Dave , are you saying you want to have these, or that you really like them?
I have some extra 'little gems' that rae rooted cuttings.
It is only in a 2&1/2 inch pot, but you can have one.
Steven

Great shots as usual Dave. I love how you are using some spring photos as well. For many of us, Spring is still a far off dream and seeing conifers either with buds that have broken or are near breaking is a welcomed sign this time of the year.

These are all conifers I think he feels are 'essential' to the conifer collector and most would agree.

Without hijacking the thread, I'd like to add four Picea abies to the list:

'Elegantissima' - A large upright eventually reaching 20' or more and 10'+ wide, this spruce has cream colors mixed in during spring that last most of the year. Relatively rare in the trade.

'Gold Drift' - fairly well known know, basically a version of 'Pendula' or 'Reflexa' with gold brushed needles from sun exposure.

'Gold Dust' - A miniature/small dwarf with irregular growth and green/gold/blue? colors throughout. I love this little guy.

'Acracona' and 'Pusch' - Both indispensable in the conifer collection in my mind, both cone heavily, even while young. Pusch being largely a miniature version of 'Acracona'.

Picea Abies must be the most diverse species when it comes to cultivars, I have some 70 on my database and there are probably several hundred or more out there. In most cases I think it's hard just figuring out which to plant.

Will

Very nice collection - some of my favorites in P. abies too. I'm not familiar with 'Perry's Golden' - Looks nice!

perrys gold is outstanding.Its the brightest conifer in my yard. still trying to get it to grow strait. Mine is 7 years old. Just another Jeff

Hi dave,

Thanks for the beautiful Picea abies pictures you showed us.
I want to help you with 2 of the cultivar names you add to these pictures because they are not right:
Picea abies 'Compressiana'
This must be 'Cupressina'

Picea abies 'Mariana Nana'
This must be Picea mariana 'Nana'.
This plant have nothing to do with Picea abies.

The needles of this Picea abies 'Pumila' are very dark green, I think it's the cultivar 'Pumila Nigra'

Did you know that the 'Little Gem' was found as a witches'broom on a 'Nidiformis'?
C.J.

Here's my 'must-have' . . . maybe I can christen it Picea abies 'Bulgarian Symmetry' . . . ?
{{gwi:344978}}

Resin

"Here's my 'must-have' . . . maybe I can christen it Picea abies 'Bulgarian Symmetry'"

I would like to have that one too. If I just had room..

Thanks for your help coniferjoy. I just go with the name tag on the plant. I make the changes when people like you make them for me.

Dave

The best reguoar species NS are among the most beautiful trees in the world. Resin shows us a nice relatively young one. My favorite NS cultivar, so far--I have only seen a few of the larger ones fully grown--is the 'Elegantissima.' I have seen a few older 'Inversa's, and they can be stunning also. There are two in the Gotelli Collection in D.C., a nice one at the Winterthur Museum near Philadelphia, and another in the National Memorial Park (I am not sure of the ID on this one) in Fairfax, VA.

--Spruce

Any NS lovers here who have P.a. 'Pruhoniceana' ?
I ordered a couple for this spring, but there are very few photos to go by, and the nursery description doesn't quite sound right (no photo).
Thanks for any help.

very nice selection Dave, how tall does the Picea abies 'Reflexa' get ? And also the Picea pungens 'Pendula' ?

You can go to the ACS web site and hit the link provided.

It will give you approximate heights based on 10 years of growth for most conifers listed.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: ACS

thanx for the great link Dave, although there is no size for the Reflexa, I do like the Reflexa better than the Glauca Pendula or the Abies 'Pendula'

Abies 'Pendula' and 'Reflexa' are the same cultivar with 'Reflexa' being the correct cultivar name. All important stats are listed under 'Pendula'. in the data base. The ACS needs to get its act together.

Dave

Dave, he may be refering to Abies alba 'Pendula'. That's how it looks to me.

Will,

He's a she. I had an email from her...it was abies.

Dave

Jaro:

There is a picture of a mature P. abies 'Pruhoniceana' in Krussmann's Manual of Cultivated Conifers, plate 81. To me this, as pictured, is as beautiful a conifer as I have ever seen (but then I am very, very partial to weeping spruce trees in general). It is a tall and irregularly shaped weeping tree of moderate width--it is not so strictly weeping that the branches hang straight down, and the irregularity comes from some of the side branches growing more outward than others. It reminds me of a P. orientalis 'Nutans' after it has grown up to be a moderately tall tree.

Who did you order yours from?

--Spruce

Thanks for the clues Spruce! ...I don't have a copy of that particular book.

I ordered from Iseli (by way of a local distributor, of course, as they're a wholesale outfit only).

Their description sounds somewhat like yours.
The two photos I've seen are one in Van Gelderen and one on the web (link below).
By contrast, these appear to me more like a rather fastigiate form of an otherwise fairly ordinary NS.
What do you think ?

Anyway, guess I'll find out soon enough... early May most likely.

Here is a link that might be useful: P.a. 'Pruhoniceana'

Jaro:

I think the picture you have linked here is consistent with the one in my book. Those in the picture are a bit more regular than the one pictured in Krussmann, but they are clearly not like any species NS I have seen. I like them and will see if anyone around here can order from Isili for me. Most of the wholesale only producers like this need a minimum order before they will ship, so unless I can find someone who already is planning an order, I may be out of luck. But I could start with one year grafts or something, which I think I can find elsewhere. I will get on the phone tomorrow. I love NS, and a group of three of these, like in the picture, would be really something. Thanks for the info. The Isili website, as far as I could see, doesn't show this as available--who knows what else they might have.

--Spruce

Glad you like them as much as I do, Spruce.

As for ordering from Iseli, I think the easiest way is to go through one of their official distributors -- contact info at the link below.
They don't seem to require a minimum order from any single customer, since they get a big truck to ship all the spring orders in one shot.
Ask them.

The only potential problem is that Iseli often offers only fairly large ($$$) specimens for sale.
Sometimes I have trouble getting them into the van, to bring home....

Here is a link that might be useful: retail distributors

thanx Dave, but she is a he.......lol

How reasonable are the prices thru an Iseli distributor? Is this less expensive than buying from a retail store or nursery?

Its hard to compare, with such a range of plant sizes.
On average though, I would say that the prices are comparable, if not better.
For folks in the US I don't think it makes much difference.
For those of us on the north side of the border, the big advantage is that we avoid the hassle with x-border shipping, whilst benefiting from the greater selection available in the US.

I always assumed Jamie was a she...lol At least the one I knew by that name was.

Sorry...

Dave

"How reasonable are the prices thru an Iseli distributor? Is this less expensive than buying from a retail store or nursery?"

I wonder about that. I think they are only wholesale only to their nursery customers. If they began selling to selective customers I am sure as soon as the nursery owners got hold of that there would be hell to pay. They truck their shipments only to the nursery owners they do business with...

The way I would approach this is put in a order with you local nurseryman that does a large volume of business with Iseli. Tell them you are a collector and ask for a discount and promise to give them a yearly order in exchange for the discount. That is the way I approached this and 40% off is what I get. I started at 25% off 5 years ago became a regular customer.

You can usually buy any size offering Iseli has in stock starting at 1 gal. and going up.

Maybe rcsmith can enlighten us a little more. He seems to be in the know with the Iseli inner circle.

Dave

Jaro:

I just got three of the 'Pruhoniceanas' from Iseli through my local nursery--I think they said they were about 3 feet tall or a bit more, and not cheap. I was told they were the last they had. I think Gee has a few about the same size, and Gee and Arrowhead have small grafts available. I may also try the 'Aarburg' and the 'Rothenhausii'.

You are right when you suggest that the 'Pruhoniceana' is somewhat like one end of the range of the variation one sees in the species, but to me it is somewhat beyond the end of that range. In any case, I think many of the regular species NS are outstanding in themselves.

Another cultivar of this general type I would like to find is 'Pendula Bohenica." Krussmann has a photo that makes it look something like the 'Pruhoniceana,' but the description makes it sound a bit more irregular.

I have been growing for a few years three of the 'Pendula Major.' They look promising but it is too early to tell what they realy are. They are, I think, more like the regular species than the 'Prunoniceana,' but worth a try. Iseli has a photo, but I have my doubts, all due respect to Iseli, that their picture is of a true 'Pendula Major'. If it is, then it is really just like some of the more weeping individuals of the regular species, and worth trying only if you want a specimen NS that has good weeping branchlets. But I suspect it is just a bit more interesting than that.

Another P. abies cultivar I am curious about is the 'Pendula Monstrosa.' Krussmann says "similar to 'Pendula Major', but the main branches more pendulous, twigs less luxuriant, needles radially arranged."

And one other one that has caught my interest is 'Plumosa'. Krussmann describes it as similar to 'Viminalis', but the long pendulous branches denser.

Well, if any of you out there know anything about any of these, and/or know any sources, let me know.

--Spruce

Thanks very much Spruce -- that's quite a review you provide !

....and congrats on your three Pruhoniceanas: For some strange reason, the local Iseli distributor only offered me six-footers, which are very expensive. I only got two.
I have a very specific application for them -- as I did for several other larger trees I planted way at the back of my yard -- namely to hide an ugly brick wall, which is part of a garage on the neighbor's property.
Maybe its partly my fault -- I should inquire about other sizes, even when they're not offered.
Still a bit puzzled.... one would it doesn't matter to the retailer, since customers are bound to buy larger numbers of smaller (cheaper) plants, than the large specimens.

So when are you taking delivery of your Pruhoniceanas ?
....would you mind please posting photos when you get them ? ....suspect it will be sooner than me.

Jaro:

I am paying $225 for mine, including some good profit, I assume, for my local nursery. Gee wants, if I remember right, $160 for what I think may be similar trees, but I would have to drive to Michigan to get them. What did they want for your six footers? Your six footers may be worth whatever extra you paid for them. Norway spruce grow more quickly after they get over 4.5 feet, the threshold for accelerated growth (Edwin White, et. al., SUNY Syracuse). I think yours could be about 3 or 4 years ahead of mine after they get established.

I will be planting mine as a group of three, much like those in the picture you linked, and giving them an especially prominent place. I figure about 18 feet apart would be good--I don't want them too close, but want them to work as a group--but I am guessing about what would be best. Maybe 15 feet would be better, if they are as narrow as they look.

Well, I am not "up to speed" with digital photog, but I will try to describe them. Maybe I will get a camera--finally. I think they may come in early April.

Well, thanks for the tip--I would have never guessed that Iseli would have them. I took special notice of the picture of this cultivar in Krussmann many years ago and wished I could find some.

--Spruce

Can$269.95 each, in a 10 gallon container.

Seems riculous, I know, but as Dave said, expect prices to be up considerably compared to last year, due to the high cost of transportation....

PS. we need more people with cameras -- please get one, Spruce :O)

Hi spruce and jaro,

I thought I would chime in on this two man post.

Good conversation on how to acquire the more specialized conifers we all sooner or later gravitate to.

As you know and have figured by this time the bigger the more you pay...big time. I think I paid $269.00 for my 8 ft. Picea o. 'Pendula Burns' that Iseli shipped to my local nursery 3 years ago. That was discount price. I can only imagine what it would cost now. Because of the size it was root bound big time and I was concerned after much surgery on the root system for its survival. Because it was such a healthy specimen it came through fine and now is one of my prized processions.

I guess the point of my post is directed to Spruce. When are you going to get on board with a camera and shoot some photos? I have and I am sure others would like to see some plantation shots of all your conifers.

These new digital cameras are very easy to use along with the software provided.

We are waiting...

Dave

Well, I got my two P.a. 'Pruhoniceana' trees a while ago.

Not exactly what I expected, but at the same time I knew that there's no way young trees would look like mature ones that I have seen.
Turns out they're quite "leggy" at young age....

{{gwi:626014}}

This one seems to have a bit of a leader issue -- and a branch (on left) has taken on the challenge, so to speak.
Its not obvious why the main stem failed to produce a leader, like the other tree (above).

{{gwi:626015}}

Jaro:

Mine look exactly like yours. And the leaders are very floppy. I tried loosening the ties, and they are flopping over somewhat. I am not sure what to do. I want the leaders to be strong enough to be upright, but if I keep them tied up tight, how do they develop that strength? I am kind of playing it half way--loosening them and letting them bend a bit. Then if they bend to much, tightening them up again.

I am sure that after they get going and grow a bit, they will look wonderful.

--Spruce