Sheila Eucalyptus Tree

Eucalyptus stellulata ‘Sheila’

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7a-11 Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Evergreen Tree (May be semi-deciduous in colder climates)

Height at Maturity: 40’+ with no pruning

Width at Maturity: 20-30′

Growth Habit / Form: Upright, Vase Shape, Rounded

Growth Rate: Moderate to Fast

Flower Color: White

Flowering Period: Spring or Summer

Foliage Color: Soft Green

Fragrant Foliage: Yes

Sun Needs: Full Sun or Part Shade

Water Needs: Average, Low when established

Soil Type: Clay (Amended), Loam, Sand, Silt, Fertile Soils (rare for Eucalyptus)

Soil Moisture / Drainage: Poorly Drained to Moist but Well Drained

Soil pH: 5.5 to 7.5

Maintenance / Care: Very Low when left in it’s natural form

Attracts: Visual Attention, Bees

Resistances: Deer, Disease, Heat, Insect, Boggy Soil, Drought

Description

‘Sheila’ Eucalyptus is all girl with excellent cold hardiness (USDA Zone 7a) and an elegant beauty with some of the most attractive leaves, bark, flowers and form of all Eucalyptus. Her new shoots are crimson in color and leaves are heart shaped and lime green to sage green in color suffused with pink. Mature leaves become more an elongated spade shape, are deeper green, and have a fruity pineapple and balsam fragrance, which makes them excellent for use in floral arrangements. Profuse clusters of up to 15 buds open to very pretty, fuzzy, star shaped white flowers. Her slate grey bark overlaid with lime, moss and olive greens, with a hint of coffee and white patches is absolutely beautiful, peeling on the upper trunk and branches.

Growing up to 45 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide with a straight trunk and a dense, vase shape, oak-like crown, Sheila will provide shade during the hot summer. Sheila looks like a willow tree and also behaves like one, thriving in boggy lowlands in her native habitat, but will also tolerate somewhat drier conditions. She has a slower growth rate when young but after a few years will start to add 4 to 6 feet in height per year. That said, she responds very well to branch tip pruning so can be maintained as a smaller tree for use in smaller garden spaces and in pots that can be situated on the patio or around other outdoor living spaces. One of the few Eucalyptus that does well in part shade.

Cold Hardiness

In Georgia USDA Zone 7B, 10 month old trees had minimal leaf damage and looked great after a winter where temps reached 5°F. In Western, NC (zone 6B) 10 month old trees that froze to the ground at minus 10°F regrew vigorously from the base.

Landscape Uses

Growing up to 45 feet tall and up to 30 feet wide, left to grow naturally, ‘Sheila’ Eucalyptus is ideal for use as a specimen around patios, decks and other outdoor living spaces to provide shade, or in groupings or as a tall privacy screen in sunny to partially shaded landscape borders. If you’d rather use her as a mid to tall hedge or privacy scree, Sheila responds very well to pruning and can even be cut back to the ground every 4 to 5 years. Can be grown in large containers and is a fine addition to cut flower gardens, fragrance gardens, and the Xeriscape (low water needs).

Suggested Spacing: 8 feet apart for pruned hedge or privacy screen; 50 feet or more apart for space between trees

Note: For our customers who live and garden north of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6b, where this Eucalyptus tree variety is not reliably winter hardy, you’ll be happy to know it can be grown in containers that can be brought indoors during winter and placed back outside when temperatures warm up in spring.

Growing Preferences

Sheila is easy to grow in most any consistently moist to moist but well-drained soil and prefers full sun or part shade. Handles more shade than most other Eucalyptus. She responds very well to pruning so can be grown in large pots that can be situated on patios and near other outdoor living spaces. Choose a container that’s at least 10 inches or more in diameter than the root ball.

Helpful Articles

Click on a link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant, prune, fertilize and water a Eucalyptus tree.

How To Plant & Care For A Eucalyptus Tree

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