Here is the bottom half of it, showing the trunk.

Here is the top half of it. Isn't it pretty?

Perhaps Grevillea robusta?

I think an image of the flowers would probably help.

Dave - thanks for the response. I see the similarity of the leaves with Grevillea robusta. However, I do not recall my tree every blooming at all. It certainly does not produce the large masses of orange bloom I saw in the pictures of GR on the internet. I will keep an eye on it, and see what it does over the next few months.

Jackie

Your tree is still young, it will sure bloom soon. I imagine that greenery is eye soothing after 13 months of drought

After years of scooping silky oak (as we called grevillea robusta) leaves out of our pool, that's where I'd bet my money on too.

Well, I looked up grevillea robusta again and spent more time, and my DH and I are appalled. This tree is so beautiful, we are disappointed to find out that it will turn into a 80-100 feet tall thing that sheds all over, invades sewer lines, and drops heavy heavy limbs for no reason! Also I hate those bright orange bottle brush blooms!

Obviously it will have to go eventually - too close to the house, also to the neighbors already challenged 100+ year old sewer line that is about 10 feet away from it. I do not mind trees that are "messy", but dropping huge heavy limbs randomly is a bit much!

The one thing that still confuses me is that I found lots of comments on the web from people who had seen theirs (mostly in Southern California) grow to 80 feet tall in 10 years. I know when this one was planted, and it is truly at least 20 years old, but it is evidently still looking and acting like a baby, and is still under 20 feet tall and the trunk is about 2 inches in diameter. What gives? Is it because it has just been left alone to fend for itself?

Just curious - any thoughts?

Thank you so much for all of your replies. I have a 1/3 acre 109 year old (all in the same family) garden near the downtown of our town in No CA, with tons of old large bushes and antique roses galore, but I don't know much about trees.

Jackie

What Sunset Zone are you in. You may be on the edge of their hardiness range. That would slow it down considerably.

It also might be a different Grevillea species or a robusta cultivar. Worth checking out if there are any candidates.

Sara

Sunset climate zone 17. There are palms growing all over town, and also eugenias love it here (see pic of one in my back yard with my DH standing in front of it for scale).

Is there tree any web site you would recommend to look up other grevillea species or cultivars? Sorry to be so ignorant - I appreciate your help.

Jackie

Your clues for why your tree has not bloomed and zipped to 60' is "in the shade on the North side of our house" and "cool wet winters and warm dry summers". It will limp along without full sun (some people even use it as a houseplant), but this tree likes full sun and heat. Southern California has warm, dry winters and hot, dry summers. And occasionally, someone provides a sewer line to help them thrive. ;)