On 11/04/2010 05:22 PM, bob wrote:
On Thu, 4 Nov 2010 09:03:39 +0000, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:

In message , lid
writes
Does anyone have any experience of these trees? Is it known also by
another name?

Also known as Sweet Gum.

I'm trying to find one that doesn't get too much taller than 4-5
metres. I wonder, does it exist and how quickly does it grow?

The usual species grown is the American Liquidambar styraciflua, which
Wikipedia says reaches 30m. Wikipedia also tells us that 'Gumball' ('Gum
Ball' per PlantFinder) reaches 2m, and 'Parasol' 10m.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidambar_styraciflua

Googling for 'Worplesdon' (the most popular variety) finds a Gardeners
World blog entry mentioning that 'Moonbeam' also reaches 10m. This also
says that the size of Liquidambars can be controlled by pruning.

http://blog.gardenersworld.com/2008/...lant-this-tree
/

Otherwise, work your way through the names in PlantFinder and see what
Google turns up in the way of descriptions.

much obliged for this - at least the tree looks controllable up to a
point and with regular pruning.

I'd be inclined to go for the moonbeam but as this is for france and
will be from a french supplier, I'm not sure if they would name it
similarly?


Hi Bob,

'Moonbeam' is 'Moonbeam,' even in France. The national collection is
held here by the Pepinieres Adeline, who's new web site has just gone
live at http://www.adeline-pepinieres.com. My 'Moonbeam' comes from
there, along with 'Stared,' and the quality is very good. Delivery is
by truck for larger plants but is quite reasonable; in any case they do
a detailed breakdown so you can decide before you order. (I do see they
were bought, no doubt as Madame's health was problematic. I don't know
to what extent M. Adeline is still involved in the operation.)

I grow several other Liquidambars as well (including L. acalycina) but
'Gumball' isn't one of them. As the name suggests, 'Gumball' doesn't
much resemble a Liquidambar at all, max height is 2 m. However 'Silver
King' might fit the bill, it's a lovely variegation that doesn't burn in
the Normandy sun, and has a max height of 8 m. Mine is growing only
slowly now and has reached perhaps 5-6 m in 15 years. It's a much
admired specimen tree, although the fall colours are not as spectacular
as 'Moonbeam,' which changes slowly over the entire tree, showing a
remarkable range of colours all at the same time.

Glancing through the Adeline catalog they list 'Festival', 'Moonbeam',
'Parasol','Pendula' and 'Rotundilobum' all as max 10 m. My
'Rotundilobum' purchased from another source died this spring, I intend
to replace it with a graft from Adeline.

HTH

-E