Hi Ken,

I have both, albeit small specimens. I'll surely post pics - at least in our part of the country, Spring is happening now/very soon.

Ken-

Either Buchholz or Stanley have pics on their site. It looks pretty sweet. I've got one coming this spring.

I just googled it...
Directly off the Buchholz Site:

"An upright coniferous tree. New growth in spring is a dazzling cream-white which contrasts wonderfully with the mature bright-blue needles. The exciting spring color display appears as if the tree was "flowering," and lasts about six weeks. Prefers full sun in well-drained soil. 8' tall x 4' wide in 10 years. Hardy to -40 degrees. USDA zone 3. Introduced by the Flora Wonder(tm) Collection of Buchholz Nursery."

Eliot

Here is a link that might be useful: Buchholz Picea pungens 'Spring Blast'

Spring Blast looks real good.
Thanks for the link Eliot.

Dax

hey will.. no emails thru GW????

i would really appreciate those pix.. if you can

thanks

ken

Ken, no Emails through GW? I didn't send you any emails. I'm not sure what you mean here.

I can post pics now but they are both dormant. A month or so should do the trick, I've got buds swelling and Japanese maples leafing out now slowly.

i wanted to ask for the pix.. outside the forum.. but you dont allow emails ... from your members page ... thats all ...

i would appreciate pix now.. and in a month.. if that is not too much to ask ..

i do want to know if that one is blue when dormant ... really blue ...

i have a bunch of the spring yellow/creams.. as you know ... most turn grey.. or grey green.. i do NOT need another version of those ...

only one in my collection is a real blue.. and i wouldnt mind adding another blue pungens.. with spring color ...

so is either blue.. right now.. today..

thanks

ken

Will-

Right now I envy you greatly...You are telling us that you're trees are starting to come out as we are getting pummeled with another snow storm...Most all of my trees, at least the ones that I have planted, are buried under 3 feet of snow here, and I've got some under 6 foot drifts!

With another 6 inches on the drive this morning and not a lot of wind to blow it off I finally decided to wade around to the deck and get the snow off the patio table before I had to replace another glass top...The snow ON the deck, about 2 feet, was level with the yard around it and it sits 30" off the ground! The large Picea pungens 'Globosa' on a high standard beside it was barely peeking out of the snow!

Sorry Ken...I'm off topic, but I'm really looking forward to getting my 'Spring Blast' (Back on topic) in the ground, and with the looks of it, it may be July before the snow is gone!

Eliot

Ken,

No problem, tomorrow I'll take photo's of both. My 'Spring Blast' is still potted. My 'Gebelle's Golden Spring' is happily established now in the ground - about 16 months worth. I don't remember the colors accurately. I'm at work, but I'll post images tomorrow and then again sometime in April.

Eliot,

It's been a very strange year. We had the warmest January in recorded history for our area, some 120 years of record keeping. Early in December we had a week where we broke record lows, several days into the single digits, but for the most part the 'El Nino' effect has kept us drier then normal and much warmer. We've had some days in the low 60s and frankly the plants are very confused. Cherry trees are in full bloom all over the place and Rhodedendrons here and there have already bloomed and dropped their flowers. I'm sure you don't want to hear this, what with the record snows the rest of the country has seen, but it's been so unusual, it's information worth sharing.

Of course much of the country/world is aware of our warm/strange weather from news at Vancouver. It's been pretty disastrous for them attempting to host a multi-billion dollar event.

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread.

I'll post some photos tomorrow.

-Will

'Spring Blast' vs. 'Gebelle's Golden Spring', Winter color.

'Spring Blast'
{{gwi:650811}}

'Gebelle's Golden Spring'
{{gwi:650813}}

'Spring Blast' on the left.
{{gwi:650814}}

The color looks fairly similar to me.

-Will

you are a good man will ...

thanks for taking the time ....

if you do remember at flush time.. i would further appreciate your efforts...

thanks

ken

Where'd you buy your Gebelle's?

Bloomriver.com

Pretty good online nursery - expensive but always very high quality and nice sized plants.

Interesting, thanks!

Dax

Hi Ken, here's a pic of my small P.p. 'Gebelle's Golden Spring' from this past Spring. Unfortunately it's the only one I took so I don't have growth progression pics. I just moved it into this bed from another area which may have stunted it a bit.
{{gwi:650816}}

Dan

Dan, what's your estimate on the length the golden flush is retained? (Buchholz says 6 weeks?!)
Dax

Hi Dax, 6 weeks seems a bit optimistic to me, maybe in the PNW. I don't recall it lasting that long, probably more like three weeks, but I 'll try to pay closer attention and take more pics this year.

Dan

Our Springs here in the PNW are very very gradual. We see something like this for daily average highs:
Feb: 50
March: 54
April: 58
May: 64
June: 69

This leads to an early Spring, but also a very slow one. Plants gradually wake up and yawn rather then exploding into life like the East/Northern Midwest.

I'll try and measure the length of time on various color-pushing plants(Pinus con. 'Taylor's Sunburst', etc.)

-Will

Great, good experiment.

Dax

I am suppose to be getting a 1 gallon this spring of 'Spring Blast'. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Maigold, 'Brotsman Blue' and 'Perry's Gold' that are in my yard.

well

i just dont see where it is all that much different than others i have..

for me to need an 8th version of such ...

the problem is the ADDICTION [will ought to know about that] ... lol .. i gotta have it.. lol ...

but wont

ken

Ken, you mentioned one in your collection being a real blue with a yellow/cream flush. Would you identify that one, please?

Thanks,
Kathy

There seem to be dozens of Picea pungens with gold/white flushes. I'm cataloging the ones I have and I'll keep posting pics as they emerge. Some of my plants - remarkably enough - are still in the very first phases of pushing.

-Will

Will, that's what is confusing. Among those dozens, do a few stand out for being a brighter blue, having a longer flush, better form, etc. And that's not even touching the concept of mature size. Looking at the Picea pungens photo gallery posting 'Gebele's GS' seems to have a higher contrast (darker/greener mature foliage) as opposed to 'Spring Blast (true blue?). Those gradations in color drive me crazy when planning/plotting a new bed. By the way, your Picea pungens 'Aubie's Spreader' is awesome!

Kathy

dans spring blast .. looks just like my spring yellow ...

working on some camera/computer issues.. pix to come soon.. i hope..

ken

I came across this post looking for the same info.

Any updates?

1) Does one have more blue to the needles?
2) Does one's flush of color fade over a longer period of time?

Will(right?), these questions are difficult to answer because they vary wildly based on climate. I had a specimen of gold-flushing picea orientalis last season that stayed gold all year after flushing gold(and is still gold), whereas I know of specimens in the Midwest that turned green in 3-4 weeks after flushing gold.

Many of my gold-flushing conifers are muted here compared to the Midwest, but they stay that color longer - sometimes 2-3X's as long. My 'Taylor's Sunburst' still had gold-hues near the 4th of July last year.

As for the blueness of the needles, I personally don't find too much difference between 'Spring Blast' and 'Gebelle's Golden Spring', as illustrated in the first set of photos. They both seem perhaps a little less blue then blue-flushing picea pungens, but indistinguishable between themselves.

For me it would be simple - price and availability. A local nursery here had a huge 'Gebelle's Golden Spring', something like 10 years old, and if I was buying today, I might be tempted to get that instead of a small two year graft.

-Will

Hey Will, yep this is Will, lol.

Thanks for the info. I have a 'Gebelle's Golden Spring' shipping next week but then I came across 'Spring Blast' from the same source stating its color lasted 6 weeks but they didn't comment on 'Gebelle's Golden Spring' color.
So it got me thinking. I'll probably stick with the 'Gebelle's Golden Spring' and pass on the 'Spring Blast'.

The WI source stated that they are pretty much the same with these exceptions

- Flush color is more yellow vs. cream on the Gebelle's
- Spring Blast is more compact and full
- Spring Blast flushes slightly earlier

They did state that it all depends on the wheather but generally speaking the duration of the flush is the same.

My gnarled, young specimens, last May 20th:

'Spring Blast'
{{gwi:650818}}

'Gebelle's Golden Spring'
{{gwi:650820}}

Note the second photo is on a cloudy day, the first on a sunny one.

golden spring reminds me a lot of spring ghost ...

ken