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Best eucalyptus seeds for a UK garden

Updated: 21 October 2026

You want one packet, and the star ratings will not choose it. Reviews that exist are often from outside the UK, and cider gum is not in this basket. Peter F. set a top pick and a best value pick from the twelve amazon.co.uk listings in our [eucalyptus seeds comparison](/hub/herb-seeds/eucalyptus-seeds), captured on 19 October 2026, using RHS hardiness pages rather than a germination trial. For a real winter, the top pick is Eucalyptus parvula. For a mild coast or a pot you can protect, the best value is a named blue gum at £4.55. A purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You want one packet, and the star ratings will not choose it. Reviews that exist are often from outside the UK, and cider gum is not in this basket. Peter F.

Our top picks

On this page

Best for a cold or inland garden

SaatPilot Eucalyptus parvula, 50 seeds at £4.99, is the top pick when the plant has to stay outside through a typical British winter. The RHS rates small-leaved gum H5, about -15 to -10°C, in full sun with shelter, and above 12 metres if you never cut it. The listing says outdoor, full sun and spring, and the height field says 800 cm, still short of the RHS maximum, so a small garden means coppicing. This extract has no star line. H5 is not a promise that a seedling in a thin pot will take a November frost in a frost hollow. Cider gum, Eucalyptus gunnii, is an Award of Garden Merit eucalypt and is not an ASIN here. E. parvula is the hardy name printed on a packet in the set.

Best value if your site is mild or you will protect a pot

SAFLAX Eucalyptus globulus bicostata, 100 seeds at £4.55, is the best value on a mild coast, or when the plant will live in a pot you can move. The RHS page for E. globulus is H3, about -5 to 1°C, a fast tree toward 30 metres, and a Forestry Commission key has called blue gum very frost tender. The title says Tasmanian bluegum. That is not cider gum. The review file is 3.4 from 32, the largest in the set. One UK review says germination was good and fast. The same species as a kit is £5.25 with coconut fibre, rated 4.2 from 14. Pay the extra 70p only if you want that fibre. Skip the £4.55 packet for a frost hollow.

What not to crown

A bark photo is not a UK winter. Ipsa's Eucalyptus deglupta, 20 seeds at £4.42, names the rainbow gum. Evanuha's 80-piece rainbow pack at £8.99 does not. Neither is an outdoor tree for England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The four unnamed green packs cost £7.99 to £8.99, more than SaatPilot or SAFLAX, and they do not say which gum is inside. River red gum, also £4.55 for 200 seeds, is the same H3 problem with only four reviews, both from Italy in the extract. Unwins Baby Blue at £3.49 is the lowest price and the wrong outdoor winner: the title does not say seeds, the count is missing, and the rating is 3.0 from two reviews with no text.

Stars and Silver Plate are not the crown

Silver Plate, 10 seeds at £4.15 and 4.0 from 18, has the most UK review text and still does not win. Those comments include a pack that produced two tiny seedlings, and there is no binomial. The 4.2 on the substrate kit is the highest star line here, and the wrong crown: the extracted reviews are not from the UK, and the species is H3.

Common questions

What is the best eucalyptus seed packet for most of the UK?
SaatPilot Eucalyptus parvula, 50 seeds at £4.99, is the top pick for a cold or inland garden in this set. The RHS rates that species H5. The Amazon extract has no customer rating, so the pick is the hardiness class, not a review score. You still need shelter, and you should plan to cut it if you cannot host a tree above 12 metres.
Which packet is best value if I live on a mild coast?
SAFLAX Eucalyptus globulus bicostata, 100 seeds at £4.55, is the best value for a mild coast or a pot you can protect. It is H3, not H5. The 3.4 from 32 reviews mixes countries, with one UK note of fast germination and other reports of failure. The £5.25 kit is the same species with coconut fibre, not a hardier plant.
Should I trust 4.2 stars?
The 4.2 from 14 belongs to the SAFLAX blue gum kit. In this extract the review texts are from Spain, and one buyer counted about 15 seedlings from roughly 400 seeds. A higher star line with a small, non-UK file does not beat a named H5 packet that has no stars. Use the stars as a warning light, then check the species.
Is Baby Blue the best because it is £3.49?
No. Unwins Baby Blue is the cheapest listing, at 3.0 from two reviews and with no review text. The Amazon title does not say seeds and does not give a count. It can be a foliage packet for a bright room. It is not the outdoor top pick, and a low price does not identify the species on the page you are buying.
Why is cider gum not the winner?
Cider gum, Eucalyptus gunnii, is an Award of Garden Merit plant on the RHS growing guide, and it is not sold under that name in this twelve-packet set. We do not award a winner that is not in the basket. The hardy name that is present is E. parvula. If you specifically want cider gum seed, buy a packet that prints it.
Which packets should I skip even if they look pretty?
Skip both rainbow listings for an outdoor border, and skip the unnamed green packs at £7.99 to £8.99. Skip river red gum and blue gum if you needed an H5 tree. Skip Silver Plate if you needed a Latin name and more than 10 seeds. A silver leaf or a painted bark photo does not add a hardiness class.
Is the packet with compost worth 70p more?
Only if you want coconut-fibre substrate in the same parcel. The £5.25 SAFLAX kit and the £4.55 seed packet use the same E. globulus bicostata name. The fibre does not turn an H3 tree into an H5 tree. If you already have a fine, free-draining compost, keep the 70p.

Related pages

Sources

Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts on these twelve listings were read on 19 October 2026. Page updated 21 October 2026.

  1. RHS eucalyptus growing guide (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. RHS Eucalyptus gunnii (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. RHS Eucalyptus globulus (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. RHS Eucalyptus parvula (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. RHS Eucalyptus camaldulensis (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Forest Research cider gum (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. GOV.UK invasive non-native plants (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. ASPCA eucalyptus (retrieved 19 October 2026)