Not to steal stanhof's thunder (GREAT photos), here's my list of "good Eucalyptus species I've used in designs:

Eucalyptus caesia GUNGURRU
Eucalyptus cinerea ASHY GUM, SILVER DOLLAR TREE
Eucalyptus citriodora LEMON GUM
Eucalyptus deglupta MINDANAO GUM
Eucalyptus erythrocorys RED-CAP GUM
Eucalyptus forrestiana FUCHSIA GUM
Eucalyptus krusseana KRUSEÂS MALLEE
Eucalyptus leucoxylon WHITE IRONBARK
Eucalyptus nicholii WILLOW-LEAFED PEPPERMINT
Eucalyptus (Corymbia) papuana GHOST GUM
Eucalyptus polyanthemos SILVER DOLLAR GUM
Eucalyptus pulverulenta SILVER-LEAVED MOUNTAIN GUM
Eucalyptus sideroxylon RED IRONBARK
Eucalyptus torquata CORAL GUM

Sorry I don't have photos.

Joe

Great pics! I've never seen those trees before, at least, not in bloom. Beautiful!

In pic #7, I wonder if the owner of that hat was swallowed up by the tree. :D

Thanks for the list, Joe! I've had an E. polyanthemos in my small yard for a couple years now, and it has allowed me to keep it small (under 4 ft.). The pruned branches are very nice in bouquets, too.

Brenda

Thanks for the great pics! I wonder hom much of a mess those blooms/seed create? Reminded me at first of the mimosa silk tree and a little of the bottlebrush.

There are a few of those around here. When they bloom they are stunning. Thank you for the pictures. They certainly improve the looks of a KFC, don't they?

All the E. citriodoras around here have died due to a pest, their graceful white limbs bleeding a dark gum. They were once beautiful trees. Unfortunately, that pest doesn't seem to be affecting the E. globulus. Too bad.

There are lots of these on my street, and they look great when they are flowering, but most of the year they are rather dull. Also they drop entire limbs for no reason, I wouldn't park under one! We used to have a pair of scarlet macaws flying around the neighborhood, and they would hang out in these trees eating the fruits(?).

I gotta agree Stan, Those trees when in bloom are highly tolerable (for a euc). The two shades of orange and red are pretty slick.
Hiya Kim!

My #1 issue with Eucs has always been their susceptibility to a prolonged freeze, then them becoming just slightly less flammable than napalm. Having watched frost-killed Eucalyptus globulus fuel the Oakland Hills fire sort of put me off the entire genus. Any of those on GG's list more frost- or fire-resistant?

Any tree would have burned in the Oakland Hills fire, and Eucalyptus globulus, was just one of the trees that spread the fire. You could easily make the case that Pines were just as responsible for flying embers. There are lots of Eucalyptus species on Joe's list that are perfectly hardy and were not heavily impacted by past 100 year freezes, E. polyanthemos being one of them. I would find it hard to believe that E. polyanthemos is staying only 4 feet tall, this one gets huge rather quickly. More likely this is a similar foliaged species, but even E. pulverulenta eventually gets pretty big. It probably doesn't make any sense to plant large growing Eucs in fire prone areas, as they are meant to burn. I'd suggest that the safer trees to plant in fire zones are the trees that tend to survive fires and regrow after a major burn, and in the Oakland Hills fire zone, Quercus agrifolia and Sequoia sempervirens were two of the best survivers, but even so, in the hottest fire spots, they were still killed and they still contributed to flying embers with the fierce winds that the fire generated.

Cold hardier species on Joe's list would include E. sideroxylon, E. pulverulenta, E. polyanthemos and E. nicholi to name just a few. There are lots more hardy species, but it would also be useful to cross reference which species aren't under attack by imported Australian pests that have finally also arrived in California, especially southern California, and are particularly bad in areas where the trees are under drought stress. E. citriodora, while not extremely hardy in coastal northern California, is not currently being attacked by pests locally, but this may have as much to do with wetter conditions and less of them planted out.

Bahia, my supposed E. polyanthemos has stayed that size because I KEEP it that size. Well, I've let it grow up a bit since my initial planting and hard pruning from the original size (about 5-6 ft.) down to 4-5 inches above the soil line. I followed the basic principals set out in this link (see Pruning methods: Coppicing).

Sorry for the flash, but the sun wasn't yet shining on it this morning. :) This tree has received no supplemental water since I first planted it in part shade 2 years ago.

Close up -

{{gwi:549460}}

Brenda

Garden_Guru: You don't have an email address for GW to forward messages. I would like to contact you about some of your Eucalyptus trees. I have a 3 or 4 of them, and would like to get some seeds of the others if possible. Please contact me through GW or drewtoy2001@yahoo.com Thank You.

stanofh (or anyone else): Cool Pics. You don't have an email address for GW to forward messages either. If you can get some seeds from these trees I would appreciate it. I live in LA and don't go to SF too often. To get viable seeds, you will need to pick pods that are not green, and have not had the bottom of the Bell open yet. Usually Brown, from a year or two ago. Most Ecalyptus usually remain on the trees for a few years. Place the seed pods in a paper bag in a warm spot in the house, and wait a few days. The pods will open and release the seeds. There are usually a lot of chafe, and/or non-viable seeds. You can usually tell the viable ones from the rest since they are usally larger and dark brown or black. I can trade you seeds from some other ones, or send a sasbe to get them from you. Just let me know. Thank You.

Drew