You certainly have a good stock of plants there - great!
Please can you identify the following two blue spruces in picture 6 on the far left and picture 7 (barrel shaped near the path). Thanks.

The spruce at the far left in Pic 6 is Picea pungens 'Bakeri' and the little barreled shaped guy in pic 7 is Picea pungens 'Baby Blue'.

did you finally make it on the roof for the back shots? .... lol ....

still too much grass out front... but i am sure that will disappear.. as you need ...

great work

thx

ken

There are sooo many wonderful things to see in your yard Will! Have you gotten around to a cultivar count? Any duplicates you'll mail to California?

So, what are you doing with your time now that this project is over...I see your cat knows to wait for you by the hammock. Have you done any tornado chasing?

Barbara

I lost track on the total amount of conifers and maples but my database says 493 conifers though I need to update it after a few more recent purchases - and 212 Japanese maples though this changes a lot too. I seem to continue to acquire plants, what a mystery.

I do have some duplicates, but mostly of the 'monster' type spruce, Picea abies 'Cranstonii', 'Aarburg' and I think Picea jezoensis species. If you were still interested and OK paying the shipping, we could probably get some plants to you Barbara.

Storm chasing yes, tornados, no, it's a crap shoot. Next year we're going to the Midwest though for ten days of chasing so we should find something then. :)

I play softball 5-6 days a week, school full time and work full time so pretty busy even without having to plant - and I still plant a lot because things need to be moved and occasional new arrivals make older plants move deeper into the greenbelt lol.

A handful of recent larger acquisitions from a huge Iseli retailer near here.

Won't 'price' them all, but just for example, this cultivar Acer palmatum 'Sazanami' was $65. Ridiculous.

Picea mariana 'Aureovarigata' - My personal favorite 'large' conifer.

Tsuga canadensis 'New Gold'

Cedrus deodara 'Girards Weeping'

Picea glauca 'Pendula'

Metasequoia glypostrobiodes 'Ogon'

Pinus thunbergiana 'Thunderhead'

I've found that while I am happy with mostly small cultivars, it's great to have some of your favorite plants in semi-mature form, for that instant gratification. The prices, quality and stock from this nursery was awesome and probably 90% from Iseli.

Will

Will - still a mystery to me why you guys in the states insist on the names Metasequoia 'Ogon' instead of 'Goldrush', and Pinus thunbergiana instead of Pinus thunbergii ??
Nice photos by the way.

WOW, GORGEOUS, COOL!!! I love the way you designed your beds with the walkway!! I can't believe you can keep this as manicured as it is with softball, FT school & FT work. Once again, WOW!

I'm fine with either name. A lot of conifers seem to acquire a couple of names, Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' and Picea pungens 'Pendula', 'Gold Rush', 'Ogon', etc.

If it offends you I'll call it 'Gold Rush' from now on. :)

Thanks for the pics firefighter....BTW there is no such thing as too many pics

Will...that blue thing in photo #5...is that where you recover after a day in the garden?

Stephen...we armature collectors here in the states assume a plant comes with the correct name. From what I gather some of the wrong name applications originated on your side of the pond and migrated to the states for one reason or another. Not with standing we have to assume that propagators in the states are responsible for the mix up in name applications also.

To the true collector correctness is important, such as yourself. Unfortunately to others not so important. It gets to be a hassle to change name tags all the time because he said...she said.

I don't think this mystery in the states is an easily resolved issue with so many small time collectors growing and selling conifers. Like I said it is not a big concern to many of us. Probably 1 in a 1000 walking the nursery's in the states would ever recognize a wrong named conifer.

Such is life...

Dave

Will - No way am I offended that you refer to a plant with a name I don't think is correct, and you should only change your plant names if you! think it is the right thing to do, not because of anything I have said.

Dave - not sure what you mean by amateur collectors, guys like yourself and Will both have a garden full of conifers, are members of the ACS, and participate on this conifer forum on a regular basis, sounds like your pretty true collectors to me and not just the average Joe who likes to have the odd conifer in his garden who you could well imagine not giving a fig as to the correct name of his plants.
Yes I'm sure you are correct that there are mix ups all over the place, you only have to look at a Czech, German, or Polish collectors list to see many conifer names from the US incorrectly written. of course these things happen, even I get the occasional name wrong :0)
I know it must seem tedious, but it is, and should be important to all who have a passion for conifers to try and ensure we are all abiding by the correct plant names, there is already far too much confusion as it is. You don't have to go running out into the yard to change your name tags every time someone says a particular name you're using is wrong, if possible you need to check out the info you are given is correct. I take notes and go through my collection list and tags about once a year and then make any necessary corrections, certainly saves a lot of hassle.

Cheers, Stephen.

Yikes you're a busy boy! What classes are you taking at school Will? I hear college is a great place to meet girls...that's where my husband met me! And how is the softball team doing; is it a group of firefighters?

I've gotten one conifer, and have seen several others, fresh from Iseli's that are extremely pot bound. What's going on there? My Picea omorika 'Bruns' in a 6 gal pot must of had 2" of roots spiraling around the rootball. Also saw 4+ foot sturdy Pinus strobus 'Angel Falls' in (I may be exaggerating) 2 gal pots! I had a bboy moment seeing that at the nursery.

You're right, I need miniatures and dwarfs in my yard. Very very generous of you to offer sending others for the cost of shipping.
Maybe some scions this winter.....?
Thanks!

Barbara

Stephen is right with his comments, he also deserves that big hugh and some space at that mantlepiece ;0)

Well thanks Edwin, perhaps we could both sit together on somebodys mantlepiece...any takers ? :0)

Stephen...to some it might appear that I am a seasoned collector just because I have a yard full of conifers. Not the case... Actually I am still learning and that being the case I consider myself to be a amateur collector. The wheels are alway turning to improve and correct. Still a lot of space between me and you along with coniferjoy, to mention a few, with regard to being a seasoned collector to which people pay attention and look up to for advice and correctness.

The only time I give advice to a question on this forum is if I have been there, experienced that problem and have resolved the issue to the extent it's not there anymore.

I appreciate your photos and comments. That alone tells me a lot about you in a professional light.

Photos are a valuable resource on this forum and a lot of questions can be answered just by looking at them. Need I say more.

We should all post what we are growing.

Dave

Yep Dave, lots of time in the hammock. It's incredible comfortable and made by hand somewhere in South America. from 'NOVICA' I believe a Nat-Geo sponsered 'free trade' organization for third world art makers.

I don't consider myself a 'true collector' yet as I don't graft and trade my own material. That will probably change in the years to come but it's important to remind myself that I bought my first conifers less then two years ago.

The presence and corrective suggestions give here by the 'senior collectors' on these forums is greatly appreciated and I try to soak up as much information and tips as I can. Each visit I make to my closest collector, Bob Fincham, I always end up staying twice as long as I expected, basically picking his brain and savoring as many details as I can. It's rare to be able to meet and converse with people that are so deeply rooted in the hobby.

I blame Bob for most of my conifer ambitions, were it not for witnessing his amazing conifer collection in person, I doubt I'd have started the vast projects that you see in this post.

Will

"I bought my first conifers less then two years ago": wow, that's progress!!
Richard

Stunningly beautiful!!!

Regards
Jerry

Hi Will,

Thank you for sharing the photos - truly outstanding. Maples and conifers definitely go well together. Sam