just cross Pinus koraiensis 'Oculis Draconis' off your list ... the coloration is just too variable.. in fact.. mine hasnt shown any color in 5 years ....

GG seems to be the more aggressive for me..

but hard to tell it apart from BRV

my BRV actually lost all its needles the first 2 winters... and has thrived since..

burn and needle loss is a function of becoming ESTABLISHED .... so expect some for the first few years.. thereafter they should be all set.. except for the worst winters ... BTW.... what zone are you ... 5 or 6???? .. though it wont be all that much different for either ...

i got my GG from girards nursery .. mail order ...

gee tree farm has a very nice generic OD .... lots of color and near bullet proof ...

good luck

ken

Thanks, Ken. OC is off the list. A local nursery had OC in their display gardens. Saw it two years ago, was intrigued so checked on it last spring - significant burn. By your experience, GG seems like the strongest of the three. We are in zone 5. While I would expect some needle drop getting settled in, I'm surprised that your BRV recovered after losing all of its needles.We pampered Skylands the first couple of years with a burlap sun shield. Perhaps this would help GG. We've already planned a trip to Gees mid April...can't wait!

Kathy

I can concur with Ken (actually got a graft off his plant) - and this thing is bulletproof. In fact, it's not even shown the slightest burn and I'm on the prairie and this thing has absolutely no protection from anything. GGhost of course. And, Ken is growing in pure sand, I have loamy clay....

Dax

the gee plant is P densiflora OD ....

not a real name .. but its what they sell it under ...

OD = Ocullus Draconis .... or close to that spelling .. lol ..

hidden lakes gardens is not far from the path to gee's ...

and dont miss the 10 acre gee's arb .... everything he sells is over there .... just grab a peep in one of the speedy carts.. and ask for the tour .... dont be shy ...

and take your camera... and lots of memory ... and post us some pix ....

ken

Okay, Ken, maybe I'm interpreting this incorrectly. I thought the graft Dax got from you was GG but perhaps it was the P densiflora OC. Ken, help my poor brain out here, which was it?

Thanks for the Hidden Lakes Gardens suggestion. We'll definitely stop.

We went for the first time to Gees last spring. They volunteered to give us a tour (didn't know they had an arboretum, and you're right, I would have been too shy to ask for one). We were lucky to have a college horticulture professor take us around. I amused her quite a bit by unbridled enthusiasm...what an awesome place. I wish we had had a camera then!

Thanks, Dax and Ken, for your help!

It's Golden Ghost, I guess Ken is saying Gee's sells it as Oculus Draconis . . .

Even he confused me. I can tell you when Ken sent me the plant he had it labled as Golden Ghost. So - be sure to re-label your plant when you get home. It sure seems to me like a good idea to first ask for Golden Ghost to make damn sure.

Dax

oh man.. this is going to be lot of typing. ...

first.. OD is a generic term ...

OD's vary according to the number of bands of yellow on green ... and in how often they show the color ...

as noted ... Pinus koraiensis 'Oculis Draconis' is not very reliable.. a gorgeous green pine.. but not worth cold hard cash for the show.. if you have 5 acres like some nut i know.. get one.. and put it out back .. otherwise.. skip it ... not many have even been properly named.. and the one that has is no better ...

i got GOLD ghost [note the weird form of the name] from girards nursery.. mail order.. one of the best.. IMHO ... a lot of yellow .. never burns ... and grows like a weed ...

it was one of the first conifers i ever bought.. and i planted it 6 feet from my chair ... unfortunately .. it started to eat the chair ... at 7 feet tall.. i had to try to move it ...

but it happened that i was going to gee's for a grafting class ... and i took scion with me .... and grafted a couple of them.. so if i failed at moving it ... i had a fallback position ....

i moved it.. it made it thru winter.. and a late hard frost killed the buds.. there was 5 hours of my life wasted ...

while at the grafting class ... gee was offering their own generic OD just labeled OD .... i have never really compared individual needles to compare the banding.. but it performs just as well.....

sooooo ... i sent dax a personally grafted piece of GG .... it was a very special gift since i had so much invested in it ....

anyway.. either mail order one from girards.. or get the one from gee's ... since you are going there in spring ...

are you bringing the professor with you this trip???

ken

Ken, that was a lot of typing...lol...

I've ordered a Golden Ghost (not a Gold Ghost) from Coenosium...can't wait to get it.

The professor had a summer job at Gees. She talked about using their gardens for some of her classes. We didn't have enough time there though. We stopped at Arrowhead Alpines and then Gees. We're adding another day to the trip.

Kathy

Got my Coenosium Plants today! I was stoked.

Ken you type with two fingers or two hands? The time invested is the question? lol

Later,

Dax

Kathy,

Looks like several of my grafts of Burke's Red Var. are successful, so I have an extra. I'd be glad to give it to you if you are interested. I'd send it in the fall. Contact me through my members page.

Keith