Treeguy, I just wrote part 1 of a 2 part series on dwarf Ginkgo cultivars for the ACS Conifer Quarterly. As part of this assignment I did a fair amount of research and talked with a lot of folks in the trade and folks who have been growing Ginkgos for a while. Most of the dwarf cultivars are still very short on documentation and very few photos of mature plants exist. Spring Grove(TM) and 'Mariken' are probably the ones that are best documented on your list. 'Jehosaphat' turns out to grow faster/taller than originally anticipated. 'Mariken' was the ACS conifer collector's plant of the year in 2007, which is a vote of confidence. Many of the cultivars on the market are unregistered and it is not clear if they are actually distinctly different plants than others also being marketed. Confusion abounds. Unless you can get someone to give you data that he/she observed personally, take it all with a grain of salt. Very likely, the best information about what 'Pete's Dwarf' is going to do will come from your own observations of it!
Good luck and enjoy,
Sara

Sara, I read the article in the past issue of Conifer Quarterly - thanks! I was hoping someone here would have a picture of a mature or at least partially mature 'Pete's dwarf'.

How large/fast growing does 'Jehosaphat' end up being/growing?

Have you called Girard's to ask if they have a pic of a large one?

tj

Dave Horst had a ginkgo called 'Little Pete' that might be the same thing. Don't recall if this was one of the (many) plants he got from Joe Stupka. There is a photo of 'Little Pete' on the gallery side

Keith

Here is a link that might be useful: Horst garden with ginkgo 'Little Pete'

Yes - I'm just waiting for a reply!

do i have to send you to your room for a TIME OUT???

trust me.. been there done that ...

when they all start looking the same.. you probably have too many of one thing..and should just back off for 5 years ... and see how they all develop ...

i am a blue freak in the garden ... back when i started.. that meant blue spruce ... so i bought 2 hoopsi.. thomsen .. otto bismarch ... blue cloak.. baby blue eyes ... donnas rainbow .. st marys ... girards dwarf ... thuem ....[correct the names if you wish joy] ... and then of course.. found concolor.. and started buying all those blue ones ...

i mean really.. 10 years later.. i think i have enough BLUE pungens ... just how many does one guy need ...

time for you to branch out..

perhaps in a few years.. pics and info will catch up .. and you can add some new ones ... some truly unique ones ...

but really.. if you are caught in this dichotomy... you are answering your own problem ... you already know.. or suspect.. they cant be all that much different ...

besides.. you need the budget to plant something in front of that buck rubbed plant.. per your other post ...

ken

Treeguy: Rich Larson, the registrar, noted that 'Jehosaphat' now (12-13 years after planting) has 'scooted up' so that it is virtually indistinguishable from 'Spring Grove Sport'.

Ken makes a good point, which is even more pointed in the world of Ginkgo dwarfs - they all kinda blend together, and since no one has observed - and documented - them for long enough, they may really not be that different. Also, as I noted in the article, Ginkgo are strongly plageotropic, which makes for more variety within a named cultivar than one would expect, which muddies the waters even further.
Stay tuned for Part 2 - that's where we provide some recommendations from growers and collectors.
Sara

Thanks all for the good info. Ken, yes, I have obsession with collecting like most here.

I will probably add Mariken and one other to my small ginkgo cultivar collection then.

I will probably add Mariken and one other to my small ginkgo cultivar collection then.

==>>> just in case they end up different.. rotflmbo ...

if you are happy.. i am happy ...

good luck

ken

PS: i have a replacement st mary's coming.. lol .. so who am i to talk ... lol

Ginkgo biloba 'Little Pete' is the correct name as Keith stated. I seen the plant in Dave Horst garden today and it around 4x4 feet in size. I do not know the age of it. The name of 'Little Pete' is what Pete Girard himself told me was the name, and is named for his grandson.
Dennis

Dennis- Did Pete perhaps have two similarly named Ginkgos? Or maybe rename one plant? I ask because on Girard's own website they list a 'Pete's Dwarf'.

tj

Some Gingko cultivars may be indistinguishable with summer foliage on.

With foliage gone in the winter limb structure and growth habit exposed there in lies your ability to tell the difference between one cultivar from another. Not a 100% accurate as some cultivars remain look a likes even in winter. Out of the 15-20 I am growing 10 I can easily identify void of leaves.

'Spring Grove' shown in the photo being one of them.

Davesconifers

{{gwi:641358}}

Good AM Conifer collectors ~ please educate this old & very curious *giving tree Duchess of a Ginkgo* slave.

How is the connection between these 2 trees I suddenly found in this thread? Have just recently been reading & asking in this forum, triggered by the cute li'l D Alberta & now inherited a friend's cute E Cypress (to care for). Suddenly the name GINKGO ~ I'm so keenly close to (emotionally). Mine is a giant of a tree & quite prolific ~ now adding the word DWARF into the equation really piqued my curiosity even more!

Really curious ~ is it just as Sara eloquently puts it in the tree forum "A whole new obssession!" TIA

Ginkgo biloba 'Pete's Dwarf' was a chance mutation on a 2-3 year old seedling found by Peter Forinash, grandson of Pete Girard, Girard Nursery. They were growing ginkgo from seed for understock production. This particular seedling grew normally for the first 1', then produced a profusion of tight buds. These buds pushed short, stubby limbs. The original seedling was planted as a 1-gallon container 15-20 years ago in Peter Forinash's garden and is now about 10' tall and 4' wide (if my memory serves me). I saw the original tree a few months ago.

Peter Forinash clarified that they never called it 'Little Pete' - only 'Pete's Dwarf.'

-Brent

TYVM for this brief clarification Brent! So in short, it is a case of the *Witches' Broom*/mutation event on a Ginkgo tree seedling as it occurs more often on Conifers albeit as *witches'brooms* that this conversation happened in this Conifer Forum! Wow, how very fascinating I'm glad I ran into this thread.

I'm glad that at my late age & nearly crowded, piece of soil, the flamboyant whims of my youth has evolved into more tempered obssessions. However I just, last Fall, opened a few ideal sites to allow some temptations!!!

This thread got me digging & appreciate much your clarification, Brent!

Brent, thank you very much for the information on 'Pete's dwarf'! I tried e-mailing the folks at Girard's nursery, but received no reply.

Since you got the chance to see the original tree a few months ago, do you remember how dense the branching pattern was, and what the annual growth rate seems to be? Extrapolating from your post, it would seem to grow roughly 6-8" per year. Mine only grew 2" this past summer, but that was as a newly planted 2-yr graft. I may have to move mine down the road . . . it's planted next to my driveway in a corner garden bed!

Thanks, Brent - it is great to get the info directly from someone who can speak to the particulars and has seen the plant in question. I'm guessing that it was never registered...
Thank you.
Sara

Hi Witches' Broom aficionados ~ have you seen/read thread *New Witch's brooms* by Slama.Wbgarden? So that's what *Broom hunting* is like!!! amazing ~ they go thru all that *distance* for those brooms!!!

Treeguy_ny -

It had moderately-open branching structure. Not tight by any means. Yes, annual growth around 6". One of the most unique features is the thickness of the limbs - that and supposedly the leaves which have widely-spaced lobes, but are cupped at the base. Ginkgos always have a mind of their own, some varieties one year will grow 2 inches, the next year they'll bolt and grow 2 feet. Really difficult to predict. The sporadic branching and growth habits have similarly made the introduction of an easy to grow columnar form unsuccessful.

-Brent

Has anyone seen an older 'Green Pagoda' ? This is supposed to be very tight columnar. Does this make a small tree that eventually should get tall over time?

I bought a small plant last year, and it is only like 13-14". but it has a very straight leader at this point, with a few buds that might be the start of branches. Unlike all the other "dwarf" grafted cultivars that I've seen, which usually have a very erratic growth pattern lacking any symmetry, growing only at angles.

Not sure what to do with this, but I like the idea of a small tree with a straight leader.

This post was edited by noki on Sun, Mar 31, 13 at 21:44

Interesting info on Pd. Mine has only grown 4" over the last two growing seasons.