| Author | Content |
MargaretK
PERTH
Australia
March 15, 2009
09:35 AM Post #6269913
| Geoff, I loved the article about the Brachychitons. I've loved these trees since we moved into our current house in Western Australia 32 years ago. We have a real Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and wet, mild winters. We never experience frost where we are. Your description of their flowering habits is spot on, as is the warning about the irritable hairs on the seeds. Only the foolhardy or the ignorant would handle them without gloves.
Brachychitons tend to do what they want to do when they choose to do it. Our Discolor (see picture) is a stunner and is the most reliable for flowering I've seen. It flowers from October through to March. Its trunk and branches are very green. Our Acerifolius is haphazard with flowering. This year has been it's best showing in a decade. I have eleven Rupestris that I have grown from seed planted throughout the garden. They are really slow to get going, although one is just starting to fatten up after being in the ground since a sapling in 2001. One point about the Rupestris is how easy they are to transplant. We've had them so pot bound that we've sawn the bottom of the bulbous root off and transplanted it into the ground and they've thrived.
Thanks again for a really good article.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
|
palmbob
Tarzana, CA
(Zone 9b)
 March 15, 2009
09:54 AM Post #6270002
| thank you... I didn't know you could do that to rupestris... amazing |
carrielamont
Milton, MA
(Zone 6a)
March 15, 2009
11:16 AM Post #6270321
| Gepff, what a pretty tree, and so un New England-like! Thanks for a trip to another part of the world. |
treelover3
Minneapolis, MN
(Zone 4a)
March 15, 2009
11:22 AM Post #6270348
| Excellent article! Thank you!
Mike
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MargaretK
PERTH
Australia
March 15, 2009
05:51 PM Post #6271970
| Geoff, we only tried that after I'd googled a couple of Queensland sites to find out about transplanting them. There are images of huge Rupestris on the back of trucks being transported for transplanting. Here's a shot of trunk detail on one of our very young Rupestris. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
|
dougs1
Toowoomba
Australia
March 15, 2009
07:07 PM Post #6272326
| A really good informative article and pics. The Brachychiton family of trees are quite remarkable. I get alot of enquiry from the US re Bottle trees mainly about caring for sick trees. So, here is a bit of good info for those of you in US. Soils are generally higher in Phosphorus in US than here in Australia and most Australian natives do-not like high Phosphorus levels so you need to neautralize this if you can by adding high Nitrogen food to the soil, the trees will respond with renewed vigour.
Bottle trees do make excellent pot plants and bonsai's with regular pruning.
If anyone is seeking info on Bottle trees call on us any time we are specialist growers and transplanters.
.visit: http://www.bottletrees.info
Thanks and Regards, Doug.
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CoreHHI
Bluffton, SC
(Zone 9a)
March 15, 2009
11:41 PM Post #6273737
| I've been thinking of planting a Brachychiton rupestris but I keep thinking I'll be dead by the time it looks cool. Maybe this year, the longer I wait the more likely I'll never see it get big. LOL> |
breetsa
Ramona, CA
March 16, 2009
08:06 AM Post #6274401
| I live in inland San Diego and have a ten year old Brachychiton acerifolius that has never bloomed. After reading your article, I am wondering if it ever will. Thanks for all the info. |
MargaretK
PERTH
Australia
March 16, 2009
08:28 AM Post #6274477
| CoreHHI, when I planted the seeds of my Rupestris, I knew full well I'd be long gone by the time they reached the point of being traffic stoppers. I love to think that something I raised from a seed may be enjoyed by people in generations to come. That's if the developers don't get in first. |
tbmontserrat
Isles Bay
Montserrat
(Zone 11)
March 17, 2009
10:29 AM Post #6280016
| Geoff, Thanks for another great article. |
