Monkey Puzzle Tree

[Lesley Cox]

Perhaps no-one was showing willing and she thought "shame to waste them." If a bowl of macadamias or cashews was set down near me, others wouldn't get a look in.

[David Pilling]

I do know someone who brought a seed into NZ stuck between two almost front teeth. It later germinated.

Presumably customs were distracted by the coffin of earth from Transylvania that came with him.

Remember making fangs of orange peel, they'd look like that.

[Lesley Cox]

Oh yes, I remember doing that. We weren't much into Halloween in those days - thankfully - but any time an orange was consumed.....

[Hoy]

We also made orange peel fangs - or my father did! He also had the record in the longest peel from one orange. . . .

Not an orange tree nor a monkey puzzle but a puzzle to climb anyway - Cunninghamia lanceolata

[David Pilling]

Cunninghamia lanceolata - nice tree, does it grow quickly?

I was repotting my monkey puzzle trees this week, now six summers on, and I found one or two with big tap roots. Perhaps they will take off now.

[Hoy]

Cunninghamia lanceolata is not a quick grower here. The main shoot is about 20-25cm/year. It is easy to grow and prune if necessary. It even tolerates coppicing.

[David Pilling]

Ah quick growing relative to the monkey puzzle...