Nice pics.

Those spruces just need to be put out of their misery, STAT.

The Beeches are interesting - they (the F. sylvaticas) seem to grow more slowly here than in Ohio...

When I was up in NH and MA this past week there were a lot of LARGE Purple/Copper beeches and most were in excellent condition. I think they're a bit heat sensitive.

There's a sad looking Cunninghamia in Columbia that I think got some rather significant winter damage. I'll try to get a pic.

Speaking of that, could that be winter damage on that Cedar?

You know I hadn't even thought of it, but it could be. Odd that it isn't more diffuse though and seems confined to a few sections. I admit I was jumping to conclusions about it being deliberately injured.

There's a really big copper beech in Havre de Grace, MD, and I think there are a few others here and there in the lower mid-Atlantic region, but yeah I agree the distinguished older ones are common further north. I seem to recall seeing several huge ones on Long Island, at Newport, RI, and in the suburbs of Boston. The DC area is their southern limit in the Piedmont - there was a famous large one at Dumbarton Oaks that died a few years ago.

I think the Cunninghamia looks pretty good for one after this winter, and the past bad summers we've had. (Although mine is only 8' and was uninjured, so who knows.) I sometimes see ones that don't look as good, there was one in Reston near the lake but I didn't have time to check it out. It was scragglier though. The North Arlington one is the best I've seen in a non-specialist setting. (collector's garden, botanical garden, etc.)

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Fri, Jul 11, 14 at 16:04

I have linked the Montgomery County Forestry Bd's site which has their Champion Tree List. Although sometimes these lists leave alot to be desired Montgomery Co's list is quite good, the photography is especially good. My 2009 paper copy says that the MP Tree in Bethesda has a height of 30'.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mont. Co. Forestry Board.

Years ago in the summer the large Blue Atlas cedars in the VA State Arb (Winchester) all had some type of serious needle-loss. They were all prb'ly 50 yrs old or more, so had survived quite a few bad winters. Don't know their condition now.

Thanks for the tip Sam, I wouldn't have known that MoCo had their own big tree registry. Since the owners are listed under their own name, presumably they have no concerns with someone looking them up and coming to gawk at the tree.

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Sat, Jul 12, 14 at 9:36

very interesting info---good to know that at least in some places on the east coast that such a fascinating (and sometimes finicky) tree as the araucaria can do so well. thanks for sharing.

Good to see some trees from other areas. Wish more people would take the time to take pics.

I even enjoy seeing younger trees in peoples yards.

They are quite common here in the maritime Pac NW dating back to when
the sailing ships went 'round the horn. They would stop in Santiago,
Chile for supplies and bring the seeds up here with them. In Chile, the
seeds are used in salads.

Mike

The largest Sciadopitys verticillata that I have ever seen is at McCrillis Garden in Bethesda. I can only guess how tall it was -- maybe 40 feet. I don't know much about them, and maybe that's a small one! LOL! Might be worth checking out.

Dave the biggest I remember seeing personally was here:

http://binged.it/1SMEdnU

In Beverly, MA, though I can't remember exactly which of those trees it was, it was close to 40' or so, too, I'd guess. And that was a few years ago in the late 2000s.

ALJ says the largest in the US is in Everett, WA, at 54', the largest in the UK at 75' in Kent, and the largest in Japan 150'! (probably hundreds of years old)

McCrillis is a nice garden, I need to go back there some day. They (unusually, for a DC area municipal garden) had a number of large rhododendrons of "beyond ironclad" variety. Of course, nothing like the Jenkins, Taylor or Tyler in PA.

There are some gems in that old McCrillis garden. Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Rotundifolium' are very mature. Nice Osmanthus armatus.

They have a developing Lithocarpus henryi too. Interesting hollies, camellias, Eleagnus, etc.

Also, a large Aucuba 'Limbata'. Very established plant. Here's a photo of it by Randy Stewart (Future Plants).

Thanks for the additional pic and info.

'had a number of large rhododendrons of "beyond ironclad" variety. Of course, nothing like the Jenkins, Taylor or Tyler in PA.'

it would be interesting to know if they still do, given we had three incredibly hard summers for them in 2010, 2011, and 2012.