"If you could only have one or the other, which would you choose? A Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' or Abies koreana 'Horstmann's Silberlocke'?

Quite a diversity there. Each with total different growing habits and requiring their own special place in the garden landscape.

One doesn't out due the other...you will have to decide which one fits best into the big picture look you want.

Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' can give you 3 different looks...grown on the horizontal..either laying on the ground or stasked for a leaner and of course staked for vertical growth. A lot you can do with this cultivar. No two are alike.

Abies koreana 'Horstmann's Silberlocke' I have seen grown in a upright or cut to be in a bush form...not as many options but still a great must have for any collector.

"Is one more difficult to care for"?

Depends...Abies are an alpine conifer that likes to cool off at night. Doesn't like high temps and humidity that some states have in the summer time for weeks on end. In my case, I can not grow them in Kansas City because of the above mentioned dislikes. If other people are growing them in your area of the country chances are you can also.

As for picea abies you can grow them anywhere they are zone correct. They do just fine here in Zone 5b.

Dave

If either grew fine in my area and I only had room for one, I'd plant the Abies. The coloration is very unique on the twisted Korean firs and the plentiful bright purple/blue cones(early on as well) are icing on the cake.

Both are lovely conifers though, it's like comparing opening day baseball to opening week football.

i would go small.. and insure i could have both ...

link below to girards ...

20 bucks for the silberloche .... they dont list glauca pendula per se .. but look at st marys ..18 .. or kosteri pendula for 14 [which is probably a near look alike for glauca pendula ...]

plus shipping...

bet a buck you could have all 3.. for the price you will pay retail for one medium-large nursery specimens ...

in my world.. warped as it is.. more is better.. they will all grow to size.. soon enough.. no need to blow 100 or 200 bucks for a large one ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

In your case Ken...you always think small...that's you.

In my case just the opposite...medium/large...that's me.

In Tish's case...who knows. If you got years to wait around for these things to grow...something to think about...good advice.

As for Picea p. 'Glauca Pendula' it has no rivals...unique in its own right. Way to cool to substitute for something else.

Dave

its all about age and budget ....

i have age on my side for the time to wait them out .... mine will all be your sized .. by the time i hit your age ....

you have budget on your side for instant gratification .... you dont have to feed and cloth two mud monkeys ... god those kids are needy ... lol ...

but then i have a lot more acres to cover ...

ken

I can afford both and nice size specimens, but I have only 1 acre and I'm trying not to make it look overdone (besides, I'm holding out a large space for a 4-season room and patio with a pergola that we'll have built once my husband wins the lottery :). I have a prime spot for one conifer and I wanted unusual, but not something that only a very seasoned gardner would be successful with. I love the blue and the pendulous beauty of the Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' and I love the silvery curled needles and purple cones of the Abies koreana 'Horstmann's Silberlocke'. I too am older and don't have a lifetime to wait on them. If I think this through, I could possibly find a nice spot for a second one, but I wouldn't spring that on my husband until next year. Anyhoo, so if I never get a second one, does the Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' get the majority vote here? Is it hard to keep it staked to get some height?

Thank you all so very much!!!

Tish

1 acre is more then enough space. I have a clutter of hundreds of conifers and maples on mine(and it's not a full acre). :)

Should be easy to stake new growth. Most conifers have relative 'soft' new growth for 6-24 months after it pushes out. Just each 6" or so of new growth I'd stake it upright. Should be very easy and quick.

I'm leaning towards the Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' this year and after I get through with spring cleanup, pruning, mulching and planting (and a little transplanting), I'll take a walk and see where the Abies koreana 'Horstmann's Silberlocke' would look best and be happiest.

So firefighter, let me see if I understand correctly. I'm assuming they come staked. So after its "lead" grows another 6", I should stake it to that point? Once I get it to the desired height, how long should I leave it staked to make sure it remains upright (to that point, that is)?

I'm still open for persuasion. With the weather still trying to hold on to Winter, I still have time to make a final decision.

Tish...

Trish, the two are so different that it really is hard to compare or decide between them.

The form of a well trained Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' is awesome as they mature and I tend to like the more unusual growth habits more then needle color. But when you get up close to a nice Abies koreana 'Horstmann's Silberlocke' it's another extremely interesting conifer.

If it's a position where you want the plant to make an impact to the eye from a distance I'd go 'Glauca Pendula' it it's going to be up close and personal I'd go 'Horstmann's Silberlocke'.

"Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' get the majority vote here? Is it hard to keep it staked to get some height"?

Trish...here's the beef on Picea p.'Glauca Pendula'.

Try and find one at least 3 ft. tall and growing upright. If it already hasn't started to twist or turn it will. When this happens tie a small stake hard against trunk to keep leader on a vertical growth habit. Use plastic stretch tape available at your local nursery to tie stake to trunk. Leave stake on for 6-9 months then remove. You will have to repeat this several times over the next 1-8 years. At that point let it free range and do its own thing.

I have enclosed 2 photos of what can be achieved just by staking for upright growth.

Dave This was taken in 2001.' 'Picea p. 'Glauca Pendula' on rigght. You can see main leader tailing off to the right. It was staked for vertical growth after photo was taken. That's my bride of 46 years. She is also a conifer addict.
{{gwi:681917}}


Same island in January 2009. The same conifer staked for vertical growth. In 2 years it will be on its own. You can see stake secured to main learde at the top of conifer. Should get interesting.
{{gwi:681918}}

Boys, boys, boys, I realize they are totally different and that is where the angst is. They are both amazing in and of their own right, but if for some reason I could never buy another, I want to buy the one that everytime I see it, "my toes curl" as Ken would say. I want both and probably next year get the one that I don't get this year, but with the enconomy the way it is, who knows what next year or the next several years will bring. So if you loved steak and you loved lobster, but could only have one, which would you choose? How about this, say you are a conifer collector. Every year you add 3, 5 or 7 from your "must have" list. You have to pick the 3, 5 or 7 each year and I know you have to choose one over the other and it is usually (money aside) because your desire is greater for one than the other.

Steve, your comment on distant versus up close is a good point as well, but only makes things more difficult. I'd love to look out of the second floor window and see a 'Glauca pendula', but if I'm strolling around the yard, I'd love a close up view of the purple cones.

The answer is both, no doubt, but the question is "If you could only have one". A hard question, isn't it? That is why I enlisted all of you conifer addicts this question. dcsteg you also brought up the question of whether it would thrive or not in my location, as it wouldn't in yours. So that scares me as I'm 5a...

Tish from Wis, I'm staying out of this one, except to tell you that you're in fir country...........more or less;^)

+oM

Trish- I have grown 7-8 Abies koreanas and the only one I lost was being grown in a trough. Zone 5 hardy Abies do fine here (unless you have a Black Walnut) so don't let that influence you. Is this in all day full sun? If so, go with the Picea. If a small bit of shade then go with the Abies.

tj

Oh no Wisconsitom, you can't leave me hanging! What I get from your comment is that the Abies will do fine in my neck of the woods (of should I say "our" neck of the woods) and/or you would choose the Abies.

tsugajunkie, you could possibly be my neighbor, literally. Thank you for putting any doubt of whether or not the Abies would be able to thrive in my/our zone, so I now know I can definite grow them here. The more important question you posed was whether or not it would be in full sun all day and indeed it would! So I have to go with the Picea pungens! The place I was contemplating for the one that I didn't get this year is in eastern sun and then shade in the heat of the afternoon.

Finally, the dilemma is solved. Not by favoring one over the other, but because the site is better suited for one more than the other. YAY!!!