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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27 Responses to Eucalyptus caesia "Silver Princess"
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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!
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/
Hello,
I too enjoyed your article on the ‘Silver Princess’ (which I came across as a result of googling it). Love the tree and am seriously considering planting one in the front garden of our newly built house (Perth, W.A.). I know that you said it is suitable for small gardens, but as our front garden will be particularly small and close to the house, I was wondering if you are able to keep it pruned to a certain height and width (of choosing). Sorry, but I didn’t know what ‘coppice’ meant. If it can be pruned to keep it to a certain size, when is the best time to do this? Also, how much should be taken off? Hope you can answer these queries as I would really love to have one in my planned native garden.
Thank you,
Karleen Jane.
Hi Karleen, The Silver Princess normally has an irregular growth habit and can be trained to grow in the direction you desire. Coppicing is when you cut the truck back to just above ground level or back to a stump. You need to let the tree become established before you try this but it isn’t a practice worth trying on a young tree anyway. Pruning is normally best conducted in spring or when the plant is about to put on new growth. I’m always wary planting trees too close to the house therefore you will need to use your judgment as how fast and how large this tree will grow will depend on your soil. Perth typically has sandy soils which means uninhibited root growth but it is normally best to consult with a local expert.
Hi,I have 4 Silver Princess that have been in for about 5 years.They are really healthy but they have never produced any flowers.They are on slightly sloping ground and they get all the morning sun.Have you any suggestions as to why they are not flowering.I really love these trees as they create a lot of character in the garden.Kind regards Arlene.
Hi Arlene, Yes they’re a fantastic tree, one of my favourites. Most Eucalypts are grown from seed and one of the characteristics of seed grown plants (as opposed to cutting grown plants) is they can take longer to flower. In fact some seed grown Banksias can take up 7, 8, 9 or even 10 years to flower. However most eucalypts will flower much earlier.
Therefore you’d be expecting to get some flowers on yours either this winter or next. Mine has buds on it at the moment.
One other thing about the Silver Princess is it is one of those plants that does seem to thrive on neglect. Do your plants receive plenty of water? Is the soil very fertile? or do you give them fertilser? My theory is that if you pamper some Aust Natives too much it can delay the flowering. It maybe a case of just being patient. Best of Luck and let me know how you go.
I planted one a while back and, typically, it grew at a severe angle. But at the bottom of the tree grew a small and very upright shoot, so I cut the main tree at its base to allow the young and eager shoot to grow in its place. Within no time, this shoot shot up straight and true, and the established roots were strong and stable to ensure health and vitality. It was a no-brainer at the time, as the leaning tree was really annoying to look at, whilst that new shoot was just begging for a chance to have a go at taking over. And take-over it did!
Thanks for sharing your story Rob. The way your tree grew originally is typical of many Silver Princesses. I’ve long been an advocate of pruning plants to achieve a desired form and it’s something you’ve definitely mastered. I once saw a Silver Princess that had been coppiced and as a result it grew multiple shoots that spread in every direction to form a large rounded bush. The result was quite spectacular. Way to go!
planted my silver princess about 4 months ago and a new branch grew about 300mm long within the first month of planting but unfortunately was snapped off by strong winds. have since staked it and doesnt appear to have had any new growth since. when does new growth generally appear?
Hi Flora, My Silver Princess has new growth on it at the moment (in Melbourne) but it is about 8 years old. Yours being juvenile, may not start to grow again until spring, depending on your climate. If it still has some branches with leaves it should still be ok.
I have a cassia princess about two years old. It’s leaves look diseased – they are reddish-brown but they don’t look like rust, and this is taking over the plant so that only the new shoots look a natural colour. I’ve been hoping it will fix itself up but to no avail. Now I’m thinking of ripping it up but would prefer a cure. Any clues?
Jenny
Ripping it out would be my last consideration.
First thing is to find out if it is diseased. Take a leaf and place it in a clear plastic bag and take it into your garden centre for a diagnosis and suggested treatment.
Next up, most plants only get diseased when they are stressed. The biggest enemy of the SP is bad drainage and/or hot humid conditions in a confined area. Does this apply to your plant?
You can always shift the plant. The SP in my garden was removed from my mothers garden at age 2, placed in a pot and planted in my garden a year later. It has now been in it’s new home for 5 years and it happy and healthy.
If worse come to worse you can always coppice the plant before completely removing it as it will grow new growth which you can then prune as desired.
Best of Luck
I’m growing 2 SP alongside each other, but one has the same problem identified by Jenny – all leaves except for the newest growth get a reddish-brown speckle which then spreads through the entire leaf. I’ve taken leaves to a couple of nurseries but they couldn’t offer any solutions. I was hoping Jenny might have found some success that you can report back to us?
I’ve had a silver princess in a pot in my small courtyard since February, it’s 2m tall. The courtyard gets no direct sunlight at all except maybe three couple of hours a day at the height of summer as it’s in Melbourne, south facing with a five storey building blocking the sun. It does have a lot of indirect light though because it’s open to the sky and gets a lot of reflected light off the building opposite.
But a little bit of new foliage appeared about a couple of months ago, and yesteday, after I watered it heavily the day before, two of the buds that have been on the tree since I got it, but growing larger cracked open and the flowers emerged, seeing as I thought that would never happen I’m really surprised.
My question is whether in the long term the location will drastically affect the tree; and also it was staked when I bought it, can I remove the stake now?
Hi Andrew It’s not an ideal location for a Silver Princess. It would always be better in the ground in a well drained position in full sun. However, many Aust natives are very resilient as well. Just give it some fertiliser for natives (no or low phosphorus) make sure it doesn’t dry out too much and the water doesn’t pool in a saucer below. You can also prune it when it gets too large or even prune it to shape if desired.
You can remove the stake if you like but my bet is the stake has been attached to the stem fairly rigidly so when you remove it, it will probably lean in a direction you may not like.
Therefore you may need to position a stake at the edge of the pot away from the stem and use a flexible tie to secure it to the stake. The idea is to give it some movement along with support and eventually it will support itself and grow in the direction you desire..
I planted three princesses in a group on a gentle slope at the rear of our garden and in the first year they took off and flowered beautifully. They grew to about four metres over the second year and showed off their magnificent white trunks and flowered again. However this year they have become quite spindly, with few leaves, many of which seem to be quite dry. I’ve cut them back by about 40% from the top down so I am hoping from other comments on this site that they may make a comeback. Whilst the soil is quite heavy, it’s friable and pretty well drained on the slope. I ran a Ph test and it comes in as neutral. any other ideas what might be going on here?
From the information you’ve supplied there’s no obvious culprit. If they’re on slope and the ground is dry I’d give them a good water and maybe treat them with some Seasol. Do you have heavy frosts in your area? The SP is fairly frost tolerant but they do put on new growth over winter which may get burnt in severe frost. Are there any signs of pests? Before you cut it back was there any new growth? Phosphorus is a problem for many natives but mine is planted in a soil that was heavily fertilized and it hasn’t been affected.
When you planted the plants did you tease out the roots?
I dug out 2m tree once that had died. The roots had grown around in a circle and there were no signs of lateral roots. There was very little sign of root development at all. This is usually caused by planting small plants with roots that have coiled around the inside of the pot. In this instance, if it is excessive I prune the roots and then soak in Seasol. Otherwise I just tease then out.
Also when planting in heavy soil always dig a square hole, especially in clay. If you dig a round hole the roots sometimes grow out to the hole and then just grow in a circle just as they do in a pot.
Does this scenario ring true?
Also dig a hole in the ground nearby. The answer may be under the ground. Is it really dry?
Cheers
Hi There
I just purchased a small (2 foot tall) Silver Princess in a small 6 inch diameter pot. It is fairly staight which I chose in order to achieve a up right presentation due to the limited
space in which I would like to situate it. I live on the NW coast of Tasmania right near the
seaside on a creek. We have a mix of sand and some lovely rich red basalt earth and plenty of water.
Would you please advise how I can gain maximum growth and presentation given the
information I have provided above. The nursery man said the tree is slow growing and so am thinking I would like to source a larger tree to get a head start. The tree will be a center piece in the front garden between the driveway and building. It should get plenty of sun light.
Look forward to your reply.
Regards
Suzanne
Firstly there is no guarantee the SP will always grow upright but if you’ve already got a straight one you’re off to a good start. I’ve found the best way to increase the growth rate of natives in to plant them into a light (ie not compacted) soil. This will allow the roots to establish and grow a lot freer through the soil. Your soil sounds like it is ideal but if you don’t mind going to the extra effort, cultivating the soil will help. The irony is that small plants in tubes often out grow larger much larger plants in larger pots. The reason why is many larger plants are root bound within the pot and require some root pruning to remove roots that have coiled around the inside of the pot. When ever I buy a plant I always make sure the roots are healthy and haven’t out grown their pot. For me the most important part for the health of the plant is what’s below the ground. Get that right and your well on your way to a healthy and happy garden.
I bought this tree at the Arizona Desert Botanical Garden. The guy said it would do well in AZ, however reading the other posts makes me wonder. I currently have it in a large pot on my north facing covered patio. In its current location, it doesn’t get directly sunlight but there are no other trees or obstructions of light in my back yard. What recommendations do you have to ensure my tree does well.
The Silver Princess will always do better in the ground than a pot. The guy who sold it to you was correct it should do well in Arizona as it’s natural habitat in Australia is similar to Arizona. Therefore I would plant it in full sun in a well drained soil and sit back and watch it grow. You may have to water it for the first summer or two until it’s established but after that it will be self sufficient.
My caesia is 5 years old and doing well. It has lumps on the trunk. I have been cutting them out, as I was told they were caused by insects, they now have exuded resin. More lumps are appearing. Should I be cutting them out or is this normal for caesias
It might be best to consult with a local gardening expert on this one. For my way of thinking though, pests normally attack plants that are sick or not doing too well. Therefore, the insects may not be the real problem but rather the result.
One of the commonest problems I’ve found with the Silver Princess is giving it too much water and planting it in badly draining soil. Therefore I’d also have a look under the ground as well.
What time of year is best to prune Silver Princess and by how much should be taken off?
Hi Ted Mine is putting on growth at the moment in Melbourne so you could prune now if you wanted to. The Silver Princess is suited to quite harsh pruning so it is up to you. You can prune it to shape or however you fancy.
Hi – great web site with fantastic information. I have 3x SP planted 18 months ago, that have just taken OFF, Im excited to see many flower pods coming but Im concerned about black circular spots on the leaves on the lower 1/3 of the 3-4m trees. Some trees have more spots than others. They look fabulous otherwise. Do I need to take any action regarding these spot? BENTLEIGH = Victortia Melbourne Sth East suburbs. Many thanks
Best bet is to take a sample to a garden centre for a professional diagnosis. My guess is you’ve had a lot rain lately and the soil is boggy? Always plant Silver Princess in a position where excess water can drain away. They tend to like it a little drier. Too much water makes them susceptible to problems.