Would Live Oak thrive in NE France?

[Tom Dunlap]

The university where I work has sister campus's around the world. One is located in Anger's France.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angers

Last fall I planted some acorns from an iconic Live Oak on campus here in Austin. Trading seedlings with the campus would be a fun project. Before I talk to the administration here I would like to find out if Live Oak would have a chance of thriving in Angers.

Any help???

 

[Waldo]

how cold does it get there? or rather, what is the zone?
Live oaks are tough trees, if the freeze isnt too bad in the winter i think i could do ok.

 

[niceviews]

im with waldo on this one...I would think that the winters would be too harsh. It might do better in southern france where it stays warmer

 

[guymayor]

contact the intl oak society

their next mtg is in france

 

[The_Archdruid]

Dump them and get a new sister campus in Seville or Madrid. You can both grow tempranillo wine grapes, you should both be able to grow live oaks. And if not, send them a pecan and call it even. Also, plan to vacation there; manchego cheese and Iberian pigs pair well together. And the women are better looking too. Or try Barcelona and take your summers abroad.

 

[Gord]

There's a few live oaks in Vancouver that I've seen. They seem to do ok but grow very slowly, hard to say if they'll ever attain a stately size.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Thanks, Gord. Vancouver's climate is different enough from the normal range of live oak to have a comparison.

 

[Sylvia]

Tom, it looks like Angers, Frances tends to stay at freezing or above in the winter and has at least a respectable amount of rainfall.

Live oak is a zone 7B - 10 hardiness (per Gilman). Zone 7B goes down to at least teens, doesn't it?

So might be worth the try.

Sylvia