Araucaria heterophylla
28th October 2014
In a bizarre twist of circumstances, this is the species of Monkey Puzzle that I have grown for longest, though always in a pot and rarely for very long.
The species is grown in a couple of sheltered gardens near the coast and although I don't think I have a hope of growing it here, I am going to give it a try
just as soon as this one is too large to keep in a pot in the greenhouse. Perhaps a combination of overhead shelter and wild optimism will make a dream come true.
(I don't believe it either, but sometimes foolishness and vanity are all I have to soften the edges of reality).
The species is endemic to Norfolk Island in the Pacific and is grown in large numbers for the pot plant martket every year, to the extent that there is a nursery
in the Netherlands who grow nothing else.
The angular structured growth and fine, almost fluffy needles that coat the stems and young branches are the best defense I can offer for
moments of lunacy.
2nd December 2018
It had reached an impressive 8ft tall when I decided that it would have to be moved out of the greenhouse. It doesn't have even a slight chance
of surviving in my garden so I offered it to a friend and then snapped it in half by mistake while trying to load it into the van.
This shows its valiant attempt at regrowth but the freezing spring of 2018 put an end to it.