Do not think the poor little baby will survive winter Josie .. its a very tropical specie .

We might have received seed from the same member--mine were sent as figs. I let the seeds ferment in water before planting them out, though, and got a fantastic germination rate. (None of the seeds I'd bought previously from overseas suppliers germinated, probably because they have to be planted while very fresh.)

Now unfortunately the seedlings look pretty much like you describe yours (stunted and sickly). The winter nights here are colder than yours (it's generally at least five degrees cooler on average every night, and has fallen to zero and slightly below on several nights already) and so my seedlings would be more stressed than yours. Most are in an unheated mini-greenhouse and are not looking good, although still alive. Those kept in seedling pots outside up against the house have fared worse: most have died.

I think if they can be kept alive over winter, they should come good in spring. Although a tropical species, it should be able to survive in Brisbane because I know there's at least one mature flowering species in one of the city gardens (Mt Coot-tha, I think, rather than Roma St Parklands). I think they just need as much warmth as you can give them in winter, with very little water. They also seem to need protection from the worst summer sun.

I didn't think they were known as a particularly fast-growing species, although I'd guess that they'd grow faster in the tropics than in the subtropics.

This species can be grown at least as far south as Coffs Harbour provided a warm spot is selected. I have seen a large tree at Samford west of Brisbane which fruits constantly and there are a couple of large trees in a park in Murwillumbah (NENSW) which fruit and flower throughout the summer warmer months. I have numerous trees which are fast growing even in northern nsw. I have a tree which has flowered and it was planted in 1999, thus 7 years to flower in northern nsw.
I find that some of the tropical species take a little time to establish but after a couple of years they come good.
Cheers from Kris

Thanks very much for your help everyone. Will cross my fingers and see how we get on after winter is over. Have put it in a mini greenhouse and will keep it a little drier than I have been.

cheers,
Josie

I am growing it down on the NSW Central Coast and find it surprisingly hardy.

They won't survive frosts when young, probably not when older either, your prob. is to get it through this cold. I have not grown from seed, but some tropicals can be slow as seedlings & seem to put effort into root growth first.
I grew one GC hinterland but planted in the wrong spot, I later realised. One particular spot in the back yard that actually had some decent depth of soil and got a fair amount of run-off.
It absolutely took off once planted (about 1 foot high) and reached about 20 foot in 3 years, at which time I started to worry, as potentially they are a very big tree.
It did flower, and it was wonderful, but I had to give it the chop. So if you do get yours to survive, just be careful on ultimate location. Mine - I don't know if this is common to the species - send out huge buttress roots that killed all the lawn below the drip line. They are also rather brittle, and strong winds would tear off branches, another reason for not letting mine get any bigger.
Seed is reasonably available from FNQ if you want me to ask around I could probably secure you some fresh stuff when it's next available?

Hi,
It may have been me you got the seed from. When i got my seed I searched high and low for info about growing Canangas and the length of time to flower.I have put together a fair amount of info by trial and error as I grow both the C. odorata and the var. fruticosa.
If you can keep it warm, (maybe one of those seedling heat mats which always seem to be on sale when you don't need them), for a year or two, plant it out into a sheltered spot near a warm wall or maybe a surface which will reflect some heat onto it in the winter.
My first viable seed arrived after many, many false starts with un-viable seed. I got a kilo of fruits and spent hours removing, cleaning and planting individual seeds. I planted about 200 seed thinking I would get a couple of plants for myself and a few to trade. Two weeks later I had 200, 30cm seedlings which never slowed down. Couldn't give them away. Not very attractive when they are little. They all shot to about 2m in 6 months. The best surprise was seeing flower buds after 2 yrs from seed! They are very fast growing for me (in the tropics). Trees set fruit but not viable seed until 4 yrs old. Trees exhibit highly varied growth habits depending on their situation. In their natural, rainforest habitat they bolt to the canopy as skinny, unattractive trees until about 40m tall. If they are crowded in the garden they will do the same and all those amazing flowers will be 40m above your head. If you plant them alone with plenty of room (under plant later if you like) They form a much shorter, stockier specimen. I haven't had much luck with pruning the top out to make them bushier, but I planted a number into a mates native garden and he pruned the tops out. These trees, which were planted in the open and not crowded, benfitted from the prune and grew nice, tidy crowns.
Good luck to you and to Cestrum, keep perservering with the little fella it will reward you.
Later,
BC

BC, you were indeed the person who supplied me with those wonderful cananga figs with seeds that germinated unbelievably well. My seedlings did it tough their first winter in an unheated minigreenhouse here in Ipswich, but I've got at least a dozen of them left. I've found that I can't plant them in the open here--the sun just kills them despite lashings of water. So they're dotted around under whatever shade I can create for them in this new garden, some still in pots and some planted in the new beds. I don't think they'll grow to anywhere near 40m here because of the frosty winter nights. I'll leave some of them in pots so that I can move them to warmer positions in winter. Will be interesting to see which ones survive this coming winter.

If I can just keep one alive long enough to flower so that I can smell that perfume for myself, I'll be in bliss!

I've been burying some of my other potted plants (of large trees) in the sugarcane mulch of the new beds, thinking that they should send enough roots out thru the holes in the pots to get extra moisture without being able to grow to full size. I might have to reconsider this strategy, given that my blue java banana (still in its pot) has now reached the clothesline (it was sent to me in a test-tube last July), and the (still potted) Samanea saman is about a foot taller!

Am looking for seeds for the shrub version of cananga var. fruticosa. It grows beautifuly on patios in New Caledonia so would like to try in Brisbane. I think if it is wrape in winter it should survave the cool nights. If you had seeds please let me know.

There would also be a climber wine version, with rounder flowers an clusters of fruits. If anyone spoted in Australia, could you please let me know?
Thanks