Hi Mark Just to let you know that our trees arrived safely. Congratulations on the very professional way they were presented.
Philip Price

Hello Mark,
I live at the foot of the Snowdonia mountains in Gwynedd, North Wales. Since my wife and I acquired some 60 acres of woodlands and fields in 2002 I have been planting trees from all over the world.
It was of course very exciting to receive my Wollemia nobilis in May this year.
I planted it on 25.05.2006 in our arboretum, exactly one year after Sir Richard Attenborough planted the first specimen in Kew gardens.
In June of this year Wollemia shed its polar cap and new growth started to appear. Since then it has made some fantastic growth. It was 65 cm high on planting and when I measured it last week it was 104 cm high, a growth therefore of 39 cm!
In September I received my second Wollemia from you and it has since joined Wollemia I. Both trees are situated in a sunny clearing amongst ancient Welsh oaks, which gives good protection against exposure. The soil is slightly acid. There was a lot of bracken in the area, which I now have brought under control.
Apart from the friendly mycorrhizal fungi, which came with the trees and which I spread around the roots, the only other feed I used on planting was a handful of bonemeal.
We have a lot of berries on the hawthorns and hollies this year. Thus according to folklore it is going to be a cold winter. I will therefore take no chances and give my Wollemias some good winter protection during the first few seasons.
Accompanying the two Wollemias is one Gingko biloba, another great survivor, and an Araucaria angustifolia. There is a remarkable resemblance between Wollemia and A. angustifolia and it is not surprising that Wollemia is thought to be related to the Araucariaceae.
I will keep you informed on how my trees will do in future and I wish all the best to other tree/Wollemia enthusiasts who are taking part in this noble undertaking to help Wollemia once again spread out all over the globe!

Hello Ben

I have just collected my Wollemi pine from Mark T and am about to take to France to plant it. I was very interested in your suggestion that you are going to plant a Araucaria angustifolia or Parana pine with your Wollemi pines.

I have a small seed bred Araucaria angustifolia at my house in Western France - (www.moulinbodin.net) and am frightened to leave it out for the winter. Do you happen to know how hardy they are?

Best wishes

Ian S

Hello Ian,
The climate here in Gwynedd is a rather rainy sea climate (we are only 2-3 km from the sea), so no extremes of temperatures (although during this year's heatwave temperatures went up to 34 degrees C here). I have not encountered really hard frosts here since I moved from Amsterdam to North Wales.
My Araucaria angustifolia is at present 85 cm high and I have planted it out this year. The available literature suggests that it can withstand short periods of frost from -5 to -8 C, comparable with Wollemia.
The only truly winterhard Araucaria is the Monkey Puzzle, which absolutely thrives in this region. The other Araucariae, certainly heterophylla (the Norfolk Island pine) are much less reliable. You don't see them at all here in situations other than under glass. So I am very much in the experimenting business. See what will work, trial and error etc.
Araucaria angustifolia looks promising. It is a tree from the lower mountain ranges of southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina, so at times in its natural habitat it will encounter some frosts. Whether A. angustifolia survives a winter depends on various factors, like degree of exposure, length and severity of frost periods and age of the tree. The older the tougher it will get.
I will certainly for the next few years wrap my Araucaria angustifolia along with the Wollemias up warm in winter and I will experiment with gradually exposing them a bit more to the winter elements and all the while keeping a close eye on them.
I have been going throug various trials (and errors!) with trees that are not fully hardy. Unfortunately I lost two Agathis australis (Kauri trees from New Zealand) in the last winter, so I have become much more cautious. It is always sad to end up with dead trees in spring.
Very much of course depends on your local climate. If you have longer frost periods it would propably be better to keep your small tree under glass for another winter. Plant it out next spring and in the next few years I would surely give it good winter protection.
I am an amateur, so my advice is that of an amateur, but one with a passion for trees and an attitutde of: let's see what will grow outside and survive the winters here.
Best regards,
Ben

Hello Mark

Dulcie bella

Have arrived back in London and thank you again for your hospitality the other day at Pillaton.

I still cant see how to post a photo on this site and it may be because I am an ignoramous but can you try and explain to me how to do it?

For your interest, you can see where my Wollemi pine will be planted by going to our website: www.moulinbodin.net

Thanks again and once planted, I will keep accurate records of Dulcie Bellas' progress and will report back regularly.

Best wishes

Ian S

Hi Ian If you go to the 'post new entry' link at the top of the page it will take you to a login page and then you can either attach a photo to your entry or post a photo with a caption. Any problems let me know

Upon receiving your e-mail this morning, I immediately examined my specimen of Wollemia and noticed active resin secretion on its apical tip and rudimentary formation of a so-called "Polar Cap".

A gale is blowing outside on our Northumberland hilltop but our WN is nestling in its new much larger pot underneath a high bank. The garden also contains five sorts of Redwood, including Metasequoia glyptostroboides, S. gigantea, S. sempervirens and two prostrate varieties.

The WN's polar cap has expanded since arrival and I have been struck by the marked resinous accretions at the top of the main trunk.

An oddity that I am at a bit of a loss to explain is the angle of the different generations of branches. The first year's branches are at about thirty degrees to the trunk, the second year's at about seventy degrees and this year's have a pronounced bow, almost a pendulous habit - three very disinct postures. Anyone else got a confused tree?

Steve Ford

OK, this is a weird tree. I got one of the original bunch that were delivered in June. I put it in a pot in my back garden in Brighton. It did nothing at all for several weeks and then started producing 4-bladed side branches from the main stem. The main stem did not grow any taller, it just sprouted side branches. It did this for about four weeks, and stopped. About the middle of September, the weather turned and it was continually wet for about two weeks, so I decided to bring it inside, expecting it to go quiet for the winter. About ten days after this, it suddenly went crazy. It started sprouting new growth not from the top, but from most of the lower side branches. Then, the secondary trunk grew about 6 inches in a week and sprouted loads of new side branches wide 2-blade foliage. The primary trunk which was growing before has done nothing in this period.

Either this is a very strange tree, or my WN is a bit confused.

What is it going to do next?

I think 2 comments regarding the Wollemi Pine sum it up. The first by Tony Kirkham of RBG Kew who said "The tree seems to stick two fingers up to convention" and the second, as stated in the book by James Woodford is
" The tree is notable for its plasticity, to survive in the canyon it needs to change direction to take advantage of the light". Each tree is like a 'cabbage patch doll' they are all different.

New Growth - at last!!! My Wollemi sits on my manager's desk near the window (I don't have a sufficiently exalted post to be granted a window), and between last Thursday and today, I have an inch and a half of new growth through a polar cap, but only on a single branch ... am encouraged but slightly confused!

Kerie

Hi Mark

The tip of every leaf on my Wp is brown, but it is only the very tip - this is so for the new growth through the polar cap over the last fortnight, as well. What am I doing wrong, if anything? It is watered once or twice a fortnight (say every 10 days), is still in its original 3l pot, and looks OK generally.

Kerie

There are three possible reasons for the tips of the leaves of the Wollemi Pine to go brown.
• Insufficient water, which causes the ends of the branches to die back
• An incorrect pH balance of the soil or growing media
• Insufficient fertiliser or too much fertiliser. Always ensure controlled release fertiliser is evenly placed around the tree and not in contact with the stem.

A yellow tinge on the very tips of the leaflets is a normal and common occurrence in both the wild and cultivated Wollemi Pines.

Re-pot either into a bigger pot or one of the same size. pH should not be a problem if ericaceous compost is used. In a high calcium water area (hard water area like South East England) it would be best to water with rain water In most cases the problem will correct itself with good care techniques.

Growth has started on my WP in the last couple of weeks, with apical, and lateral buds on branches, all busy pushing through their polar caps. Have just repotted it after successfully overwintering outside in a spot well sheltered from rain here on Anglesey. Got to know when to water overwinter by looking for a tell tale droop of the upper branches.

How much growth can I expect in a year? It's potted into 1/3 ericacious, 1/3 coir, 1/3 perlite, but will get some low-P liquid feeds.

Ian.

My WP has also started into growth but in two phases. The first was the lower branches and the second - a fortnight later - the top branches. The new apical shoot has yet to emerge. APH.

We are getting a number of reports about the emergence of the 'apple green' foliage. I am not sure if you left this plant outside during the winter but, from how you describe the growth, I dont think this is atypical of the habit. You should see within the next two weeks the 'rosebud' affect develop from the polar cap and then break out. Our small plants we are exhibiting at the Chelsea Flower Show next week are in fullnew leaf and look great. You should get 20-40 cm of new growth this year, probably in two flushes. Keep in touch

Over the weekend the apical bud has started to open and this is taking the form of a cluster of potential side branches being followed by an apparent apical shoot. We'll see how ir progresses. APH.

It seems that the trees are just starting to form their Polar Cap ready for the winter. I have a Wollemi Pine in my garden that did not quite cap last year but it grew away beautifully in the spring. Hopefully it will produce a proper Polar Cap this year.

Mine is doing the same. APH.

My WP made almost one foot of growth this year in a single flush, despite being in a pot, and did not seem to be bothered by the compost being constantly wet due to the weather (now moved to a spot more sheltered from the rain). New foliage has remained an apple green colour rather than change to the lovely blue-green it had when it arrived last September: effects of full sun perhaps? The polar cap developed very rapidly during the second half of September.

I BOUGHT MY FIRST WOLLEMI IN SPRING 2007, I REPOTTED IT AND THE MAIN STEM HAS GROWN ABOUT 3 CM, I NOTICED ITS POLAR CAPS HAD APPEARED ON 26 OCTOBER 2007. I SHALL PLANT IT IN THE GROUND NEXT YEAR IN OUR GARDEN HERE IN WELSHPOOL WHICH HAS GOOD SOIL BEING EX FARMLAND

That is fine and what we would advise. Our plant in an exposed situation looks really good at present. We are findiong that wet feet in the winter to be the real NO NO. I hope it grows well.

In 2007 the Wollemi that I have in my garden started to sprout in Chelsea Flower Show week 21st -26th May. This year, 2008, it was showing it's first signs of growth when I left for a 2 week holiday on 13th June and had only completly emerged from it's winter slumber when I returned on 27th June. This is 3 weeks later than 2007. It is looking great now donning lime green growth with a hint of bronze.

Great post! Thanks for the information
marquee perth

Brilliant post mate, keep up the good work J
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