California Buckeye

acousticco

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the pictures. I’d never seen one in leaf before. I think a fairly large specimen would be in order for such a large leafed tree… It was actually the light and dark speckled bark (in the photo I linked to in my original post) that initially attracted me to the species…

The more I read about it though, the less I think it could survive well in my climate…
You’re probably right Robert, they’d probably freeze…

Cody

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Fletch

Cody;

Well, I guess you don't go for things in a small way. As you said above a tree like that would definitely freeze if you treated it like a local hardy. It would probably be at least as difficult to keep as your Jap Maple and maybe even more tender than that.

While I don't want to discourage you, and I'll admit I was tempted to try my hand at quite a few unusual species when I first started out, I would strongly suggest you consider focusing on trees that are hardy to zone 3, or else tropicals that can handle being kept indoors through the winter. Especially till you get more experience with trees in general and until you have more room than a balcony to grow them on so you can build a cold frame or similar to winter your tender deciduous trees and avoid some frustrating and likely costly mistakes.

I hope you don't take my suggestion the wrong way, as I said, I really don't want to discourage you. It's just I think you'll be more likely to have success and to learn how to eventually tackle the more challenging trees you are obviously so keen to try.

All the best with your endeavours
Fletch

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Regards
Fletch

acousticco

I couldn't agree more... I have a good list in the works of zone 3 hardy trees to keep an eye out for next spring (mostly cherry and crabapple varieties). I seem to have, in my beginners enthusiasm, aquired a good mix of trees with differant levels of winter needs... But I guess that it's good that I'm motivated to research like crazy and learn as much as possible. Kind of like a final exam.

-Cody

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