£214.00 – £1,517.00
An exciting Eucalyptus variety. Slower growing, with a compact bushy habit. Intense silvery blue foliage. A good choice for hedges and screening. Exceptionally hardy and easy to grow. Air-pot grown for a stable root system in peat free compost.
Why we like this variety:
For a beautiful dwarf gunnii alternative, look at our gorgeous Eucalyptus gunnii Silverana!
Eucalyptus gunnii ‘Azura’ – Dwarf Cider Gum
The ‘bush’ variant consists of some twin-stems and other shrubby small forms. Please ask for a photograph if you would like to know more.
Shoots ‘n Leaves: Young shoots are covered in silvery white wax
Juvenile foliage: Rounded, intense silvery blue
Adult foliage: Intermediate foliage is elliptical and then the foliage will change to the typical lanceolate E. gunnii foliage as the tree matures; however the internodes are very short, giving a bushy appearance. Regular pruning will encourage the rounded juvenile blue foliage.
Bark: Smooth bark in pewter grey, cream, olive or sometimes pinky brown, flaking off in large pieces to reveal new bark in shades of pale gold or creamy silver.
Flowers: White flowers followed by gum nuts.
Leaf Aroma: Typical strong Eucalyptus fragrance.
Rate of Growth: Slowish for a Eucalyptus. In the nursery, they have grown about 30cm (1ft) over 4 months, so will possibly grow 60-90cm (2-3ft) in an average year. We will update this page as we gather data from our nursery trials.
Height in maturity, if left unpruned: Current estimates are that E. gunnii ‘Azura’ will reach 5m (15ft) tall by about 2m wide, and in the medium to long term approximately 10m (30ft) in the long term. It may be taller in exceptional growing conditions, but still less than half the finished height of its parents. Remember, E. gunnii ‘Azura’ is a versatile, much bushier tree than straight E. gunnii; reminiscent of a Pittosporum in habit and can be kept trimmed to form a small tree or ‘shrub-on-a-stick’ for the smaller garden.
Hardiness: Root system hardy in the region of -14 to -16°C, exceptionally hardy for a Eucalyptus, once mature.
Eucalyptus gunnii ‘Azura’ – Dwarf Cider Gum
Follow our planting instructions (issued with each order) for the best results.
Requirements:
Recommendations:
Eucalyptus gunnii ‘Azura’ – Dwarf Cider Gum
Specimen Tree: for the wider landscape and also for the smaller garden where you require a compact, bushier evergreen tree of a very hardy nature. E. ‘Azura’ could be planted as an avenue, where straight E. gunnii would simply grow too large.
For growing a full sized standard, planting the tree and running away is an option, but it won’t necessarily give you the best results. See our guidance notes for growing specimen Eucalyptus in our Help and Advice section. For monthly emails on how to prune and care for your Eucalyptus, sign up to our Gumnut Club – it’s totally free and you can unsubscribe at any time.
‘Azura’ looks fabulous in a mixed border, bringing cool silvery blue to the planting scheme.
An excellent structural evergreen tree or trimmed shrub for the winter garden. Try planting E. gunnii ‘Azura’ with red stemmed Cornus alba ‘Westonbirt’ or team it up with Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ and Phormium ‘Maori Chief’. A great addition to xerophytic gardens and those with mediterranean or Australian planting themes.
Floral Art: can be used domestically for cut foliage, but I suspect it is not vigorous enough for commercial production.
Hedges Screens Windbreaks: would look great planted as a hedge/screen. Its dense habit will make a great privacy screen and the silvery blue foliage will reflect light, making it difficult to see beyond the screen. Prune in spring, with 2-3 dry days forecast, to an ‘A’ shape, to keep it bushy down to the ground. Avoid pruning Eucs during wet weather, to discourage fungal attack. Never prune in Autumn or Winter
Pot Culture outdoors: Eucalyptus gunnii ‘Azura’ is an excellent candidate for terrace pots and large planters or raised beds. For information on how to successfully grow Eucs in pots, visit our Blog entitled ‘How to grow a Eucalyptus in a pot and keep it alive!’
No grass, no weeds and a thick bark chip mulch, to a depth of 150 mm (6 inches) are essential to assist with good establishment. Our research trials have demonstrated that grass around the trunk of Eucalyptus prevent the trees from quickly establishing and can completely stop them from growing.
For information on how to successfully grow Eucs in pots, visit our Blog entitled ‘How to grow a Eucalyptus in a pot and keep it alive!’
Tolerant of arid environments, poor stony dry soils once established. It is essential that your Euc. is given our recommended quantity of water for its first 2 growing seasons in your grounds, during its establishment phase before you abandon it to its fate. The tree needs to establish a good root system before it can survive in dry, challenging conditions.
Winter 2022 into Spring 2023
Good stock levels: 3 litre – bushes and standards, 5 litre bushes and standards,
12 litre and 20 litre standards for instant height.
Beautiful 30 litre multi-stemmed bushes and fabulous 100 litre multi-stemmed specimens for instant effect
Botanical Name: Eucalyptus gunnii ‘Azura’ (Cagire) PBR MYRTACEÆ; Myrtle Family
Common Name: Cider Gum
Status: Evergreen Tree
Origin: French forestry breeding programme AFOCEL from E. gunnii parents
The French Forestry Commission have a breeding initiative to find new Eucalyptus hybrids for timber production and E. gunnii ‘Azura’ is a product of this programme. Obviously, if you are breeding and selecting Eucalyptus for timber you want a no-messing incredibly vigorous, fast growing, straight stemmed tree with no side branches. ‘Azura’ did not meet these criteria at all, as it is compact, extremely bushy and slow growing for a Euc. Fortunately for all of us, the French recognised the ornamental qualities of ‘Azura’ and now we can plant it in our gardens.
If you are having difficulty deciding which Eucalyptus tree to buy for your garden, please feel free to email us at [email protected] or phone us on 07307 413 052.
Note: Azura and Silverana are grown from cuttings, and as such their young stems are initially sometimes bent or leaning. This doesn’t affect their health or vitality, and you can plant the first inch or so of the trunk underground to mitigate this. Any products listed as ‘bushes’ are multistems, best suited to life as small bushes and low screening. For more traditional trees, consider our taller standards which have been pruned into straight stems by the nursery team.
Azura does not have a lignotuber, so will not regenerate off the root crown if clear felled or cut down by machinery, frost or beast. However, if pollarded to around 1m, epicormics buds may sprout from the trunk, provided the tree is not very old. Mature trees may not be able to re-sprout.
Grown under licence from the French Breeder – the price includes plant breeders rights royalty payment.
The superb tree featured on BBC Gardener’s World review of the Hampton Court RHS Gardens Show 2017 was one of ours 🙂
Tel: 01905 888 098
Grafton Nursery,
Worcestershire
(Visits by appointment)
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