I was reading that despite being "subtropical, Araucaria cunninghamii can grown be grown in the colder districts of Australia." How would native Australians interpret this?
I thought that there were some frosty areas. So would this Araucaria be able to take frost? Maybe even -6 C?
Any experiences noted, greatly appreciated!!

Thank you!

Just from observation of where planted Araucarias are to be seen, I would say A. bidwillii is the most cold-hardy of our Australian ones. You can see fine trees on most parts of the tablelands, so I would say it is hardy to zone 8.

A. cunninghamii grows on the coastal ranges up to quite high altitudes so I would put it in zone 9 or possibly the upper part of zone 8.

The Norfolk Island Pine, A. heterophylla, appears to be the most frost sensitive. Here in Sydney it has always been popular, so it's a safe assumption that it would have been tried almost everywhere. Yet if you travel inland from the coast, you see them in gardens and parks for maybe the first 20 km, then no more as you get into frostier areas. So this is hardly even a zone 9 plant.

[Australians may not be so familiar with the USDA zone system, which is based on the lowest temp of the coldest winter day (i.e. the day that might kill your plant), but averaged over the years. Each zone spans 10 deg Farhenheit or 4 deg C. I think zone 9 is -5 to -1 C, and zone 8 is -10 to -6]

Thank you very much for the detailed answer!

I got some seed of A. cunninghamii from a New Zealand provenance. Will try growing it. Now I feel there is some hope that I can grow it outside. If necessary I can always bring it in during freak cold spells.

Enjoy

Out of curiosity, have you ever tried growing some of the New Caledonian Araucaria?
Seems impossible to get seed of NC species.

Klinky pine maybe the emotional equivalent for the Kakoda Track as the Aleppo (Lone)pine (P.halipensis) of Gallipoli

As for the New Caledonian species, here in Bundaberg we have one species commonly grown that is refered to as the Cook Island pine. There are some very old specimens (over 100 years old) that I suspect were introduced by the Kanakas (Pacific Island slaves that were brought in to work early sugar plantations in this area). These seem to be identical to the Araucarias I saw growing in New Caledonia. I suppose I should try to get some seed from these trees and give them a go.

Andrew.

Now as for A. cunninghamii logic would dictate it is a little less hardy than A. bidwillii, as is Agathis robusta. But they are both hardier than A. heterophylla which meets its doom around -6C (-5 if smaller). And A. cookii (syn A. columnaris, I think), if I remember right, is native to the Cook Islands and less hardy than the others, maybe to just -2C or something (I'm not 100% sure on that info...I'm trying to remember something I read a long time ago and it could have been incorrect to begin with!). If there are any other hardyish Araucarias, one to try might be A. huntsteinii from Papua New Guinea.

There is a guy in New Zealand who has some specimens of the New Caledonian Araucaria and Agathis species (as well as rare treeferns) - drop me a line and I'll give you his name (but that's all I've got, I think I lost his email!)

Also if you wouldn't mind sharing any Araucaria seed sources you do find, I would really appreciate it!