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Four years of Pinus sylvestris 'Gold Medal'

firefightergardener

11 years ago

It's really only three years, but to keep my posts consistent, here's three amazing years and the transformation of this brilliant and perfectly acceptable alternative to 'Chief Joseph', in my book. Flanked by Calluna vulgaris 'FireFly', it's brilliant and turns cloudy, sad Winter days into WOW days. Good growth rate, it seems to be both very healthy/vigorous and tolerant of our wet Pacific Northwest Winters.

2010
{{gwi:639624}}

2011
{{gwi:639625}}

2012
{{gwi:639626}}

-Will

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Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
are the needles shorter than say Aurea or gold coin??? ... or are they typical sylv size????

do you have either of those for comparison???

what is the weed surrounding it.. ??? i mean.. that gorgeous ground cover ... lol ..

thx for the post will

ken
whaas_5a
11 years ago
Thanks for sharing the pics!

I've yet to tell the difference between Aurea, Gold Medal, Nisbet's Gold and Gold Coin.

From what I've heard the two latter are denser and slower growing than the two former.

Throw in 'Varrguld' and 'Trollguld' too. Some discussion below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gold Pines
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Pinus sylvestris Photo Gallery 2010
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Cheers Edwin, what would we do without you...and yes, the 'Brentmoor B;onde' is a difficult plant, it's very thin branched and leggy, plus it can and does burn some summers and can look a right mess some years, but when it's good. it's outstanding. Dax, There's a bit of confusion with my 'Bor' now, since you posted the link to the Tomszak site, I checked the photo they have of 'Bor' there. Looks completely different to my plant...The strange thing is I cut away a lot of foliage from the base of my plant thinking it was bits of understock, and the foliage I removed looks very much like the foliage from the pic on the Tomszak plant, I had a problem knowing what was what, because I could not clearly see the graft union. Now I'm wondering if what I have left is a witches' broom that was growing in the center of the plant
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Four years of Pinus sylvestris 'Calle'
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Comments (5)
You bet Ken, that's how it looks. I've heard of this feature from some dwarf/miniature plants - they grow a little faster/happier and then slow down once they get some age. I am not sure what the cause is but there are some obvious possibilities. Like you said, for sure a loss of some nurtients is likely, as potting medium is usually pretty nice stuff. The ground it's in really is brutal soil, probably waste soil from my house foundation. I think the natural aging of the plant may be a factor though as well. It's also possible it was simply a seasonal photo difference. I'll have to watch closer next year but many of my pines have a varied look throughout the candles opening to full needles. I try and take photos at roughly the same time each year but it's not an easy task. Glad these time-lapse threads are still interesting to folks, I have a few hundred more I can contribute over the next year or so. :) -Will
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Pinus sylvestris 'Trollguld'
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Comments (16)
Sam - 'Gold Coin' Gold Medal' are better in the winter displaying a richer deeper goldish overall colour, 'Trollguld is more yellow by comparrison but has the advantage of keeping it's colour all year. severnside - a couple of pics of 'Vargguld'(syn, Wolf Gold') fist one is my original plant that died after beeing moved, the second is a propagation from that plant. By the way, Pinus sylvestris 'Andorra' is on the left in the first pic too!
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Pinus sylvestris "gold medal" and open, NW exposure
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Comments (7)
Thanks Gibson, the conifers in the second picture are Picea abies 'Pendula' with spring flush in the back, a row of English roses (Golden Celebration) in front just getting started. There is a lilac planted to the right, I have the name written down somewhere but its a very dark purple. The conifer in the foreground is Pinus sylvestris 'Nana'. In the third photo: Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Golden Mop' and the ground cover is candyturf or Iberis sempervirens, a spring bloomer. Quickfire Hydrangeas behind the conifers and along the front porch. The Iberis needs to be moved away from the false cypress..amazed how fast these plants have grown in my Central IL clay. Amended the whole area with horse compost and hay and then hardwood mulch on top, not dug in, just laid on top. Seemed to work, I planted some bulbs there last weekend and the soil improved dramatically.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
thats my point.. even with 5 acres.. exactly .... how many named versions do i need.. lol ..

call that the 'blue pungens lesson' .. lol ...

and i guess what i was asking FFB ... is he wasting space with the others.. or just enjoying this one no end ... with no plans for others???? .. since he is space limited ...

ken
firefightergardener
Original Author
11 years ago
Heya fellas. I'm still compiling my photo galleries for 2012, which is probably for the best since many of my pines, alphabetically look the best in Winter and after growth has hardened off. I have several of the gold pines, like you fellas, and I guess I would say I am evaluating them. I don't have photos quite yet, but of the large growing pines, my top 5 list would probably go something like this, considering health, overall appearance and gold coloring in Winter:

1. Pius contorta 'Chief Joseph'
2. Pinus sylvestris 'Gold Medal'
3. Pinus virginiana 'Wate's Golden'
4. Pinus mugo 'Winter Sonne'
5. Pinus sylvestris 'Gold Coin'

This is simply my opinion and it's also not encompassing every gold pine, just the larger ones that I grow. :)

As with most of my plants, in 5 years, about half of them will be moved to the arboretum, friends/family yards or the wood pile, in 15-20 years, 80% of my current plants won't be here. Since I planted early, and tried a great variety, one luxury I certainly have obtained is the ability to keep those that look the best under the conditions they are grown in. I move plants around as I can, but naturally, there's no room for so many plants on a shy acre.
whaas_5a
11 years ago
My Gold Coin has the best color over Nisbet's Gold and Chief Joseph. Still too early to really make the call though.

The gold on my Pinus mugo Cartens is superior to any pine I've seen. I need sunglasses if I look at it for more than a few seconds. Hopefully it repeats!

{{gwi:639627}}
maple_grove_gw
11 years ago
Interestingly, it is natural for wild type P. sylvestris from some regions to turn gold in the winter. Here's a quote from Rushford's Conifers, from his description of Pinus sylvestris:

"The foliage of many origins turns yellow in cold weather, which has presented problems in the eastern USA where the tree is used for a Christmas tree. Some origins, such as those from the Caucasus (referred to var. hamata Steven) remain blue-green however cold in winter."

Since this is a common feature of trees of certain provenance, it seems likely that the many or most winter-gold Scots pine cultivars represent selections from the best of these, and explains why there are so many are known in the trade.

BTW, great pictures both of you.
botann
11 years ago
Ken, that 'weed' or 'gorgeous groundcover' is a Heather. Latin, Calluna. I don't know the name of the variety. I think it has the word fire in it though.
Mike
firefightergardener
Original Author
11 years ago
Fellas, I listed the heather in my original text. :P

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