I want to start a new thread about conifers that WE, the collectors, growers, gardeners, experts, etc. recommend. You can go to Lowe's and they'll surely recommend some lousy tree that will outgrow it's spot and/or suffer in your climate. I want to do something new for those interested in growing conifers but have always had a hard time finding the right ones for success and beauty.

I'd encourage everyone who comes to the conifer boards to post, experts, collectors, new folks who just started planting conifers but I also really want some posts by guys who are conifer experts, to suggest trees for heat/cold hardiness, drought tollerant conifers or otherwise worthy species. Since this is a gallery, I'd really like if you attached photos of new specimens since this will help the readers, but if you cannot, a link would be wonderful.

I'll start by suggesting conifers specific for the Pacific Northwest. You know the weather, four strong seasons, very wet in Fall/Winter, drier in Spring, down-right a desert in Summer. Here are three plants I'd like to see planted a LOT more in the Pacific Northwest.

For the smallest gardens, places:

Abies procera 'Blaue Hexe'. A very small dwarf noble fir with beautiful needles, a spreading habit and year-round beauty. This plant enjoys our climate, will be largely disease/pest free and simply gets better with age. In fifteen years it might be 3' wide and 2' tall. If you cannot find one, Abies procera 'Glauca Prostrata' is a pretty good substitution, a little faster growing but much more readily available and a very nice plant.

Abies procera 'Blaue Hexe'. Photo credit Bob Fincham, Coenosium Gardens.

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Another specimen, Coenosium Gardens.

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Abies procera 'Glauca Prostrata'

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If you have more space but still want a plant that stays tidy and neat over the years, try this solution to those grey Winter days.

Pinus mugo 'Carstens' (sometimes 'Carsten's Wintergold'). This *true* dwarf mugo pine grows much slower then those behemoth's you see at the big box stores. This pine grows a few inches a year, laterally and upwards, eventually forming a 3'x3' mound in 10-15 years. A nice lush green in Summer, it's the late Fall and Winter where it's true beauty is revealed. Cold weather turns the needles a bright gold. This isn't a sickness or a chloritic color, but a warm welcoming color that contrasts spectacularly with our green-grey backrounds. Hard to locate, it will be worth your efforts. (Coenosium Gardens).

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Finally, if you have plenty of space and want to watch a tree grow fast and beautiful, I recommend trying Picea smithiana. Native to the Nepal region, this large(but initially slow) growing spruce has a distinct upright habit with strongly weeping branchlets giving the tree a very graceful look. Seldom seen but able to handle snow loads and our mild-Winters well, this is surely a plant I think more should be growing.

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So share some plants that you love and think others would greatly enjoying on their lands and maybe, just maybe, you'll see the fruits of your labors twenty years from now.

-Will