Hobbiton conifers of the week, July 12th

firefightergardener

11 years ago

Summer's here now. It's almost 80 every day!

A few more photos today, some strange cultivars and some more common ones. Enjoy and feel free to make corrections!

Pinus peuce 'Nana' - four or five years old, VERY slow growing with big soft needles.

Abies firma 'Halgren' - Looks like an intermediate upright.

Abies homolepis 'Prostrata' - Becomes large with time.

Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns' - Wild thing. Refuses to go up - so far.

Abies delavayi 'Buchanan' - Choice needles.

Picea chihuahuana - Native to the Northwest mountains of Mexico. Stunning blue SHARP needles, even in dense shade. Seems to tolerate shade as well or better then any spruce I grow.

closeup.

Picea X hurstii (engelmannii x pungens)

An unknown weeping fir. Help please!

Needle underside.

Nordmanniana?

Acer palmatum 'Gwen's Rose Delight' ~ 'Shirazz'. Noted for the different name because for some reason - perhaps the daylight, this specimen is very different then specimens of 'Shirazz' I grow. All are quite varied and lovely though.

Closeup.

A shady garden shot.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (12)

mesterhazypinetum
11 years ago
Will,
your chihuahuana needs sun. Have a look at this one from last year at Horak Gardens CZ:

{{gwi:618781}}
Picea chihuahuana Mesterhazy & Horak photo
{{gwi:618782}}
Picea chihuahuana Mesterhazy & Horak photo
{{gwi:618783}}
Picea chihuahuana Mesterhazy & Horak photo

I guess your pendulous fir seem to be an alba.

Zsolt
coniferjoy
11 years ago
Will, please cut a peace af your unknow weeping fir and compare it with your Abies alba 'Green Spiral'.
You'll be surprised... :0)
Related Discussions
Anything on whether this drought will end?
Q
Comments (35)
I live in a place with droughty summers, no irrigation for our garden, and a limited local water supply that went dry during the long summer of 2003. I also believe in resource conservation, also in my garden. So for five years I've been going through the nerve-racking process of seeing my garden through the summers with one hose, that one largely devoted to plants in pots or in their first year in the ground, plus basins of water hauled out from the laundry or washing salad. Buckets in the bathroom. Showers among the potted cuttings. We've had below average rainfall for about a year and a half, and perhaps you could say I'm learning to live with it. This way of gardening has sharpened my interest in finding the right plant for the right spot: Hybrid Musks where it's cooler, David Austin roses where the soil is deeper, Chinas for the really miserably hot and dry places. I don't worry as much about losing a plant: I try to get a good one and plant it correctly, and if it doesn't work out, or if abnormally bad weather comes along, that's just what happens. My propagating plants (which I think I ought to do a lot more) give me a reservoir. I was never inclined to see plants as bloom machines, but my garden has forced me further away from that attitude: I can't afford it. Most of my roses have gotten perhaps three inches of rain since the start of July (and it was the hottest July in thirty-five years). They mostly look healthy enough, but they're not blooming. The water's not there. So I admire them as plants, admire the few things that are in bloom, and wait for it to rain. What I learn from a summer like this is how different plants take drought, which is useful knowledge. The garden may not look exactly like the Garden of Eden, but as an experimental laboratory it works fine. And large parts of it are in tolerably good shape: if we do get a few inches of rain, we can look forward to some lovely Tea roses in October.
...See More
Landscaping Yellow Iris, Cattails, Hardy Pickerel, Horsetail Reed
Q
Comments (21)
Hey, all! I guess it's time for an Equisetum update. The E. giganteum topped out a little over seven feet, although it had to be tied up to keep from falling over. Because of its size, it might have to be moved and staged differently. My containerized E. hyemale has performed all summer to colonize this large pot. First, a pic from earlier this summer - and then a pic from this morning. I imagine this plant will grow for another month and a half at least. It sent up many spore-cones, but they were small and delicate and seemed to fall off with the slightest suggestion of wind, water, or touch. That's all for now. Not bad, eh? Josh
...See More
Hobbiton conifers of the week, May 20th
Q
Comments (8)
Heya Matt. Many of the conifer in pots have been in there five years now. I am planning on leaving many of them in pots until their tops don't allow it. I figure the largest pots can probably contain them for a decade, even if it's not a perfect soil/root setting. They don't need water too often. I don't prune the roots at ALL. The potting mix has been simply a combination of some bark fines, sand and top soil/other soils. Nothing overly special and it seems to drain OK. We regularly get 30 inches of rain in the wet months and they seem to be just fine. -Will
...See More
It's Hot
Q
Comments (41)
That sucks, that was a nice one too! I'm amazed at how these conifers get smoked in the heat. None of my decidious plants are dieing. The worst I've observed is limp leaves on Clethra and Hydrangea then some sun scroch on JMs. The soft pines are getting hit hard. Only the ones in part sun are doing ok. To my surprise (so far) my firs are doing ok. Abies veitchii 'Heddergott' will be the first to die though. Its a shame as I really like that one. Last four days where 100, 104, 102 and 100 (forecast today). As hot as of some zone 6'ers far south of me. All four days broke records. The hottest DAY of ALL TIME was 105 set in late July 1999. That should give an idea of how extremely abnormal the temps are here in WI. 24 degrees above average 2 days ago. I don't know if I had tears or if those where the sweat bullets pouring from face while watering last night as I witnessed the condition of some of my plants. Another interesting observation is that the only flying bugs I've seen are fireflys and a few mosquitos. No japanese beetles, butterflies, honeybees, wasps, hornets. Complaining is welcomed in this thread right? I'm going to feel pretty good about mail ordering the majority of my plants for fall.
...See More
gardener365
11 years ago
Pinus peuce...

very under-planted as a species. And that's a nice dwarf.

Dax
clement_2006
11 years ago
according to Zsolt ,full sun, it's a plant from Mexico.
You have a poorplant !
Clement
dcsteg
11 years ago
I would take hold of the Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns' and stake it for upright growth.

You don't have the room for it to be growing on the ground. While your considering this move remove one of the leaders for better balance.

You can't beat shady garden spots. Your looks good.

Dave
Cher
11 years ago
Beautiful Will and your Acer collection is fantastic. The chihuahuana may not grow as well in shade but it's working for that area and I think very eye catching and showing great color.
Cher
firefightergardener
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the advice Dave and Clement.

Strange how that works Edwin, and strange how growers seem to get their plants confused. I bought it from a very knowledgable collector who I would have presumed knew where he got it from.

-Will
coniferjoy
11 years ago
Will, it seems that he's not that knowledgable ;0)

I'm also very convinced that the Abies alba 'Green Spiral' is just a renaming for Abies alba 'Pendula'...
mesterhazypinetum
11 years ago
Some words to the Abies alba question

Some years ago I photographed an aged Abies alba Pendula. Has a perfect trunk without spiral.
I also have one, which I staked, as usual. But the plant didn't followed the stake and after some years he made his own leader independent of staking.

Abies alba Pendula

Abies alba Pendula

Abies alba Pendula

The last photo is showing near the ground, that this one had decided also to grow an own leader. The little bushy part of the plant tells me this, the remains of the "reversion" to a real Pendula, as the plant wanted.

WIll, it would be great to know, which name was given to you at buying the plant?

Green Spiral's trunk is very similar to Abies veitchii Pendula, which really forms a spiralis.

What about this idea?

Zsolt
coniferjoy
11 years ago
Zsolt, why are you showing us 3 Abies alba 'Pendula' pics and not 1 of an Abies alba 'Spiralis', while you've a 1.000.000 in your collection.

Every Abies alba 'Pendula' will show another trunk, some are straight and some do have a spiral upright growth, so I'm not inn with your theory...
I can tell this from my own experiences at my nursery.
mesterhazypinetum
11 years ago
Edwin,

lets see, what I have.

3 kind of very old european pendulas from the history

Pendula /Carr./Asch. & Graebner
Abies alba f. pendula

Pendula Knight & Perry 1850
1835 Godefroy Nurs., Ville d Avray FRA
At one time known as Abies pectinata. This dates back to France around 1850, it has excellent green color. It weeps quite strongly but becomes almost contorted with age, plants tend to burn the first few years but largely outgrow this once their roots are well below frost line. Ours barely turned a needle last winter. Arrowhead text.
Listed in 2010 Arrowhead Alpines Nursery MI USA

Pendula Gracilis Senecl. 1868
1868 M. Masse FRA

Green Spiral, reported by Welch 1979
from Secrest Arboretum, Wooster OH USA
Different from Torulosa this originated at Secrest in 1979, it is pendulous with twisted branches. Arrowhead text.

Seemingly the Pendula comes from Europe ~ 170 years ago. You may think any connection between Pendula and Green Spiral, but I have no information about the Secrest plant birth. Teoretically this may be a renamed Pendula, a seedling of Torulosa, a seedling of Pendula and many other variations. This question is not solvable without the Secrest original story. Do you know that?

Till now I got no doubts about Green Spiral, but I hope you make it clear.

Zsolt
coniferjoy
11 years ago
Zsolt, I'm trying, a little while ago I sent an email to the Secrest Arboretum for the info I was was searching for, but till now I didn't receive no anwer...may be they don't know the answer themselves...

Hobbiton conifers of the week, July 12th

Comments (12)

mesterhazypinetum

coniferjoy

Related Discussions

gardener365

clement_2006

dcsteg

Cher

firefightergardener
Original Author

coniferjoy

mesterhazypinetum

coniferjoy

mesterhazypinetum

coniferjoy

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Hobbiton conifers of the week, July 12th

Comments (12)

Related Discussions

firefightergardenerOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

firefightergardener
Original Author