My parenrts have Picea Glauca Pendula growing in high shade and little direct sun light. It is not attractive, very thin, stunted growth. A better choice would be one of the weeping cultivars Chamaecyparis Nootkatensis of which there are several. David

Thanks Will I'll check out those sites. I visited the Coenosium Site and they have a lot of great stuff, but I'm just not to sure about their ordering process. You need to e-mail with what you want and send a check. I'd really like ordering from an online shop if I can. I'll definitely use them if I can't find the same stuff on another site. I really enjoy seeing all those pics you have posted of your conifers. Just your posts alone really got me redesigning my idea for next year and incorporating them. Now I may be doing a rock garden in the middle of my bed with conifers and label each one with it's name. Then surrounding that bed have my perennials/annuals. I also have a lot of Thuja Green Giants going in the back for privacy. The entire bed will be around 175' x 30'. Would it look ok to mix the two species like this? I know in a lot of the photos you post they are all conifers together. They really look great like that, I just can't go without my colors. Here's one that I absolutely need in my garden: Gold Drift:

the bottom line... nothing is going to die in shade.. due to that alone ... its just wont thrive.. like it would in sun ... annual growth might be reduced ... colors might be off ... e.g. some yellows simply will be green in too much shade ... etc ... but the bottom line.. you just have to try.. because defining shade ... in words... is impossible..... and is all up to you.. to figure it all out ion your garden ... aka your micro climate .... i have been in hosta gardens.. where the trees are limbed up 40 to 60 feet... full shade... and extremely bright .... and i have been in some ... where you may as well be in a cave ... the plants grew accordingly ... conifers would do rather well in the former.. but not in the latter .... the reason to go to an arb... besides its a wonderful fall reason to go on a color tour .... is that you will see extraordinary things... beyond the usual suspects the locals might offer... this is imperative.... if you want to mail order ... and have some idea... what will thrive in your general area ... not everyone has a high upscale nursery.. that gets semi loads of plants in every spring ... i used to in suburbia .... but not out here in a more rural area .... if you go.... snap a pic of a label... then a pic of the plant.... learn the first two latin names .... and when you see a pattern of what is there.. and what is missing.. you find out.. what they wont grow ... e.g. .....so if you see a load of picea pungens... blue spruce ... but you see no picea concolor .... a fir i believe.... then you are on track to learning why.. concolor might not work in your area ... it really doesnt matter whether it is 'candicans' ... or 'hoopsi' ... etc .... [two extra ordinary blues in my garden ...] .... P pungens hoopsi .... you figure out the other ...] besides... you can favor us with loads of pics... lol .. its all about me. ... ken

Yellow P. abies, in general, do not stay yellow in the Southeast. I have many, and all quickly turn green in mid-spring. I have chatted with numerous other coneheads in the region, and their experience is similar. There are several theories about why this is, but I'm not aware of a definitive answer. However, the phenomenon is not entirely specific to P. abies. The cultivars of many other species show significantly less yellow compared to plants grown outside of the region. How far outside of the Southeast do you need to be before you start to lose your yellow? I have no idea. But Indianapolis is not that far away...