serj, please take a picture of your styrofoam box for your auracaria.
At what temperature will you put the box on?

Tim, great! thanks for your pic, it's lovely and shows no indication you've had -7C 19F.
What temperature killed your last one?
How much sun does it get in summer?

A nice covering of leaves and proximity to your palms and yuccas is likely keeping it warmer.
Any sign of "bubbly chocolate" yet?

Barb

With great pleasure i'm posting pic of my enclosure.

Also you can see my palms.
😉

When the temperature drops below -5 C i will put on roof from the styrofoam. Last winter all of my plams (except phoenix dactylifera) overwintered with success. It was -27 C 😯 Last winter was very bloody. Usually we have about -20 C for 1-3 days every winter.

-5C is a very good temp for putting the roof on...if it fits 8) over those gorgeous specimens.

I recall how awful last winter was for you, but lots of snow was good insulation against the brutal cold.

Your araucaria will do well in a styrofoam enclosure and when it's larger, probably won't need any winter protection. (*envy*)

thanks for the picture!
Barb

Nice protection Serj!!

Have you tried Araucaria araucana? This species looks similar but is the hardiest of all the Araucaria species. I also beleive your colder than my climate and my Araucaria araucana browns out on me every winter but keeps on living. I now protect it in a greenhouse during winter and it's fine. We bottom out at -19C typically.

You can see my A. araucana on the left side of the photo I took yesterday. If you look close you'll see that the lower branches are brown from previous years winter burns. The Trachycarpus takil will get a greenhouse too......anyday now!

Hi Barb,

no bubbly chocolate bark yet. I'm hoping the Wollemi will take off next season. Mine is planted in a very sunny/hot location but it gets shaded after 4pm in summer....this may help.

Nice Monkey Puzzle tree. Mine is roughly the same size. No brown, but it did get some trunk damage when I mulched it too heavily. It seems undaunted and continues to thrive, albeit very slowly.

Cool you've (both) got a Monkey Puzzle.
What was the childhood saying: Is it the only tree a monkey is unable to climb? (can't remember the saying).
Growing up on the Coast in Vancouver, there was at least one of those trees on every block.
Dangerous to walk under as they got huge...heavy branches would break in storms, and I think the seeds were heavy.

Tim, the takil gets protection; the yuccas don't? 😕 Gorgeous border!

Gorgeous border!

Absolutely!
Please share more photos with us. --Erik

Since we're on the topic of Araucaria...

These Araucaria araucana seeds just arrived in the mail today 😀 :

<img src=" " border="0" alt="Araucaria araucana">

There are about 250 of them in all ! :

<img src=" " border="0" alt="All Araucaria">

I'll be planting them over the next couple days, and will post photos when they start germinating!

Wonderful, Cameron!
Neat looking seeds...are there any Monkey Puzzle trees growing in your area?
Bet they'd need no protection at all in your zone.

Let us know how the germination goes.
Barb

Barb, I've heard that there's a 5 foot tall tree growing unprotected on a south-facing slope in south-west NS. I think A. araucana might have a shot here in Halifax if sited well, so that's why I bought so many seeds! 😆

That is good news.
If you ever get down to SW NS, make sure you take your camera.

Or wait a few years and you can photograph your own wall of trees... 😀
The trees seem to do well in Vancouver's humidity off the ocean, should be the same at your location, albeit you probably get more snow.

You could easily sell some to adventurous gardeners in NS and beyond.
Barb

TimMAz6, i have never tried araucaria araucana outdoor 😥 But i have this one as indoor plant. It is very little. I'm going to grow it for more large size and plant it outdoor. I see one thing - araucana grows too slow in comparison to angustifolia. Yes, my climate is more colder than yours. If i correctly understand your araucana was without protection during last years?

I told Serj there are two A.araucana at one private property in Almaty suburban. Took pictures today:

Hi Jack,

what type of trunk damage did you get on your monkey puzzle when mulched heavily? How much mulch did you use?

Hi Barb,

Yucccs don't get much protection. I try to protect my Yucca rostratas from moisture not cold. I place a small 'roof' over the leaves to keep cold rain/snow out of the leaves.

Hi Erik,

I'll try to post more photos in near future!

Hi Cameron,

great seeds!! Germinate them all, perhaps a few will be more hardy than the others. Good luck with them. The monkey puzzle shown in the photo was germinated back in 2000!...............they are slow growing.

Hi Serj,

Yes, for the first few years I didn't protect the monkey puzzle tree too much and the leaves turned brown. Last winter I built a greenhouse around it and it stayed green.

Hi Igor,

great photos! The older leaves are brown........I assume from winter cold.