Thanks Pamela, Hi Pamela The grafted ficifolia have a root stock more adaptable to different types of soil such as clay, loam and gravel making them more versatile than the non-grafted Corymbia ficifolia. Here’s the photo taken from my backyard January last year. Gastrolobium (Brachysema) Brown Butterfly -video, Banksia plagiocarpa – Hinchinbrook Island Banksia, Creating an Australian Garden book -video, Prickly Moses wattle Acacia ulicifolia to attract small birds to your garden, Hairpin banksia (Banksia spinulosa) to attract small nectar feeding birds to your garden video, Landscape Designing With Australian Plants, How to improve sub-surface drainage in the garden, Establishing Australian native shrubs in your garden, The New Formal Garden: With Australian Plants, Harvest Seeds And Native Plant Nursery – Sydney, Growing Garlic, Onions and Leeks in the Home Garden, NSW Christmas bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum), Lemon scented myrtle (Backhousia citriodora). In addition to trees from the dry forests there are a multitude of species in the rainforests of the east coast that feature large, soft and often glossy foliage. It does need a well drained soil to thrive. Have a scratch around underneath the tree to see if there are any curl grubs there. I am wondering what the life span of these trees will be as they greatly enhance the property. You may be able to help me, I planted two Summer Red hybrid eucalypts last Spring and we have had a very wet winter, I live South of Adelaide on the coast. I thought there may have been a lack of iron or similar so gave the tree some chaleted iron. They were initially pruned and treated and off cuts destroyed. deana@centurylink.net, Hi Deana do you think they need some sort of minerals? How far from the storm water pipe should we plant it? cheers Along similar lines, the brush cherry (Syzygium australe) lights up in summer like a Christmas tree with bright red edible fruits. Suddenly they have been simply dying. They are about 5 meters apart and both have grown very well and are produce great flowers and about 5 meters high as well. Angus, G’day. We are thinking of planting a “Summer Red” in the front yard on the North Coast of NSW. Angus, I have two flowering gums that are being attacked by a leaf eating insect that kills off the leaf and uses bits of the leaf to create its cocoon. A Corymbia ficifolia in San Francisco, CA is registered as a California Big Tree. It is largely a flood plain, with a clay sub-strate about 60cm -1m below the surface, although we have done a lot of drainage work. Yes you can certainly prune the tree to keep it to the height you want. Most red flowering gums sold on the east coast of Australia are grafted trees, where the red-flowering part is grafted on to the rootstock of a different tree. (I live in NSW on the far south coast, about half an hour inland.) Angus, Thanks Angus will be checking this week end and let you know the out come. I enquired about trimming it back some and was told that this would only encourage multiple new growth and would possibly be bushier than now, so I’ve done nothing for the last few years with this in mind. Corymbia is a genus of about one hundred species of tree that, along with Eucalyptus, Angophora and several smaller groups, are referred to as eucalypts.Until 1990, corymbias were included in the genus Eucalyptus and there is still considerable disagreement among botanists as to whether separating them is valid. One of the exciting developments in horticulture in recent years has been the development of the red flowering gum to make it more predictable and amenable to garden culture. i have a summer red grafted and it is growing great, however no flowers since I have put it in. Thank you for your assistance, Madhumati, Hi Madhumati It depends on the environment of the tree as to how big it gets both above and below ground. It sounds like you could not have done any more than you have to look after them. This results in eucalyptus shallow root dangers and causes wind damage in eucalyptus among other issues. Hello there – I have 5 beautiful red flowering gums on my property in Melbourne. Michael, Northern NSW, Hi Michael However if you are in southern or western Australian, then try sowing the seed in seed raising mix in shallow containers or tubes, being careful not to put too much mix on top of what is quite fine seed. I have several healthy young saplings, 1 -2 years old, of orange and red Corymbias, from seeds I planted from the large gumnuts of parent trees~~ , one of which was labelled Summer Glory. Hi Mary By and large it’s been quite a successful series when planted in gardens up and down the east coast, from Melbourne through to Queensland. 1). A number of other rainforest species have outstanding ornamental qualities such as the Creek lilly pilly (Acmena smithii), a dense small tree that makes a perfect hedge, either formal or informal. If they look very healthy it is hard to imagine a nutrient deficiency. I have a red flowering gum in the front northern facing yard about 25 foot high. Any suggestions?…Many thanks. CORYMBIA FICIFOLIA 140mm Pot NEW! Thanks sue, Hi Sue Yet others like the Argyle apple (E. cinerea) with its powdery blue leaves can be considered for the sheer beauty of their foliage alone. Can I deal with it by diligently pruning off the suckers!!!? The red flowering gum, Corymbia ficifolia (formerly Eucalyptus ficifolia) is one of those trees that really grabs your attention when it’s in full flower, like very few other flowering trees can, perhaps with the exception of the jacaranda or the Illawarra flame tree. Family: Myrtaceae. Good luck! Many of what have remained as Eucalyptus flower way back inside the canopy on the axillary buds, unlike the terminal buds of Corymbia. The flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolius) is one of the world’€™s most spectacular flowering trees as its name suggests. Hybridisation is one way to go, and I like to think of what he’s done as a wonderful reconciliation, a sort of ‘east meets west’, between the swamp bloodwood from the east and north east and, from the other corner of the continent right down in the south-west, the red flowering gum. The pots bounced back by late April, but were still decaying from tip to end leaf. Angus. Last Monday the tree arborist came to prune the tree due to storm damaged snapped 2 large branches, he saved the tree by cabling to support the weight preventing breaking off. Inspect the graft union and see if it is healthy. The bark will gradually grow back and repair itself if the tree is kept healthy in other respects. I had hessian around it for its first winter as we get a few frosts. Francis. The reason why the group of gums that include the red flowering gum were separated from Eucalyptus were that there are considerable differences.