My P. parviflora Miyajima came through just fine through this past winter....

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But then there *is* some difference between Z4a and Z5b, I suppose....

Hello Bob,

Great conifer. I use it and a anchor conifer for one of my islands. It has now grown to a height of 8 feet. A great cone producer. It should do well under the conditions you described.

Dave

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I hope I'm not hijacking this thread. If so, feel free to ignore my comments. I just came on here intending to post about my new baby. I too just bought a japanese white pine, one of my all time favorite conifers, (I was going to say favorite, but then I realized that it would be hard for me to pick just one, lol!) Anyway, it is a dwarf japanese white pine, the upright form like Dave's picture. It wasn't cheap, and I've been searching for one for about three years so I am anxious not to kill it.

I've already amended the soil with peat and sand. My other conifers seem to be doing OK. My yard has southern exposure and gets hot afternoon sun, from about 12-6PM. Being a row house, sometimes there can be some "wind tunnel" effects when we get a strong windstorm.

OK, here's what I'm worried about. I am tentatively planning on planting the japanese white pine next to my BLACK compost bin. I know, what a shame to put such a gorgeous tree next to the compost bin, but my yard is so tiny I don't have a choice. It's either that or the compost bin has to go entirely. I think of it as providing a respite from the sight of the bin. The bin is one of those black tower ones. What I'm afraid of is that during the summer with the sun beating down on that black bin, it's going to create a little microclimate that is like an oven. I read online that the trees can survive rocky windswept areas in Japan. But I imagine Japan, surrouned by ocean, has a lot milder weather than PA. So anyway, how hardy is this tree, and is a dwarf less hardy?

BTW, those are some gorgeous pictures, oh my!

"But I imagine Japan, surrouned by ocean, has a lot milder weather than PA."

Any PA's is a lot milder than WI! You're not hijacking the thread at all, just adding to the discourse.

Dave, I think you've heard this a couple of times before, but what a gorgeous garden you've put together. Is the fastigiate form you've shown typical for this selection, or do you expect it to start spreading out? My understanding is that these can get as wide as tall. Yours looks great, but I hope mine spreads a bit more as it gets bigger. Well, if it gets bigger. ;)

BTW, I second your opinion on the cones. My little JWP (3') already has a couple of these big fat cones that look totally disproportionate to size of tree. Very cool!

Bob

"But I imagine Japan, surrouned by ocean, has a lot milder weather than PA"

But it occurs mainly in subalpine habitats, up to 2500m altitude - it's cold up that high there!

Resin

"As a side note, do all pines have essentially the same type of roots? This is a Monrovia plant and the roots didn't look like anything I've seen before"

Most commercial growers in the PNW (I would assume the Monrovia plant came from their Orygun location)use Pinus strobus or Pinus strobiformis as an understock....the vote is still forth coming whether P. stobiformis is a better understock:-). I know they are very paticular about their potting media and very healthy roots may be what you are seeing.

I bought one last season and the poor thing had quite a year. Planted in May, moved in July because a storm damaged oak had to be removed and then returned to it's original location in September. The soil is almost pure sand, but there is a mixed, narrow forest of deciduous trees to the N and NW so it has some wind protection. It did get afternoon winter sun. The winter minimum was about -28F plus or minus with no snow cover.

After all that, and a few nibbles by the deer, the plant is fine. A nearby P. koreanis lost all its needles but pushed out new growth this spring.

Ginkgonut--You certainly put yours to the test and leads me to believe this pine might be a bit hardier/tougher than given credit. I've got a golden (OK, Resin, sickly yellow) Korean Pine in the vicinity of the JWP, and sounds like our conditions are quite similar. The Korean Pine was planted last summer and has absolutely no protection. It managed to make it through winter without any needle or other damage. What other exotic pines have you tried? Densiflora? Wallichiana?

I am just getting started with conifer collecting so I have not tried many of the exotics. So far I have been mostly sticking to the pines that are Zone 4 hardy like strobus, sylvestris and mugo. My small collection is split between my house in Minneapolis and the cabin in the Brainerd lakes area (Zone 3). The JWP is actually at the cabin so I fear that the climate may catch up to it eventually. We'll see.

In town the only cultivar of JWP I have is Adcock's dwarf, but only one winter under its belt. When I saw the cultivar 'Goldi(y?)locks' over the weekend at a local nursery I had to give it a try.

I just realized I think I misused the term exotic. I haven't tried many pines that have questionable zone 4 hardiness. I have tried the some of exotics (non-natives) that are hardy.

So what do you guys think about my situation, the opposite, with a lot of heat coming off my black compost bin and bouncing onto the pine?

BTW, I used to work at an arboretum and we had a gorgeous mature JWP, the regular size one, not a columnar or dwarf. It was striking, not skinny like the one I have. I'm not sure my variety, I think "Nana" or "Glauca" or "Glauca Nana" or something like that. But the one at the arboretum was a species tree. Very artistic looking.

I buy young grafts and they seem to do well in my zone 5a.
- 3 pictures
Pinus parviflora 'Nellie D'
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pinus parviflora 'Ragenhold WB'
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Pinus parviflora 'Jims mini curl'
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shannon

"I haven't tried many pines that have questionable zone 4 hardiness"

Couple of others to try in zone 4, they should be OK, though not listed as z4-hardy by all sources:
Pinus heldreichii (Bosnian Pine, syn. P. leucodermis)
Pinus peuce (Macedonian Pine)

Resin

Hi Dave (dcsteg),

"I use it and a anchor conifer for one of my islands"

That tree looks like it got hammered in that late spring frost - all the new candles killed off. There does appear to be some regrowth, but it could be a while till it recovers fully.

It also doesn't look like a dwarf, more like the full-size species, given its (up to 2006!) growth rate. It can get larger than many people imagine - one in Britain is 32m tall.

Resin

Hello Resin,

How are things in the UK?

It did take a hit on April 12th when the temperature hit -9C.
All new growth candles froze. It has regenerated some new growth especially the main leader.

It doesn't seem to want to put on girth just grow straight up.
I can't understand why it wants to maintain this fastigiate form. I think I have an odd ball conifer with an attitude. It looks normal in every other aspect.

Considering where I have it planted I hope it maintains this growth habit.

All other pines in my collection lost this years growth but didn't seem to incur any other damage.

They say a 50 year event. I won't see the next one.

Dave

Dave

How odd. We experienced that same cold snap (after unseasonal warmth), but I think because my trees weren't nearly as far along that it didn't affect them. All candles came through ok, albeit much later in unfurling. A case where cold helped beat the cold, I guess. The Picea and the Abies seemed unaffected.

tj

Where would you recommend buying one of these lovelies? I'm new in Baltimore, and don't know if I'm better off searching for a local nursery or ordering something from a good nursery elsewhere.

[And then I have a lot of soil amending to do, because although I see spruce and juniper in nearby yards, my mostly-empty lot is mostly clay with a layer of what looks like beach pebbles 10 inches down. Advice on amendments welcome]

Rhet

Rhet, most of us generally don't recommend soil ammendments in the planting hole. But......if you can ammend pretty much the entire yard, that can be of value. Two or three inches of yardwaste compost tilled in should do wonders.

1pink, though I don't know exactly how close the compost bin is to your proposed planting site, my personal feeling is that it will have little or no negative impact on the pine. In its native haunts, it may occasionally grow next to dark colored rocks I surmise, and your situation could mimic this.

+oM