have i mentioned .... in regard to this plant only ... i hate you .. lol ... ahhh .. jealously rear its ugly head ... lol as usual .. it looks like your z5 is a couple weeks ahead of my z5 MI .... one thing that amazes me... on this pic in particular.. if one didnt know.. they would think we are looking at acreage ... as always ... congrats.... ken

I'll see if I remember when the sun comes out to get a picture of a 2-footer from 2001 in at least a 3 gallon bucket that I placed in full sun that lost almost all its needles. It's still hurting but has been in almost full shade (since the move). Dax

Here are two pictures I took of P. orientalis �Skylands� at the National Arboretum in Washington, D. C. This first is a full length view of tree something like 25 feet tall. I like the general outline/form, which is a bit more narrow than the species, and is perhaps a bit more graceful. What I don�t especially like is the color, which many people like, but which I feel looks just a bit like a sick tree with its washed-out yellow. Here is a close-up. Notice especially the color of the foliage more than one year old. This is not a nice yellow color. But this tree is growing completely in the open in a fairly hot Z7. It may look better with some protection from afternoon sun. For a spruce with a somewhat golden color I prefer P. abies �Aurea.� But its color is more of a yellow-green than a real yellow. The color is especially nice in the spring and early summer, but it is persistent to some degree all year. As for P. orientalis �Aureospicata�, the yellow of the newly growing tips is a very nice yellow color, and it is very showy. But it lasts for at most two weeks if the spring weather is cloudy and cool. As the yellow fades, the new growth turns to a relatively bright green, and after that it is the same color as any other oriental spruce. Apart from the spring shoots being a bright yellow, this tree looks much like the species, but is perhaps a bit more slow growing with foliage perhaps a bit more dense than the species. It eventually can grow moderately large, as can �Skylands�. --Spruce

OP and alley .... ALL green conifers are full sun .. zone appropriate .... of course ... as you add foo.. as in foo foo.. moving away from green.. you move into plant tissue that might not 'take' full sun ... and usually that means scorch.. either summer or winter ... but ... when you plant a tree/conifer... you completely and totally interfere with its roots system.. and it can take a few years.. for it to re-establish its roots mass ... and while it does that.. foo foo foliage can burn ... so daves solution ... is to shade it ... unprofessional.. i think.. has a pic of a 40 footer at hidden lakes.. dax has one also.. its in full sun... the plant itself.. does NOT need shade.. all you are doing is trying to protect it from your handling of it ... thru planting ... does that make any sense ...??? and .. many.. yellow tissue conifers.. will be GREEN!!! ... in too much shade.. its a real dichotomy as the sun burns them.. but they need it to color properly.. and it is impossible.. for us.. on words or pix alone.. to define whether any given shade.. in an given garden.. will grow a green or yellow plant ... as noted.. the 40 footer is at least 15 feet wide.. i really think.. presuming you stay at the house.. that you will be regretting planting it that close the power lines.. regardless.. do whatever makes you happy ... ken