We have added this page so you can determine which species might grow best in your USDA Climate Zone. Please remember the climate zone ratings are for NORMAL temperatures.  Our nursery is located in USDA Zone 6-B, however, we have experienced unusual low temperatures of –20 F, which will kill plants not suited for those temperatures.  These ratings are just a guide, local temperatures, plant location, culture, moisture, wind, etc. are all climatic conditions that can vary with any location.

First things first, our plant ratings are strictly an educated guess on our part!  If this were Rocket science, then perhaps we could be more specific as they use controlled experiments.  For me, I use a combination of factors and some have been personal experience from actual tests I have conducted at our nursery. I have also factored in suggestions, experience, etc, from other growers in the USA. I have reviewed climatic information in Australia where these Eucalyptus species are found. Eucalyptus species are generally not found in just one isolated location, it does occur, but not very frequently. I looked at maximum and minimum temperatures recorded for about 700 different reporting stations. This data goes as far back as the mid 1800's for some areas and usually included lowest and highest temperature ever recorded, altitude, annual rainfall, etc.

I also looked at AUSLIG (Australian Surveying and Land Information Group) maps that show recorded locations of Eucalyptus species and tried to tie these in with the weather records.

When you look at the wide range that some of these species are found; it's difficult to say with 100% accuracy that something will or will not survive in your zone. I tried to utilize at least three different locations, average out the temperatures and come up with an "average" low rating. We have not even started to use the USDA Heat Zone ratings, nor, utilize the annual rainfall that was recorded for each station.

I might rate something hardy in Zone 9, yet you live in Zone 7 or someone else says it's hardy for yet a different zone and the confusion never seems to end.

Seed that comes from colder areas are more likely to produce a tree that is more cold hardy. As a commercial nursery grower and Australia seed importer, I can ask for seed from a particular location, but there is no guarantee that what we received came from the desired location. In dealing with the larger Australia seed companies, they have a reputation to uphold and they are usually pretty good in filling our needs.

You might see a specific Eucalyptus listed as Mt. ______ strain, this has generally proven to be the more cold hardy source for a particular species or one that comes from a particular area.

You might also see common names like "Snow Gum" given to different species, this does add more confusion to sort through. In Australia, most people call all Eucalyptus "Gums", unless they are in horticulture and you want to get down to one specific plant species.

There are about 900 different species of Angophora, Corymbia and Eucalyptus and many name changes are taking place. What used to be a specific Eucalyptus, is now being called a Corymbia species or Angophora species and the names do change back and forth very frequently. One day there will be a permanent name assigned and that will be the end of it, however, I would not expect this to happen any time soon!

The Australia climate is not like the USA climate.  California has about the closest thing as evidenced by the number of Eucalyptus species growing there.  For those of us in the "other 49 states" and for me in central Virginia, there are only a few Eucalyptus species that might survive here but I keep trying different species, seed lots, etc. to see if I can be successful with any of the species.  It's a real challenge, yet, I am not getting discouraged easily.  The only thing that beats a failure is a success and at least I can have fun while experimenting.

I could have used the "spin the bottle" technique or based my recommendations on how shiny a frogs back is.  Better yet, I probably should have asked one of those "Fortune Tellers" on TV for the correct answer as you know they would never tell you a lie.  Trying to compare our climate with that of Australia, our winter moisture with their droughts and any other multitude of unknown factors and all we can do is end up making an educated guess.  It's a guess, plain and simple and the only thing you can do is try for yourself and evaluate your results.  If you treated all Eucalyptus as an annual, then you will probably not be disappointed.  If by some some strange miracle it lives past the first year, keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best!  Some of you in warmer climates will definitely have success, others, well, you are probably like me and we keep trying.  We can blame it on the weather (always a good choice), blame it on the the famous "groundhog" day, or, perhaps you can just blame it on me.  Go ahead, I've had my share of it!  Heck, I can even blame it on some of the care (or lack of) that you gave it. 

It doesn't foster good customer relations if you expect miracles from us.  If you give us a fair shake, then I'll try to help where I can, but I can't guarantee any specific plant will live for you.  If you think of Eucalyptus as an annual and it lives longer, be happy.  If it doesn't, then go back to the paragraph above and chose your best option for spinning the bottle, searching for a frog, or you can elect to spend your money with a fortune teller and perhaps pick up a few stock tips as well.

For me, I'm doing everything I can to ensure you will be successful.  I do have a degree in horticulture, but sorry, I just never quite made it to the "Rocket Science" classes because all those botanical terms and foreign languages (chose Latin, Greek, Zenus or Hippie) still jumble around in my head to this very day! 

We search for the most "cold hardy" provenances for our seed.  We do actual field growing trials here in our Zone 6.  We experiment with new products each year.  We try different methods of production. We try bog germination, electric heat pads, misting timers.  We try new media mixes, seed enhancers like "smoke water", cold treatments, heck, I've even soaked seeds in the back of the toilet tank to wash out inhibitors.  The fact remains that we are not immune to failures or successes and we are willing to try different things.

I recommend to plant out early in early spring or fall. This gives the plants time to develop into the surrounding soil and the root system is more established prior to winter onset. With fall planting, the watering requirements are less. If we don't have a very cold and prolonged wet winter, we usually have good results. 

Now, if you are really, really ready to take the challenge..................

With all that being said - here are "our" suggestions.

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