Eucalyptus gunnii x gunnii ‘France Bleu’ – 1 of the best ever Eucalyptus

Description Eucalyptus gunnii x gunnii ‘France Bleu’  – 1 of the best ever Eucalyptus PLUS: LIMITED OFFER – FREE ECO-MULCH MAT KIT with every tree purchased (while stocks last) Eucalyptus France Bleu is a fabulous, relatively new Eucalyptus bred in France for ornamental gardens. France Bleu is also great for fragrant cut foliage and wonderful in pots and planters. The new growth in summer looks truly spectacular. A silvery white haze hovers over rose-pink stems, whilst icy blue foliage sits beneath. Biometrics Shoots ‘n Leaves: Very ornamental foliage.  Young emerging shoots are coated in silvery white wax. Young shoots are a wonderful deep rose pink to violet shades. Juvenile leaves are short and strap like in a striking blue Adult leaves are very similar to the juvenile foliage Bark: very similar to Eucalyptus gunnii, shredding in shades of coffee, pewter and sable Flowers: Fluffy and white, in small groups Leaf Aroma: Strong, fresh Eucalyptol Rate of Growth: slower growing than other members of its gunnii tribe, certainly in its earlier years. Height in maturity, if left unpruned:   Short term, the breeders estimate that this tree will reach 4m in about 8-10 years. Long term, under rich growing and sheltered conditions, it could grow to around 6-8m if not pruned. Easy to keep smaller by regular pruning – March 18th and end of May. Eucalyptus gunnii x gunnii ‘France Bleu’ can be kept at around 1.0-1.5m tall as a bushy shrub or shrub-on-a-stick mini standard tree, for use as privacy screening. If pruned, it can be trained to form a bushy screening tree, a lollipop standard or a multi-stemmed bushy shrub.  Responds well to pollarding (pruning down to around 60-100cm), when done at the right time of year. Read our Pruning Guidance Notes HERE Click here to see our YouTube Pruning Video We would not recommend coppicing (cutting down to ground level) Eucalyptus gunnii x gunnii ‘France Bleu’ as it does not possess a lignotuber. Unless you are growing for cut foliage, please refrain from voluntarily electing to prune your Eucalyptus from August through to February; it can kill it. To receive monthly pruning and aftercare advice, sign up to our Gumnut Club – its free and you can unsubscribe at any time.  To subscribe – just call or ping us an email to [email protected] Hardiness: Good hardiness rating. The breeders claim that the root-system should be happy certainly down to around -8°C to -10°C, once mature. Our trees at Grafton Nursery happily survived -13°C outside during winter 2022/2023 without signs of scorch or die-back, so Eucalyptus gunnii x gunnii ‘France Bleu’ is possibly hardier than its breeder gives it credit. Hardiness in Eucalyptus is governed by provenance of seed (all our seed is sourced from frosty or cold locations) how it is grown (i.e. high nitrogen levels reduces cold tolerance), the age of the tree – the older your tree, the hardier it will be. Younger Eucs are more susceptible to frost damage as they only have thin stems and are not very woody. how long it has been planted in the ground. The deeper you can encourage the rooting by digging a deep planting pit at the time of installation, the quicker your tree will establish and you will increase its ability to survive cold winters. See our planting notes for more details. the degree of stress to which the tree is subjected. The less stress your Euc experiences, the hardier it will be. For a list of stress factors, visit our Guidance Notes here