Eucalyptus caesia “Silver Princess”
Eucalyptus caesia “Silver Princess” is a small Eucalypt that can grow to only 5m which makes it ideal for smaller gardens. It has a very ornamental weeping habit and a silvery, white powdery substance that covers the branches and adds to it’s appeal. Red flowers appear during winter and although they are not as prolific as some Eucalypts they still very much add to the appeal of this tree.
Eucalyptus caesia "Silver Princess"
My mother had this plant growing in her garden but decided she didn’t like it so I dug it up and transplanted it into my new garden. It’s appearance is probably not for everyone though as it can look quite sparse. Its older limbs have rough cracking bark and it does have a habit of growing as if it is about to fall over. Then again, for me these are features and I tend to think that as far as Eucalypts go this one is very much an individual. You do see enough of them though growing in peoples gardens to realize that it is quite popular.
As far as the unusual growth habit goes this can be fixed by staking the plant in an effort to try and get it to grow a bit straighter. I’m not a big fan of staking plants though unless they really need to and should only be done as a temporary solution.
Another method that may be better would be to prune it into shape. I actually saw a Silver Princess growing in a country garden once that had been coppiced. It actually looked amazing as there was a spray of branches that emerged from the base of the plant and went in every direction from horizontal to vertical.
It must have been about 3m in diameter and was quite a specimen. I drove past there a few years later though and it was gone. It was disappointing as looking back now I wished I’d gotten a photo.
The important thing here is if you do have a plant that you’re not happy with you do have options as this plant does have a lignotuber and does respond very well to pruning.
The Silver Princess is also very adaptable to most soil conditions as long as the soil is reasonably well drained and is quite often seen growing in streetscapes and public gardens. It can be grown as a feature and also looks good grown amongst smaller plants as the long arching branches look great rising above the rest of the garden plants.
Eucalyptus Caesia “Silver Princess” Images.
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Posted: May 26th, 2009 under Eucalyptus, Garden Plants, Gems.
Tags: Eucalypts, Eucalyptus caesia Silver Princess, Transplanting Plants
Comments
Comment from Rebel Gardener
Time December 13, 2009 at 6:33 am
Hi Christine
It would be best to remove a few leaves with the grub and cobwebs, place them in a plastic bag and take them to your garden centre for a diagnosis and some advice.
Silver Pricesses are fairly drought tolerant and shouldn’t need any supplemental watering except for extremely dry and hot conditions, once established. It sounds like your plants may be getting too much water. Dig a small hole near the base of the plant. Is it boggy? Can the water drain away after rainfall or does it sit in around the base of the plant? Silver Princesses need to be planted where the water can drain away especially if you have a heavy, clayey soil.
I’m not sure exactly what you mean by being “left alone”. The are many misconceptions and generalisations about Aust Natives. Silver Princesses can be coppiced once established and most natives do respond very well pruning. You may want to read my articles about transplanting plants if the area your plants are planted is too wet.
http://www.gardeningnativeplants.com/how-not-to-transplant-your-plants/
Comment from Christine
Time December 12, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Hi Thanks for your information about the silver princess, I found your article really interesting. I love these trees and I have planted 4 of them in my garden this year. Can I ask you for some advice please as a couple of them have problems. All of them have a grub or something I have yet to identify living in their young leaves. Whatever the bug is it leaves cobwebs over the new shoots which I manually remove when I can. I test-sprayed one of them once with pyrethum which doesn’t seem to have done much. Also I have found one of them has had its leaves at the base of the plant dry up and look sickly. I have a drip system in place which comes on once a fourtnight plus we have had decent rain where I am so I can’t imagine lack of water being the issue. Could you offer some advice seeing as you know a bit about the species?! I’m reluctant to try to ‘help’ natives because I know natives like to be left alone. I’m in Melbourne and know they should like the soil type here. If you can offer any advice much appreciated Thanks!