looks like they had it in full sun ...

the individual plant aside ... we are weeks from the real heat of summer ...

i am not sure i would plant anything right now ...

especially with all that tender young growth ... disturbed roots.. and high heat possible ...

i might be tempted to put a stake right thru the pot.. and leave it in shade .. and plant it in sept or oct.. when the nights are cooling .... what one might call.. proper planting time ...

on the other hand.. its potted not BB ... so you could probably get away with it.. especially if you do NOT do root surgery ... AND you could rig up some shade .... like dave does ...

if you plant it in full sun... and it browns .. will you blame .. shipping... transplant.. watering... or the sun .... it would be hard for me .. to jump to sun as the cause ...

ya know... brent is from chicago ... why dont you as coniferkingdom ... what they suggest .... after all he mailed it.. perhaps we are making a bigger deal of it.. then he would ...

IL isnt diverse.. is it.. lol .. where are you in IL??? north or south .... i gotta imagine south is much different than north ...

ken

Gold Drift and the seedlings that Bob created are phenomenal plants.

Gold Drift and the majority of the seedlings take full sun well.

I recall only a little burning on my Gold Drift the first year I planted it since then nothing. It gets about 12 hours of full sun on a sandy slope.

Tease the outter roots and either A) put in a larger pot and baby the thing all summer or B) Tease the roots and plant the thing in the ground. If you think it needs more root work dig it up in fall and make the corrections. I end up doing this a couple times a year. Much easier than pampering a potted plant all summer.

Wow, nice size plant. how much did that cost to ship ?
Full sun south side of house ? how close to house ?
It's full sun now, but remember the sun tracks north farther
into summer, possibly shading the spot.
I made a big mistake planting first big scale dwarf planting
on south of house, after 2 years they started dying left and
right.....what a disaster

ken , check his 'page'

western subs. ron

I'm in Des Plaines, about 3 miles north of O'hare Airport.

I've had good luck in this area, most plantings a bit smaller. Here's the area, some of you may recognize it. I removed the boxwoods and globe blue spruce. I've brought in a ton of boulders, going to bring in a yard if soil to give it a more natural looking contour.

Looking at 8-10 feet from the house and it will be in full sun.

I think my best bet will be to upsize the pot, stick the whole thing in the ground and work it in properly in the fall. Once acclimated, it sounds like it will do fine.

Thanks everyone for the follow ups.

Hi,

If you put it in a larger pot and bury the pot waiting until fall to put it into the ground you could run into trouble. Watering it properly will be much more difficult. The new roots will also continue to circle. The chance of burnt foliage is greater. I would plant it right away. Tease the roots out so they get into the surrounding soil and deep water it about twice a week. Don't keep it sloppy wet but also do not let it dry out. I like to build a dam around the new planting hole so I can put a lot of water onto it after I plant it. Then I level it out in the fall.

Bob

You can't do better than advice from Bob.

John your front garden is really looking fantastic and that beautiful specimen will be the icing on the cake. Very Nice!

P.S. Mine is in full day sun too

This post was edited by dansgrdn on Sat, May 31, 14 at 12:14

Thanks to both of you guys. I'll post pictures when I finish this years installment of "honey, I'm not doing any projects this year."

Bob, the one I ordered from you is doing quite well, but I lack the patience of many, had to have a second one.

Hi! Illinois_john, so how was your full sun experience with your gold drift so far? at that size, did yours still get some burns in full sun? I delayed getting this plant when i learned it burns in full sun when young. how young is young is the big question, so pls share any info. thanks.

Just bought a gold drift. Live in Chicago. Interested in John's update.

Congrats on you purchase.

Mine is doing well in full sun, never any burning and is now well established. Put on about 6" this year.

Coloration this late in the year is not consistent throughout the plant, waiting to see how it evolves.

John,

Garden looks great. I live in Park Ridge. I going to start driving up and down every street looking for your front yard. :-)

Thanks for the feed back.

My drift is small. In a one gal pot. Thinking maybe I should wait till spring to plant. Not sure.

Mike

Guys , you should enable your messaging on profile ( see post this forum oct.3) to talk

mk , get in ground now

Glendale heights , ron

Ron, advice taken on profile adjustment.

I'm leaning toward planting the little guy in the spring. Thinking he might spend winter in garage. Thinking the same for a young abies concolor piggelmee.

Maybe I'll start my first discussion. New here.

Thanks.

Mike

mike , welcome , the more posts the better,,,,,just planted new plant sat. , myself

ground still plenty warm,,,,plant high,,,,water till ground freeze,,,they'll be fine

ron

John - curious if the color has become more consistent and how it has fared. Thanks! Andrea

Andrea, I recall reading that the Weeping Gold Drift will never be as golden on the east coast as it is in Oregon (Even if the tree's in full sun).

Ok...I'm sold. That is gorgeous!

Dan, beautiful trees! You're garden has inspired me. Dan, Question, how wide is your Weeping Gold Drift? I want to know what to expect with my much smaller weeping gold drift :).

Think it is around 4’ at the widest part of its base. I can measure it tomorrow if you would like and report back.

Yes please. Thanks.

Checked today. It’s more like a 5’x 5’ footprint, but it has never been pruned, not even for scions.

The beauty of Gold Drift is that they they all have their unique character.

I have one that is like Dan's, shooting for the sky, and another that weaves in and out along the ground.

john, thanks for the update. your Weeping Gold Drift is beautiful!

Just like whaas, I have a smaller one that I bought again very small but more recently that I’m letting weep. Think I’ll have to move it this year.

Dan, do you yearly prune the plants that are growing too close to one another?

I haven’t pruned any of the ones in that most recent pic but am not beyond it. I’m kind of in a removing and rearranging mode :) I don’t have enough property to plant things at the distance they will attain in thirty years. Each year I tweek things as necessary so that it looks good to me from year one to year twenty. The first pic has a Gold Drift that is 14 years old and is still not bumping into stuff so I’ll take that ;) :)

Love the photos John and Dan. Dan your Gold Drift is monumental.

Just because you can never have enough photos of cool plants, here's a few more Gold Drifts.

Hidden Lake Gardens, MI, Sept. 2017

Blue Horizon Nursery, MI, April 2017

A couple more.

Frank

That last one is stunning. Looks like 'Van den Akker' back left!

I believe this cultivar is one of the few that doesn't burn in full summer sun nor full winter sun/wind in borderline 5a/4b. You'd be hard pressed to find a cultivar that is that versatile and full of character.

This one lives elsewhere but can't wait for my new ones to grow up like the ones shown here!

I agree with whaas, mine never really burned and it's in full sun.

I got my Gold Drift from Conifer Kingdom a couple of days ago. It is only three feet tall at this point, and the plan is to stake it until at least ten feet tall, then let it do its own thing. Do you stake your Gold Drifts? What stakes and ties do you prefer? Please post pictures, they will be greatly appreciated.

Thats a good looking one, sad to say its too slow growing. Mine is now 4 years old about 5 feet tall from Broken Arrow here in Ct. Initialy I used a water pipe as stake but now I only use any kind of stick. As last years growth becomes stiff, I just use that as support base and tie a stick from that previous years growth. I also do this to my weeping spruce which is now about 8 feet. Use a cotton string at the base bec its stronger then I use wire on top.

Thank you for a very useful advice!

VERY good pic , enjay !

ron

This guy planted 4 years ago. As a one gallon.

either that , or the smoke bush , gotta move

My whole garden is tight. Smoke bush gets trimmed heavily every so often.

Another pic from June 2018.

Looks like twins! :-)

Picea abies Gold Drift’ and Picea engelmannii ‘Bush’s Lace’

WOW , Dan shows up !

NICE Dan

ron

how about a pic of whole garden

Wow, Dan, amazing!

Don’t be a tease, Dan. What Ron said 🙂

Mine getting only SE exposure for 2 years now. Started out about half the height for reference. Color is just beautiful in summer and spectacular in winter!

This is what I'm working with. Hmm. That stinks.

Dan, don’t think about ghosting us again!

ademink, does your plant flush gold?

whaas - I seem to recall it flushing gold last Spring. This spring everything froze (twice) so no clue.

whaas...actually just found a pic from may