The Soil and Water Conservation District is having their annual tree seedling sale soon and now it’s time to pick and place the order for what I want to plant this February. Since most of the seedlings go for about $1 it’s a great place to get them.

We’ve been having these long and dry summers for the past few years so I want to get a species that does well in these southern California type summers. I don’t want to be out watering every evening and still find (sun)burned out dead trees because they were meant for Oregon's mythic cloudy rainy summers. Will Eastern Oregon trees do well here on the west side? My plan is to have a forest between me and the highway noise.

So what to get?  What trees do well in summer heat and drought?

Here is the place where I get the trees:
http://www.yamhillswcd.org/proj_events/native_plant.html

tag, I have no idea!  Nothing grows here but wheat.

Lodgepole or Ponderosa..........will do OK, Good ol' Doug fir is pretty resiliant too

Syagrus romanzoffianum

j/k.

How about a combination of digger pine (pinus sabiniiana pinaceas) and valley oak (quercus lobata)?  Fairly common around your area I believe.

edit to add the scientifics

OK...it's been 10 years.....

Acer circinatum

Acer macrophylum

Pseudo-tsuga Menzisii (sp)

What !!?  Trees are a renewable resource?  

According to all the people on the street corners of Portland all the timber in America will be wiped out and trees will never grow again due to global warming, causing all of us to drop dead due to lack of clean air, and that we better penalize private business even more to avoid all this.

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Seriously, great topic.  I'd like to start a stand of trees on my property (Willamette valley/North Plains) sometime in the next year or two.  

A few years ago we bought a bunch of trees from them. The only survivors are douglas firs, red and English oaks and one (of three) silver birch.

About 3 year ago I bouth a few more douglas firs -- none survived the summer. No matter how much water I poured on them.

I've had a tough time with Douglas Firs as well. Many have died, even with plenty of water. Others just grow slow and many look like they've been in a drought, even when i watered them everyday.

I picked up some drip irrigation tubing and parts at Home depot to make the watering easier. Otherwise there was just no way to water everything in the summer. If you don't water every day it all dies. The last five summers have been a rainless furnace around here.

I'm trying to put trees on a pasture that was a forest a hundred years ago. It's been proving difficult. Surprisingly the best growers have been sequoia.

These are the choices, They range from .50 to $1.50 each:

Coastal Redwood
Douglas Fir
Giant Sequoia
Grand Fir
Western Cedar
Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine
Big Leaf Maple
Black Cottonwood
Cascara
Indian Plum
Madrone
Oregon Ash
Oregon White Oak
Pacific Dogwood
Paper Birch
Red Alder
Vine Maple
Willow – Pacific

Quoted: These are the choices, They range from .50 to $1.50 each: Coastal Redwood Douglas Fir Giant Sequoia Grand Fir Western Cedar Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine Big Leaf Maple Black Cottonwood Cascara Indian Plum Madrone Oregon Ash Oregon White Oak Pacific Dogwood Paper Birch Red Alder Vine Maple Willow – Pacific

I'd try these with emphasis on the Doug Fir. Unfortunately you always have to chance the weather but thousands of Doug Firs make it each year.