Spruce in Australia's heat

[luke665]

I was gifted a kit to grow a Norway Spruce and it came with a little booklet Ive been reading through. Most trees have a dormancy period in winter, this booklet said to keep the tree somewhere just above freezing temp during that time.
The problem is, where I live, winters get nowhere near that temperature.
Because I'm in the southern hemisphere, our winters are in june-august so I have plenty of time to prepare and research. Our summer days are roughly 33-38°c but it can get hotter. Our winter days are usually 20-25°c and minimum is probably 17°. It is not a humid climate.
Plants in my area don't really go into dormancy and keep growing year round, but I want to make sure I don't kill it from the heat. We have pines but they're all found near the ocean, somewhere I am not.
Tips, tricks, or any information at all would be greatly appreciated

 

[Tums]

Sorry, I think the difference in climates is just too great for it to work. Spruce are fundamentally cold-climate plants and withholding dormancy from them would be like withholding sleep from a person.

This doesn't solve the gift issue but I'm sure there are plenty of great Australian natives and tropical plants that can grow well in the heat. Bonsainut has some other Australian posters who have documented their work on the forums although their names elude me at 2am.

 

[Pixar]

Add your growing Zone to your profile , it will help answer any questions

 

[GGB]

I can't imagine picea abies doing ok down there but there are a ton of spruce and pine that occur near the equator that you could try instead.

 

[Knightlife]

Try a callistemon or a native fig, they’re great for bonsai and will work in those temps

 

[dbonsaiw]

Hmm. I'm a world away from you, but Norway Spruce seems to be hardy to zone 8. Also, I believe Picea Pungens are grown in Australia. I will confess, however, that I have no clue what the different climates are like in Australia or where you are exactly.

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[Tums]

Hmm. I'm a world away from you, but Norway Spruce seems to be hardy to zone 8. Also, I believe Picea Pungens are grown in Australia. I will confess, however, that I have no clue what the different climates are like in Australia or where you are exactly.

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Perhaps spruce could be grown in the far southern parts of Australia? According to this map I found from the Australian National Botanic Gardens, there are mountains in the southeast which roughly correspond to USDA zone 7b, with most of the continent in USDA zones 9-11. Looking at the temperatures given in the original post, their daily highs in the winter are still in the 60s-70s Fahrenheit and they say they're far from the coast, so I don't think it will work.

Plant Hardiness Zones for Australia

This paper compares Australian plant hardiness zones with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published version of their map of plant hardiness zones.

www.anbg.gov.au

As an aside, when talking about "heat hardiness", cold hardiness zones only give a limited amount of information because they don't tell you anything about how hot the rest of the year is. There is a "heat zone" system, but I hardly ever see it used.

 

[Gustavo Martins]

I live in a subtropical area and I can keep maples just fine. Even though they are not supposed to. However, I tried once a Norway spruce and it died on me. So…

 

[MaciekA]

I live in a subtropical area and I can keep maples just fine. Even though they are not supposed to.

Do they still lose their leaves in autumn? The laditudinal position of the Azores (37 - 39 N) overlaps with that of many deciduous species tree ranges including Japanese Maple (25 to 43 N). The winter temperatures in the Azores look pretty mild, maybe mild enough to enable an effective slowdown in winter. Sounds like a nice place to grow bonsai.

 

[It's Kev]

I live in a subtropical area and I can keep maples just fine. Even though they are not supposed to. However, I tried once a Norway spruce and it died on me. So…

The way I understand it is that conifers don’t do well outside of their hardiness zone, deciduous however would still grow and possibly grow well, but if it’s a fruit baring tree they just won’t have any fruit if the winter is not cold enough.

@luke665 i get it, temperate trees are awesome. I myself was enthralled by all sorts of spruce or firs or larches or whatever grows in colder zones, but stick to whatever I closest to your climate. Maybe re-gift it and hope nobody notices

 

[Adamski77]

The way I understand it is that conifers don’t do well outside of their hardiness zone, deciduous however would still grow and possibly grow well, but if it’s a fruit baring tree they just won’t have any fruit if the winter is not cold enough.

@luke665 i get it, temperate trees are awesome. I myself was enthralled by all sorts of spruce or firs or larches or whatever grows in colder zones, but stick to whatever I closest to your climate. Maybe re-gift it and hope nobody notices

I just started to germinate some larch seeds in Shanghai. Haven’t seen any larch bonsai here but saw maybe a few growing naturally…
It’s also way outside of larch natural hardiness zone… but like them so much and wanted to try. Let’s see how it goes…

 

[It's Kev]

I just started to germinate some larch seeds in Shanghai. Haven’t seen any larch bonsai here but saw maybe a few growing naturally…
It’s also way outside of larch natural hardiness zone… but like them so much and wanted to try. Let’s see how it goes…

I found golden larch on taobao, I’m sure they’ll have a fighting chance with you. Also, if a tree is in a pot, the pot gets colder than the earth, so you could even consider it to be a zone or 2 colder, but still hopeless in my area

 

[Knightlife]

If you really want a conifer why don’t you try a bunya pine - araucaria bidwillii. If you ever get the chance to go to the Brisbane botanic gardens they have an awesome bonsai collection that thrives in the tropics/sub-tropics.

 

[Gustavo Martins]

Do they still lose their leaves in autumn? The laditudinal position of the Azores (37 - 39 N) overlaps with that of many deciduous species tree ranges including Japanese Maple (25 to 43 N). The winter temperatures in the Azores look pretty mild, maybe mild enough to enable an effective slowdown in winter. Sounds like a nice place to grow bonsai.

They do lose their leaves, but usually only late autumn / early winter ( dec-jan). Some deciduous also leaf out later (compensating for late shedding?) whereas others do so early. Go figure.

Pretty mild here. We may have about a week of temperatura below 10C but most of the winter is around 13-16C. It never freezes except at high elevation

 

[MaciekA]

They do lose their leaves, but usually only late autumn / early winter ( dec-jan). Some deciduous also leaf out later (compensating for late shedding?) whereas others do so early. Go figure.

Pretty mild here. We may have about a week of temperatura below 10C but most of the winter is around 13-16C. It never freezes except at high elevation

That's great! So properly functional dormancy is happening. When do they begin to leaf out?

 

[Gustavo Martins]

That's great! So properly functional dormancy is happening. When do they begin to leaf out?

It depends on the species. maples generally leaf out early ( between feb and march), my English elm in April - one year I though it was dead as it only leafed out in June.

 

[cloudforest]

Picea likiangensis grows well for me here in Hawaii, 19N, usda 11b/12a. It leafs out in May, full length elongation and fresh needles. I don't know the heat tolerance, we don't get very hit here, max is 26-27C but mostly closer to 21-22C on most days.