Fotis, I think I speak for a great many people here and say I am envious of your surroundings, your climate and your gardens. Your color saturation is remarkable and absolutely lit off by those red rocks and your bed composition! I see you get significant snows, but knowing roughly the climate of Greece, I assume you get very long, warm, dry growing seasons as well? Sounds like a perfect environment for many conifers. Shot a few more photos today, particularly highlighting some of my golden pines - also for comparison of different cultivars and their brightness, at least in my mild Pacific Northwest climate. For referrence, so far this Winter, we've had a total of 6 days of 32(0'C) degree temps or below, 2 days in the teens and most days have been about 50/35(high/low). I believe this causes milder colors in general, but many of my plants are still full of color. Pinus strobus 'Louie' Pinus sylvestris 'Nisbet's gold' Pinus sylvestris 'Gold Medal' Pinus sylvestris 'Gold Coin' - lacking Winter sunlight, so not as bright as... Pinus sylvestris 'Gold Coin' - full sun. Pinus mugo 'Carstens' Picea orientalis 'Daureas' - Much brighter in Spring/Summer but still hues of gold left. Interesting because from collectors I've seen in the Midwest/East coast, this plant is often solid green by mid-Summer. Abies concolor 'Wintergold' Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Boyko's Sundown' Pinus mugo 'Yellowtip' Pinus contorta 'Chief Joseph' - Still the gold standard. Sciadopitys verticillata 'Ossorio Gold' - Roughly the same color all year. Just wanted to add this photo of a doug fir that colors like this each winter. My hunch is lack of nutrients, though I don't know really. A couple others mixed with heather. -Will

Hi Yvonne, welcome to the wonderful world of conifers. Sounds like you've really got the conifer bug. Have fun with it! :) Since we're apparently holding newbies immediately accountable for proper nomenclature, I thought I'd point out a mistake so that you don't get off on the wrong foot. coniferjoy wrote: "The first name (species) is always written with a capital mark. The second name (generic) is always written in the normal way" It should read Genus species 'Cultivar' The first word is the Genus and should be capitilized, the second is the species and should not, an the third, the 'Cultivar' should again be capatilized and in single quotation marks. Didn't want you to confuse Genus and species. Hope this helps ;) ;) Dan

Nikkie, 'Vermont' gold does burn in full sun. I am guessing Blues specimen is babied very appropriately, but then again, every specimen he seems to have is a picture perfect tree of symetry and health. 'Aurea Jacobsen' is also an upright plant, though it does tend to weep a bit, a la 'The Blues'. 'Aurea Jacobsen' is also much faster growing then 'Vermont Gold' or 'Perry's Gold'. My little five year old specimen put on about six inches of growth last season. Will

Just coming across this thread as I research which conifers to add to my property... Here in Southern Ontario, Blue Spruce do not do well beyond 20 years, or so... some decline after a decade... Needle cast I suppose... my neighbour has 10 picea pugens... I am watching them decline every year... Don't know what it is but people in this part of the world love to plant these things and most look like crap within one human generation... I am going to give some concolors a chance as i love them and they seem to be doing ok albeit they've only been planted around here for the past 15 years or so... Our climate is virtually the same as all the other Great Lakes cities... Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago... Our specific area though has cooler nights than Toronto (we are just north of the city) as a result of being a more rural environment... 60s is the norm in typical summers nights, with some high 50s during cooler stretches.. we don't get huge amounts of rain... and it'll often fall in short bursts of thunderstorms.. Boston MA is definitely more wet as my sister lived there for years and they got a lot more snow in MA and rain...