I grew Quercus myrsinifolia once. Mine was so small that I'm afraid I got tired of it & tossed it. There are beautiful mature specimens at Oakwood Cemetary in Atlanta. If you get a small one, I would advise growing it in container until it's at least 5G size before setting it out.

I have been tempted to order Fagus sylvatica purpurea nana, but it would have to spend its life under my deck to stay out of summer sun. Have seen roseamarginatums in Wisconsin in half whiskey barrels. So slow that they were considered a dwarf. Definitely a northern or PNW specialty. They say only acceptable success with European beeches in zone 7 georgia are the green seedlings.

No experience with the others. You must be dealing with Forestfarm. They're great.

Ditoo on Myrsinifolia here NE of the city. Slow starter, about 1/2 the speed of Q.virginiana. I guess it's also a smaller tree overall as well.

Check out Woodlanders in Aiken, SC as well.

Keep hearing that about beeches especially from nursery employees... "oh duh those don't grow here" Ok what about American Beech? "Duh uh doh those don't grow here neither"

I've got Dawcyk purple beech on my list to try. Waiting to see if I got a trip up north planned so I can buy a good sized one.

I'd also love to know if anyone has physically attempted with a real live specimen here and not had success with it. (European beech) Or if you had one come down with a disease or something like that.

Check out what the University of Alabama Huntsville has to say about Fagus sylvatica.

Here is a link that might be useful: UAH Grounds Management Page

If cultivated, American Beech seems to do best in woodland settings or away from lawns. Some experts say that there is some sort of symbiotic relationship between American Beech and naturally occuring fungi in woodlands that make them grow better. Minimum rqmts for newly planted American Beech would be sunny large space with lots of woodsy mulch and no lawn underneath.

Here's a quote from the UA site
"According to some texts, it doesn't do well in extreme heat, I haven't seen that problem yet on a number of European Beech, and our summers are regular low to mid 90s with stretches of upper 90s to 100 for 3 to 3 1/2 months. Summer days here under 90 are not common. Again, I think the majority of European Beech would tolerate the southern region of zone 7."

What does the zone 7 designation have to do with heat tolerance? This zone deals with cold hardiness. You can be in zone 7 in New Mexico and have nothing grow in that heat! Anyway these trees seem to be regionally popular to the northeast US sort of how Willow Oak is regionally popular here and how live oak is regionally popular in Florida and texas and how ash trees and honeylocust are regionally popular in the midwest. I think it's just one of those things where people assume since they never see one that it must not grow there. That's my theory. I'd bet money you could grow a European Beech here and I think the only reason why we don't see American Beech in nurseries is because they probably aren't as easy to propgate as bradford pears and the brown leaved mimosas.

The comments (in the UAH site) regarding the zone assignment was clearly directed to the SE, QQ. Though most of us are aware that the USDA zone system 'should' be interpreted as a tolerance to cold temperatures, the fact is that the huge majority of us look at it as a generic parameter.

The author was making a statement about the suitability of this plant in southern NA (his personal experience), and not anywhere else. It's a useful description.

QQ,
The zone 7 could also be in reference to the heat tolerance map. AHS has two tolerance maps: cold and hot. Some parts of Northeast GA are in zone 8. So, I would assume that these plants do best in the mountains and in the Northwest GA terrain.

I have attached a weblink to this post that takes you to the heat zone map!

Here is a link that might be useful: AHS Heat Zone Map

Forgive me from veering slightly off topic but since we're looking at maps...
Is anyone else puzzled about having a zone 7 cold hardiness in GA? I'm a little confused about average annual minimum temperatures but has anyone seen it get 10° or colder here in the last 15 years? How about ever? And it so rarely goes below 20° that a zone 9 designation feels more realistic. The USDA averaged the lowest recorded low temps for an area over 15 years to draw up these maps but I think it's time for an update.

Regarding zones, I thought the USDA used a 30 year window to calculate average temperatures. Prior to 1980, I think, Atlanta was in zone 8 and Sav'h in zone 9. They must have brought the window more current, which would have included the brutally cold lows (-5 in Atl, and single digits in Sav'h) that occurred in the 1980's. But yeah, temperatures even close to those lows have not occurred since.

I remember zero degrees in the Atlanta area.

I garden for the coldest and the hottest weather rather than the median. Zero for 2 hours and rapid warming is different than 20 degrees sustained for a long period of time. So is hot and dry vs. hot and humid.

If certain salvias don't return every spring without fail, you're not in zone 9. Neither am I, down here near the Florida line. I worry less about what won't grow and concentrate on what does.

Actually, the traditionaly 7b Ga area is really turning into a 8a. In fact, AHS updated (in 2004) the zone to make parts of NE GA a 8a zone. Even Landscape architects consider it 8, but sometimes you get those lows for a short while. so, it's not deffinate, but it is moving closer and closer to 8a status.

It boils down to planting the right tree in the right place and not relying on highly generalized climate maps or plant availability to decide if something will grow some place!

You don't know until you try it. That's what gardening is all about.

It isn't as cold here as it used to be in fall and winter. I can remember being bundled up and cold taking my son trick-or-treating every year. As far as the last few years go, I have left water trickling from faucets at least one or two nights every winter except last year. I do that only if the lows dip into the teens. I figure that is below the 20 degrees for zone 8, so I consider my place to be in zone 7 for plant survival.
I remember one January in the 70's when the high didn't get above freezing for the entire month. I'm glad those days are gone.

Sorry to venture further away from topic, but I wanted to share some personal info about weather. I have kept track of daily temps at my home since Jan. 1, 1997. Here is a list of lowest temps for each year.....

1997: January 17 with 12F
1998: January 1 with 20F
1999: January 5 with 12F
2000: December 20 with 13F
2001: January 3 with 15F
2002: February 28 with 15F
2003: January 24 with 9F
2004: December 20 with 16F
2005: January 24 with 16F
2006(so far): December 9 with 17F

As you can see only once in 10 years have I had a temp that falls into the zone 7 category.

That clears it up then. This is more like zone 8. Maybe the arbor day foundation is right.

I'm confused. I thought if the temperature dropped below 10, you were in zone 7b. I didn't think it had to happen every year. Even if it happens only once every ten years, wouldn't that still be zone 7? Although from a plant's perspective, what is the difference between 10 degrees and 9 degrees? Not to get things even further off track, but someone explain this zone thing to me please. (My apologies to the person who originally asked about trees.)

Yes, you have it right. I read it's 15 years of sampling and it it drops below or to 10 even once then yeah it's zone 7. If there was only one brief period in this time period then would this really steer you away from most z8 plants?

Back to the topic,Quercus Myrsinifolia and Quercus Phillyreoides will do fine here. I've never grown them but have seen specimens. By chance forrest30295, do you live in Zebulon? If so, your temperatures will be slightly warmer than the Atlanta and metro folks. From my experience, zone 8 plants do fine here (Coweta County). It's the plants from the more northern areas that struggle -Betula Pendula, lilac, Pinus ponderosa (some of my failed attempts). Good luck with your trees. Send some pictures in a few years.

Yes here in Zebulon we seem to have an interesting microclimate where we don't seem to get quite as hot or as cold as the surrounding counties. It must have something to do with the Pine Mountain range to the south. Are there any spruce trees that anyone here has tried growing?

It only takes one real cold snap to destroy a zone 8 plant. I've only been here 6 years, but have heard that at sometime in the 80s there was such a cold spell that destroyed many gardenias and other plants, shrubs and even trees that were not hardy above zone 8. So it's a risk. I would only plant stuff it would not kill me to lose.

Forrest, I have two spruces myself that have done surprisingly well.

One is the ubiquitous Alberta Spruce. I bought it to decorate for Christmas. It is in an all day sun location facing south and it has managed to survive for over 12 years. Only in the last couple years have I noticed it beginning to have thin spots over the outer "shell" of needles. Still a stalwart.

The other I have is Picea pungens 'Glauca'. I planted it in 1989 and though it looks worse for wear, its still very nice during parts of the year. The emerging needles are always a stunning blue even in the hottest years. It is in a much more protected location but still receives at least 6 hours of sun per day. Here is a picture from 1/19/05.......

I see many big spruces around the area as well. There is one property that has 4 large trees that look fabulous all the time. The current owners put large "wrapped presents"(just empty boxes) under them during Christmas, making for great decor!

Sorry for the second post Forrest, but I wanted to show you a picture of my Dwarf Alberta Spruce, and I'm not sure how to put multiple pictures in one posting. Here it is from 5/5/06.........

I've seen quite a few mature spruces, especially norway spruces that are doing just fine. I ordered a couple of Balsam firs last spring so I will see how those do here.
I can't think of a single tree I'd plant that are only hardy to z8 so maybe it's just me or the cold hardiness isn't much of an issue when it comes to trees. Heat on the other hand is very much an issue but I suspect the heat tolerance ratings are speculation or perhaps based on chilling requirements.