My Goldilocks has been doing well. From what I recall earlier on, this tree didn't like to be watered to often so I left it alone. The Goldilocks gets full sun. The tree's on it's 4th year in the ground.

Dan, is that a Picea abies 'Perry's Gold' in your newer photos?

Hi Stuart, yes the one in the middle of the "hot tub" is 'Perry's Gold' and there is also a 'Gold Drift' just in front of it starting to trail down. I had great success for a while with the 'Goldilocks' that Dax grafted from. It grew to about 8' and then unfortunately kicked. I had two others. One I gave away, and this is the only that remains in my garden.

Mine will look better once the roundup I sprayed kicks in. Some years and others not I spray circles around everything. This is a year I'm going to keep all the plantings looking nice and crisp.

It's a bit different ball game living on several many acres.

Here's something I was going to post at some point. While the growth rates I believe are not the same, they're close enough.

In 2008 I planted 1' tall bareroot Picea omorika seedlings that are now the same height as this Picea omorika 'Aurea' planted at the same time. I suspect this Aurea was 4' tall not including the 3-gallon container when planted. That's what I seem to recall.

And here are several of my seedlings (Canaan fir left, then two omorika). Both the Aurea and seedlings are 10' tall.

Dax

Looks like you have good help in the garden, Dax.

woof woof

Dan, what is the name of the red Japanese Maple in the photo you just posted?

Acer palmatum 'Oshu shidare'

It's a Beautiful Japanese Maple.

Would love to see a few photos of the vivarium room with the poison frogs!

Man, your stuff looks about as healthy as can be.

Love! Love! Love! Love it all Dan!!!!

This is the exact inspiration I needed to figure out what needed to happen in my island bed!!! I'm finally starting to see a vision instead of a barren bed when I look at it!!!

Now I'm excited to go start hitting all the nurseries!!! Thank you!!!

Dan,that looks like the enchanted confer forest !!! Super nice!!!

do you ever lick those frogs

ron

Thanks for the update Dan! I've always admired this spruce bed. Great to see them grow over time. You should really put a human in the photo to get a size perspective on the conifers. They are bigger than they look in the photos.

Everything looks awesome. I especially like the hot tub surround, gorgeous.

I'm ready to pull up a chair and just hang out with those characters!

ConiferK, Sorry I didn't respond earlier, but here are a few for you. Dendrobates tinctorius 'Natasha'

'Shucushuyacu'

Probably more than you wanted and just a glimpse into my new hobby :)

Thanks Dan! Are those C. Pisifera surrounding Picea abies 'Reflexa'?

They are pruned 'Saybrook Gold' junipers

Enjoyed the frogology tour as well as your trees...both great hobbies...

Oh wow! That frog setup is just as amazing as your garden. Can the poison dart frogs be handled if needed or is their skin toxic on contact or is the poison only secreted when in distress?

I can see how a conifer enthusiast might fall into collecting these frogs! Colors! Naturally Dan, your next step could be to create a bio dome with both conifers and frogs. Lol.

Hi Garen,

They are not toxic in captivity. Their poison is derived from a combination of insects they eat in their natural environment. Flightless fruit flies are their staple diet now. All the ones I have where captive bred but even wild caught ones lose their toxicity in a matter of months when switched to fruit flies as a food source.

Conifer K,

the biodome would have to include my hosta seedlings as well ;) :)

Those frogs are awesome. Very neat. Where do you buy them?

Jalcon, I am lucky in that there is a national reptile convention that comes to my town twice a year. (NARBC) There are also a number of vendors who sell dart frogs there as well. If you are interested, check out Josh's Frogs. They sell a full complement of supplies as well as frogs and also have a lot of great info on their website.

Something tells me you are never bored, Dan. :-)

I have a question. If the owner were to collect cones from these various spruce cultivars that are near each other and then plant the seeds, what would he get?

Dan, your posts are always ribbitting.

Ginny, the odds of getting a similar seedling are slim at best and you would virtually never get an exact match.

tj

Slick Dan. That frog stuff just blew me away.

Dax

Dan, how's your garden doing? I'd love to see an update.

Hi Dan - would love to see an update of your spruce collection - both the hot tub area and the bed to shut out the neighbor's trampoline. Thanks!

I'd like to know the tree names & ?? ?

Many of the tree names are found in Dan’s replies to earlier questions. Read all of them and you’ll find lots that are identified. This is one of my favorite posts as it’s so inspirational!