Euc books so I'm sure there is good info in them too but the one on Eucs from Vitoria and Tasmania is out of print, maybe I can rustle that up somewhere.

Thanks for the link Edward, that is certainly encouraging and that region of France is well known in the perfume industry for growing Wattles which they annoyingly persist calling mimosas.

All in all with the more research I do I'm encouraged that it is more mild than I perhaps feared, still likely to feature frosts and snow but temperate enough to get away with a few things. I just haven't had to horticulturally deal with those conditions before so am probably overthinking it.

[shibui]

I just haven't had to horticulturally deal with those conditions before so am probably overthinking it.

I think you may be correct.
I thought Provence had a reasonably mild climate. A quick check online says snow is rare and climate is Mediterranean. Av winter temp is 15C - sounds mild to me. I would expect anything other than the frost tender sub-tropical species to do well there. The species I grow here - and that's a pretty extensive list - will almost certainly grow over there.

[KIRKY]

I think you will find the plant nursery’s will stock plants that will be viable for your area. Then like all Bonsai growers you will be on the hunt for something that won’t be suitable or impossible to find because it’s not in the country.
Good luck with your move, from Spain to Provence how lucky are you two beautiful destinations
Cheers
Kirky

[TimS]

I've grown some E. pauciflora from seed and so far they seem promising; the juvenile leaf size is excellent but i'm not sure if i will be able to keep them producing the juvenile leaves rather than the larger mature leaves . Also some E. subcrenulata (Alpine Yellow Gum) which are borderline in leafsize, they will need to be a large size bonsai to make sense based on their leaf size. I also germinated a heap of E. regnans (Mountain Ash) from seed but the leaf size is enormous so i don't think i will pursue them further at this stage.

[Starfox]

I just haven't had to horticulturally deal with those conditions before so am probably overthinking it.

I think you may be correct.
I thought Provence had a reasonably mild climate. A quick check online says snow is rare and climate is Mediterranean. Av winter temp is 15C - sounds mild to me. I would expect anything other than the frost tender sub-tropical species to do well there. The species I grow here - and that's a pretty extensive list - will almost certainly grow over there.

This would be true if we ended up in Aix-en-Provence which would be as south as we could go but the other options are much closer to the feet of the Alps, still somewhat mild but 15C in winter wouldn't happen, plus if we chose somewhere a touch more scenic then you can shoot straight up in elevation. It'll likely come down to schools anyway so it all may be moot in the end. But yeah you are probably right, I just have no idea how some trees may react to being under snow for a week, we never got snow in Adelaide either so it's new to me.

I think you will find the plant nursery’s will stock plants that will be viable for your area. Then like all Bonsai growers you will be on the hunt for something that won’t be suitable or impossible to find because it’s not in the country.
Good luck with your move, from Spain to Provence how lucky are you two beautiful destinations
Cheers
Kirky

Yeah that is true, I am encouraged by what I have seen on a few websites online of what is available plus I may even get an Acer P to flourish.
lol, I already have a box of seeds which probably has a few Aussie species not seen in Europe although tough to tell because a lot has made it's way over. I will continue looking into it, as always.
Cheers, France will certainly offer up plenty of difference but the wife is French so that will soften the shock somewhat.

I've grown some E. pauciflora from seed and so far they seem promising; the juvenile leaf size is excellent but i'm not sure if i will be able to keep them producing the juvenile leaves rather than the larger mature leaves . Also some E. subcrenulata (Alpine Yellow Gum) which are borderline in leafsize, they will need to be a large size bonsai to make sense based on their leaf size. I also germinated a heap of E. regnans (Mountain Ash) from seed but the leaf size is enormous so i don't think i will pursue them further at this stage.

I think I have 2 pauciflora seedlings going atm, they look like it at least so if I can make a couple of boxes full of plants to stick in the truck they will come with us. That yellow gum looks cool definitely one to keep an eye out for. I would not of considered regnans before, stunning trees though.

Cheers for all the responses.

[TimS]

The Alpine Yellow Gum attracted me purely for the bark at first, and the new leaves have an interesting purple tone to the upper leaf surface and are a real deep purple colour on the underside. It seems to fade within a week or two but it's gives an interesting effect on the young leaves.

I also have an e. camaldulensis River Red Gum in the ground that had seed germinated in a pot with an Atlantic Cedar bonsai. To separate it from the roots of the cedar i had to cut a very thick tap root about the thickness of my little finger and a good 30cm long, leaving only some fine roots. Typically eucs don't like much root disturbance but it bounced back very quickly so i can confidently say that camaldulensis is at least a good candidate for bonsai from the root work point of view but it did cop a little bit of leaf discolouration over winter.

I'm going to keep one regnans just to see what happens with it as the mature leaves develop but yeah, the leaves are enormous.