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Dog Days of Summer

10 years ago

Summer's heat and humidity are in full force here. I have been struggling to keep the fungus from overtaking a dozen or so of my conifers--mostly species which come from the Rockies. I plan to begin focusing on collecting mostly native cultivars which can handle the high humidity and hot nights.

These are some pictures I took after a shot of rain we received this evening.

Pinus strobus 'Bennett O.D.'

Picea abies 'Aurea Jakobsen': I root pruned it early this spring right when the ground thawed, as a result this year's growth is stunted.

Picea abies 'Tufty'

Thuja occidentalis 'Yellow Ribbon'

Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis Ã¢ÂÂBear SwampÃ¢ÂÂ

Pinus flexilis 'W.B.'

Pinus strobus 'Wiggles'

Picea glauca 'Ducharme'

Tsuga canadensis 'Cole'

Abies balsamea 'Gunflint Trail'

Abies lasiocarpa 'Martha's Vineyard'

Larix kaempferi 'Peve Tunnis': I love its powder blue foliage

Picea x mariorika 'Machala'

Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Nitschke Cream'

Thanks for looking!

Matt

This post was edited by dietzjm on Thu, Jul 18, 13 at 12:48

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Comments (18)

zephyrgal
10 years ago
Very nice, nice for the tour. All looks very vibrant.
coniferjoy
10 years ago
Matt, thanks for showing us your nice pics.

You need to fix the following names:
Picea abies 'Jakobsen'
This must be written as:
Picea abies 'Aurea Jakobsen'

Larix kaempferi 'Peve Tunis'
Must be written as:
Larix kaempferi 'Peve Tunnis'

Tsuga canadensis 'Cole's Prostrate'
Must be written as:
Tsuga canadensis 'Cole'.

Abies balsamea 'Bear Swamp'
This one you can change, it's a natural variety:
Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis Ã¢ÂÂBear SwampÃ¢ÂÂ

I hope I helped you with this info.
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Simoni
10 years ago
Hi Matt,
thank you for interesting images, some plant species do not even know, it's beneficial for us
L+M S
dietzjm
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the comments!

Edwin, I edited my original post, thanks for the info.
firefightergardener
10 years ago
Great, choice selections and a tremendous backdrop of the woods and natural settings. Thanks also Edwin for your continual efforts to fix the nomenclature and naming of these precious gems of conifers. Your plants look SUPER healthy and happy Matt, perhaps because of a little afternoon shade?
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
10 years ago
More nice plants, Matt. Thanks for the update.

tj
maple_grove_gw
10 years ago
Matt,

Enjoyable photos of prime specimens, all look very happy. The bed in the last shot has a lot of personality.

Your 'Machala' looks much bluer than mine, which is more of a silver green. In fact, it's got the color of my Picea mariorika 'Glauca' though it's growing faster. Hmmm...

Your heat and humidity doesn't seem to be bothering these Abies specimens one bit. How hot does it get up in your neck of the woods?

Alex
whaas_5a
10 years ago
Everything is looking good! I really like the first strobus. Nice form on the Picea AJ. Mine is somewhat asymmetrical and gangly looking.

Dog days is right. Quite possible we'll end up with 0.5" of rain for the entire month of July. Its been unreal how humid its been all week with heat indexes around 100 degrees.

Just brutal gardening in full blazing sun on a sandy slope...ahhhh!
Cher
10 years ago
Choice plants and I love your garden bed. Well put together and tended.
Cher
whaas_5a
10 years ago
By the way is that a Paw Paw to the far right in the garden bed shot?
outback63 Dennison
10 years ago
Matt,

You have the perfect back drop for displaying your garden.

Well thought out choice of cultivars for flow and balance.

Enjoyed your post.

Dave
ricksample
10 years ago
They all look great! Your right... the dog days of summer. July & August are the worst months of the year IMO. Right now it's so humid it's almost hard to take a breath outside... at least in the winter you can walk around the yard on a frosty morning, bundled up, with a hot cup of java. Ah.... how I miss winter after the hot and humid week so far....
alley_cat_gw_7b
10 years ago
Nice post of choice cultivars followed by your garden overview. Well done! Great looking garden!

Al
dietzjm
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you all!

Abies balsamea is a native and takes our summers in stride. Come to think of it, I never have summer problems with any Abies I grow. The ones that suffer most here are Pinus contorta, the mini Picea pungens, and Pinus longavea.

Because my house is surrounded by forrest on all sides, no portion of my garden gets more than 6 or 7 hours of direct sun each day, and I think this helps tremendously. So far I haven't had problems with the conifers not getting enough light.

Will H, that is a Paw Paw. It's been in the ground for 5 years. The other one I planted at the same time died, so this year when it put out a bunch of flowers, there was nothing there to cross-pollinate it.
whaas_5a
10 years ago
I'd like to grow one just for the foilage.

I'd agree my happiest conifers are in 6 hours of sun. Its only a select group though. About 1/2 my yard is blazing sun for 12 hours. Thats where I see the casualties. I have to consider that most plants are still getting established.
coniferjoy
10 years ago
Matt, I see Pinus strobus in that forest.
What other native conifers are growing there?
Did you ever check it for brooms?
dietzjm
Original Author
10 years ago
Yea, Will, I love the tropical-looking leaves. I really want to eat a Paw Paw, though.

Edwin, as far as conifers go, we have primarily Pinus strobus, Pinus resinosa, Pinus banksiana, Pinus sylvestris, and Abies balsamea. I've found only two brooms, one Pinus strobus and one Pinus resinosa.

I sent scion from the strobus broom to a few places to be propagated. I know strobus brooms are common so I wanted it mostly for my own garden and for anyone else who is interested.

Pinus strobus 'Joe Snow'

I haven't gotten the resinosa broom propagated because honestly, I'm not too excited about Pinus resinosa.

I keep looking, though!
coniferjoy
10 years ago
Matt, you don't have Picea glauca and Picea mariana trees in your area?

It's too bad that you didn't find any Abies balsamea brooms yet, but I can tell you from my own experiences that they're there, and most of them turn out in real beauties once they're grafted...

I like your Pinus resinosa broom because it does have a real tight habit and nice dark green needles.
If I were you I would let it propagated for your own fun :0)
Did you named it after one of your dogs?
What Pinus resinosa is for the U.S., is Pinus nigra for Europe, they're pretty simular.

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