Re: Ficus palmeri and a not so new intro :)
- Subject: Re: Ficus palmeri and a not so new intro :)
- From: L* P*
- Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 14:53:17 -0700
>Barry,
>
>I don't think this Ficus will be too happy outdoors in
>your climate, so cold and foggy most of the summer
>there in Seaside. It will probably be much happier if
>grown indoors in a greenhouse of sunny sunporch, where
>the ambient temps are more agreeable to it. It
>definitely prefers dry heat to cool damp fog.
>
>Tony, you are mostly correct about Figs in zone 9
>conditions here in California, they are safest in
>coastal northern California where it seldom freezes
>much below -5C/24F in winter, and even in San
>Francisco, many figs such as F. macrophylla and F.
>retusa were damaged in the last severe freeze of 1990,
>but generally fully recovered, while many other trees
>such as Tristania conferta or Metrosideros excelsa did
>not. Ficus lyrata and F. benjamina are generally only
>safely grown in southern coastal California, but are
>fairly common there. F. rubiginosa is also used in
>southern California, but very rare here in the San
>Francisco Bay Area.
>
>Sydney by the water sounds much warmer in winter and
>hotter/more humid in summer than even Southern
>California, and San Francisco/Oakland is probably
>closer to Melbourne for winter conditions, although we
>are probably milder overall, and also cooler in
>summer.
This is what I found from some Zone maps for SE Australia vs. California:
USDA Hardiness Zone: Sydney Z10, Blue Mountains - Z8, Melbourne -
Z10, Canberra -Z9a
Number of days above 15 deg. C ("Growing Days"): Sydney - 240, Blue
Mountains - 90, Melbourne - 180, Canberra - 120.
Heat Zone (Avg. number of days above 30 deg. C): Sydney - Z4 (30
days) @ coast to Z6 (60 days) inland, Blue Mountains - Z1 to Z3 (<1
day to 14 days), Melbourne - Z4 @ coast to Z5 (45 days) inland.
Canberra - Z4
vs.
So Cal:
USDA Hardiness Zone: San Diego and Coastal L.A. - Z11, L.A. - Z10b,
inland valleys - Z9b to 10a.
Heat Zone: Z2 (1 to 7 days above 30 deg. C) for San Diego or coastal
Los Angeles to Z8 (90 to 120 days) in San Gabriel Valley (such as at
the Huntington Gardens) and to Z9 (120 to 150 days) in the San
Fernando Valley.
No Cal:
USDA Hardiness Zone: Bay Area - 10a, Monterey Bay - Z9b to 10a.
Heat Zone: Z2 along the Pacific coast of the Bay Area and in the
Monterey Bay, Z3 (7 to 14 days) for San Francisco, Oakland, and
Berkeley, Z4 for the rest of the Bay Area
>
>We can't grow and bloom trees like Plumeria and
>Delonix outdoors here, although people in southern
>California do succede with Plumeria and get the
>occasional flower by the end of summer, but nothing
>like where they are better adapted.
>
Either there are some adapted varieties around So. Cal., or the
weather isn't as non-optimal for Plumerias as might be thought. I've
seen a number of fairly large specimens in neighborhoods around and
south of Pasadena (inland southern Calif. valleys) and at one house
right next to the intersection of the 60 Freeway and Atlantic one
exit east of Interstate 710 in East L.A. there are several big plants
that were fully leafed out and in full bloom with large bunches of
flowers at the end of each branch last summer in July and August. And
Aloha Tropicals offers a cultivar named 'Pasadena Sally' that was
found in an old area of Pasadena
<http://www.alohatropicals.com/PCP-92.htm>. So I don't think they're
as mis-adapted as many might think, and I used to think.
--
--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena area, California, USDA Zone 9-10
