I only have experience with a few of the ones on your list, but out of all my favorite would have to be Picea Pungens 'Hoopsii'. Mine is pretty small, but I don't think it would exceed your 15' bed in the time frame you're looking at. 'Baby Blue eyes' would take forever to fill out the space, it would remain small for a very long time. So far this year mine has only grown 1/2, if that.

For the shaded spot, what about a golden full moon maple? I think it's called Acer Palmatum 'Aureum' (spelling check?) it's leaves are bright yellow/gold all spring/summer with excellent fall color. It may really brighten that shady spot up.

To bad you didn't have more sun in that location, a red weeping japanese maple such as 'Red Dragon' would look fantastic with all the other green plants. Most red japanese maples require a lot of sun to keep the full red color.

-Rick

louie is carp .... not yellow enough

thomsen and hoopsi.. though supreme.. will be large too fast .. pic below

blue eyes not quite as blue.. but a better scale for more years .. a very nice small one is donna's rainbow ...

you might want to stay away from the sylvestrus .... UNLESS you can find Gold Coin ...

my royal frost version .. i forget the name.. keeps throwing up true new trunks.. its worse than a crabapple.. lol ... and no matter what they say.. borers are an issue on this birch.. had to bayer mine ...

for sure on silberloche or its look alike silver show ...

stay away from anything without a cultivar name.. they tend to be the old green trees that get very big.. rather fast ..

ken
from a one gal pot
{{gwi:205545}}

Wow what a neat garden setting! Big leafed trees over maples and some sun spots. Definitely as Ken said, any of the silver koreana firs are beauties, but can they handle your cold? Double check it, as they'll be pricey.

I'll vote for Hoopsi myself, it's a wonderful tree.

-Will

"The one on the left is going to be removed all together as this particular spot doesn't get enough sun to support a conifer."

More than enough ambient light for any Tsuga, Taxus, Abies balsamea or even Thuja occidentalis.

tj

good catch will ...

its for mel to check on any of my suggestions .... all i know is they grow in my cold 5a ...

if you can not find specifics ... then go with the species .. e.g. if you could not find info on hoopsi.. it is the same as Picea pungens ....

the only caveat is yellow or white tissue.. which has no sense of humor with winter in z5.. let alone 4 ... it dessicates .. or burns in winter sun and wind .... but usually comes right back ...

the underside of silbeloche is a wax like on blue hosta.. so it is NOT a white tissue issue ....

and it can be a problem on some of the yellow plants that do not green up over the season ... like OD's [occulus draconus].. otherwise known as the dragon eye pines ..

i wonder if there is an labeled arboretum up near you???

ken

I am going to throw my vote out there again for either the A. concolor or lasiocarpa.

The "very exposed to winter winds" concerns me with regard to the A. koreana in MN.

Not impressed with either Pinus sylvestris Gold Coin or Aurea. Sickly yellow/green in the summer and don't seem to turn full, bright yellow until about March.

A few more thoughts: Pinus parviflora Goldilocks and Pinus Taylor's Sunburst

Japanese maples are not hardy. I wouldn't waste the time on any of the deciduous selections.

Hey, I just saw that this nursery does carry 'Gold Coin', I'm just not sure I saw it. I'll admit to not perusing the pine section much since I presumed (inappropriately) that they'd all be too big. Perhaps I need to re-evaluate this one. Ken, did you recommend this one because it better fits the size requirement?

I saw a Silberloche tonight on a garden tour... it looked pretty ratty. This garden is probably similar to mine in that it probably gets some decent wind thru it in winter. Not sure how much sun that little tree got, but about 2/3 of its branches had needles that looked very very dry and maybe, in total, had 3 branches with needles the way they're supposed to look. Wonder what gives on that one? I've seen it in another garden and it was fantastic top-to-bottom, but this garden was more city and was very very protected, to the point of jap maps being able to overwinter just fine. The not-so-great looking Silberloche is at a property adjacent to the MN Arboretum, so it sounds like I might need to take a trip there.

Ginkogonut... This nursery does cary some Pinus parviflora selections, including Goldilocks. They also carry Pinus cordata 'Taylor's Sunburst', though it's much more pricy than other selections I was considering and the size is listed as 15-20' wide.... might be an issue.

Who knew this would be such a tough decision.

The nursery where I shopped is a very large local nursery. Because they're a supplier to so many tradesfolk, I'd be surprised if the continued to carry an evergreen that wasn't at least a decent performer here. Nonetheless, I'll inquire about the koreanas.

about 5 Goldilocks committed suicide in my garden.. too foo foo IMHO ...

TS is pinus contorta .. but close enough.. schoolbus yellow at some point during winter.. not really content to retain a perfect xmas tree shape.. consistent with its contorta heritage ...

of aureas.. sylv and densiflora... the named selection.. gold coin is the deepest yellow .. but as noted.. its limely otherwise [which i like].... some winter burn..

yes!!! get yee to that arb.. asap ...

larger GOOD nurseries.. usually have pending shipments for fall ... and will take orders.. or also for spring... so do not limit yourself to whats in the yard... perhaps you can order things ... i think thats what dave steg does

ken

I can only think of one nursery around here that has rare conifers, but they are all very large sizes. What size does that nursery carry and how are their prices? Remember, larger is not better. I would take a 1 gallon pot over a B&B anyday. Been there, made the mistake doing that.

I can think of a couple online places that I've been ordering from that offer 'Gold Coin' & 'Taylors Sunburst' in 1 gallons for about $30.

Regarding 'Taylors Sunburst'. I will be purchasing this in the fall. 15-20' wide doesn't seem right, perhaps in the very distant future. The store I'm ordering from and a few other places on the web lists this as 6' x 4' in 10 years. It could take a good 20+ years before it exceeds your maximum space.

Rick,
I guess it depends on the variety what sizes they carry. I think most everything I was looking at was about #7 or 10 container. I wouldn't want to handle anything larger than that.

I don't know about their prices since I have nothing to compare to. For perennials, they're fairly average for the area. The one thing I'm not as excited about with this nursery is that they offer only a 1-year guarantee on their hardy material. Some shrubs can get up to a 5 year guarantee if you buy a 1qt container of Myke.

Let's see... Here are a couple catalog listings:
Pinus contorta 'Taylor's Sunburst' : Taylor's Sunburst Pine
Zone 4-8 H 25-30 x W 15-20'
Brilliant golden yellow spring color makes this pine a real show stopper. The needles mature to a light yellow-green.
E2100 #7 cont. $189.99*
E2101 #15 Box $399.00*
E2102 #20 Box $729.00*

Picea pungens glauca 'Hoopsii' : Hoopsi Colorado Blue Spruce
Zone 2-7 H 30-50' x W 10-20'
A very stylish tree that is considered to be one of the bluest of Colorado spruces. Thick, bright silver blue foliage makes it an exceptional addition to the
landscape.
E1901 #10 cont. $129.99*
E1902 #20 cont. $199.99*
E1904 #15/3' BB $199.99*
E1905 #20/4' BB $209.00*
E1910 #20/5' BB $249.00*
E1911 #20/6' BB $299.00*
E1915 #45/7' BB $399.00*

Yesterday, on tour, I saw a couple of Pagoda Dogwoods. I am considering those for the shadier spot. By the time they're really big, I would like to think I'd have taken down that Box Elder.

Weather permitting, I'll get to that Arb next week.

That's looks like about the same price the local nusery around here is selling them for. That's ok if you can swing that price. Myself I plant 60+ conifers a year, so I have to purchase small. 1 year guarantee is a plus, not many places around here offer that except the big box stores.

I honestly wouldn't go by the sizes they list them as. The one thing Ken tought me is that conifers never stop growing. Most companies list the sizes as of 10 years, it doesn't look like this company does. Maybe they are listing the 20 or 30 year size?

I'm not sure how old the trees are you're looking at, but at age 10, 'Taylors Sunburst' should be around 6' x 4'. At age 20, it doubles to 12' x 8', and so on.

It looks like Hoopsii's 10 year size is 7 x 4. Of course this can very some depending on the planting site.

-Rick

Here is a link that might be useful: Buchholz Nursery Pic