"Mitch" wrote in message
...
Morning all,
just, ummm last thursday, planted two E. ficifolia (Summer Beauty)
I live in St Marys near Penrith NSW. Any special care I should take
as they are both young plants, about 1.5 meters tall.

Summer Beauty is a fabulous tree. The only problem I have had is that the
branches are not strong enough to hold the gumnuts after flowering. We had
a major limb break off after two years, due to the weight of the gumnuts.
Last year I cut all the nuts off and the branches have thicken up somewhat.
I feel that the plant is mismatched to some degree--the emphasis on abundant
beautiful flowers is at the price of underdeveloped branches. It is thus a
good idea to prune to produce branches which head for the sky rather than
allow it to spread. Perhaps in later years more spreading will be possible,
but at the moment (year 4) I am still encouraging vertical branches and
eliminating anything lateral or drooping.