Hardy Tropicals UK

Blairs wrote:

karl66 wrote:I grow several british trees'/large shrub's bushes inc mahonia's/magnolia's/photinia's etc..., I find these in particular add great colour around my tropical garden. karl.

They are not native to Europe though...think all are American.....

Mostly east Asian

Conifers wrote:

Blairs wrote:

karl66 wrote:I grow several british trees'/large shrub's bushes inc mahonia's/magnolia's/photinia's etc..., I find these in particular add great colour around my tropical garden. karl.

They are not native to Europe though...think all are American.....

Mostly east Asian

Both actually - depends on varieity. Some Mahonia, Magnolia (grandiflora for example) and Photinia are American.

Blairs wrote:Both actually - depends on varieity. Some Mahonia, Magnolia (grandiflora for example)

Agreed, but the most popular garden ones (e.g. Mahonia bealei, Magnolia x soulangeana) are Asian

Blairs wrote:and Photinia are American.

Nope, all Asian (except for the minority of botanists who include Aronia in Photinia)

Conifers wrote:

Kristen wrote:How about an Oak? Will Giles has got one in his garden - Quercus dentata Carl Ferris Miller in fact. Might be stretching "Native" a tad

A very large tad, Quercus dentata is from Japan

Its got big leaves though

I get a fair share of broadleaf seedlings springing up in the garden. Not through choice, but from the wind and various wildlife using the garden to deposit things. It's mainly birch, ash, oak, sycamore and chestnuts with the occasional conker for good measure

flounder wrote: It's mainly birch, ash, oak,

Native

flounder wrote:sycamore and chestnuts with the occasional conker for good measure

Not native

Whatever, they all end up out of the ground.
Out of interest, how many generations does something need to be growing to be thought of as native?

Wow im so glad to see so many other people who grow native and naturalised trees. Im only 17 so I've exceeded the amount of trees allowed in my parents garden. So I'm taking mine out to plant in a wood near to where i live. A few I've grown; Silver birch, Downy Birch, Oak, Sycamore maple (naturalised), hawthorn, plum, apple (naturalised), elder, yew, scots pine (again naturalised), Horse chestnuts and Ash. Although I'm sad to say my ash may die in years to come when dieback reaches this far north. Unless I'm terribly lucky and have found another rare immune or resistant strain.

doncasterpalmguy123 wrote:So I'm taking mine out to plant in a wood near to where i live. :

That is good to hear - I have planted a lot of trees around my neighbourhood and park. Sometimes they are removed but it is nice to see what you have raised growing well. My neighbour has a half dozen wild Cherry that I gave them that are looking great = also going to provide my garden with a good windbreak in the next few years

flounder wrote:Out of interest, how many generations does something need to be growing to be thought of as native?

Doesn't work like that - it is based on the means of arrival (whether it got here by itself, or with human assistance), not the length of time it has been here. So the answer does not change with time.

billdango wrote:It would be difficult with certain exotics to blend them in with UK natives.

Agaves and oak trees would just look silly but Trachycarpus and oak trees work perfectly together.

It would look even better if the oak [or any other broadleaf trees] are at least fairly mature and the palm and banana trees are growing underneath the lower branches.

It looks good in the Himalayas [Darjeeling] or nearer home in [Sochi] so should look good if done properly here.

If I had a wooded area I would give it a go.

billdango

Well in Mexico you will find some Agave species growing with oaks. For example Agave atrovirens. And Mexico seems to have arround 500 species of oak.

Well take Sabal and Rhapidophyllum, they grow in the wild with and under American beech (Fagus grandiflora) for example. And then on those beechtrees you can see growing Spanish moss.

That was in Torreya State Park in Northern Florida.

Alexander

I didn't reply initially as I was having difficulty determining what was actually a native as opposed to introduced and naturalised. I think the vast majority of what we think of as 'Native' has actually been introduced over the last 2 or 3 hundred years.

I think 2 that I 'may' be safe with are Hazel and Elderberry. I use both as fast growing shade for summer that are cut right back in autumn and make excellent compost once shredded

In coastal and upland gardens Ulex gallii (Western Gorse) may well spread, also in select areas of the west, a can of worms perhaps, but for some localised areas Arbutus unedo may have been native in the past. I noticed them naturalised at Ness Garden, so showing potential for native capacity in the past and so it may have had a small population here, though no one has got any evidence suggesting so (have they looked?) .

[quote="stephenprudence"]Arbutus unedo may have been native in the past./quote]

Almost certainly was native in the British Isles at some point. There are relic populations of it growing naturally in the warmer areas of Ireland.

Blairs wrote:

stephenprudence wrote:Arbutus unedo may have been native in the past.

Almost certainly was native in the British Isles at some point. There are relic populations of it growing naturally in the warmer areas of Ireland.

Not in Great Britain. Yes of course in the British Isles, as Ireland is part of the British Isles