Welcome Renee, new folks are welcomed here with open arms. Your plant looks like a juniper, though the particular species and cultivar may be difficult to discern. There are many 'experts' here though that can answer a surprising amount of questions and we'll probably be able to determine more or less exactly what your plant is.

Next, for future plants, we need to know more about your climate, sun conditions and your soil before we can really help you. As you may have found out, many plants are listed with 'hardiness ratings' which are really designed for how much cold a plant can handle - not how much heat as is possible in your case. Also some conifers prefer a cool to cold winter to properly 'sleep' and won't like a 55 degree Winter very much.

Just off the top of my head, I'd say you can definitely go with Cedrus and most Pines. Both plants generally don't mind dry/warmth and Cedrus are often called 'California Christmas trees'. They can be beautiful but also unless you specifically buy dwarves, they can get HUGE, fast.

Again, nice to meet you.

-Will

Thank you, Will. I have seen your yard and landscaping, and it's impressive. I love what you have done with the front where the shrubs were. I also like the rock walls and stonework.

I live in Simi Valley, CA. Summers are often in the triple digits, winters occasionally get into the 30s for brief periods over night, but 50-60 is more likely. Tropical plants freeze to death about once every ten years here, but we do not get any significant amount of winter chill for stone fruits or apples, for instance.

No rain to speak of- we irrigate, and the water is alkaline. And very expensive.

My soil is a dream. It's valley bottom silt, and it digs like butter when it's moist. It goes down for twelve feet like that then there's sand, which at one point I believe was a natural aquifer but is probably dry now.

I have a few sunny spots, but much of the yard is covered by an ancient California Pepper tree. It is not very dense, so there is bright light under it.

I only have three other conifers. One is a beautiful little thing- I think it is a Hinoki Cypress? - and I had to move it to a spot under a dense Avocado tree years ago. Now it is buried under there, but still alive.

More important- I have two homesick Coast Redwoods. They were gifts back when I was a starving graduate student, so I planted them. I believe they are yearnin' for the fiords, so to speak. They got some new foliage this year because it rained (not much, but a little) and because I left the hose running in a gopher hole over night this spring. I wonder if there is anything I can do to make their lives less miserable- like run a sprinkler up to the top of each one and give them tree showers once a week?
If you peek past the flowers, you can get a glimpse of them here, looking very good:

I'll try to get a good photo of them tomorrow.

Thank you,
Renee

Probably a Monterey cypress - 'Goldcrest'.

Welcome Renee,

Dax

Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest' or 'Wilma'.

Welcome to this forum.

hi renee .. welcome

i wonder what ever happened to the grape farmer... barb in CA ... i bet she would be very helpful ....

CA is so foreign to me.. there is not much i am going to be able to add in regard to naming specific things for your area ....

but one of the issues is going to be winter.. or lack of such ... you are thinking about summer temps... which frankly are not all that much different than mine.. its winter where the difference is ....

hopefully the guys can chime in in that regard .. as to what it rules out ...

e.g. ... your little plants are sold... up here in the great white north.. as annual xmas trees as an indoor plant ..... a cheap novelty from rootings.. that can go on the dinner table.. but that could never take winter up here ...

good luck

ken

Wow Renee, your gardens look great already for sure. I would go to your local garden center or nursery and find the oldest gal/gujy there and ask your climate questions. Your climate is very unique, kind of a bit of a combination of Midwest Summers(80s-100s) and Northwest Winters(30-50s). I am going to step out on a limb here and say that as long as you provide some frequent watering in the first 2-3 years, MOST conifers can probably survive these conditions. A few heat-sensative species may not like the warm Summer nights(which I assume are still in the 60s-80s?). Most conifers can handle low 100s as long as they get regular water and it's not a constant thing.

Basically though your garden center SHOULD be able to recommend some good plants for your environment. It does sound kind of like bliss, only I'd prefer a month of snow every year.

Conifers aren't greedy for water for the most part BUT they will want it regularly the first few years. If you try anything new, you're going to have to water a lot, but eventually they should be 'Free Roam'(c/o Ken).

Your coast redwoods are definitely looking for cooler, moisture conidtions, however I think if you water them regularly in warm/hot periods during the Summer, they may flourish. Depending on their age, I'd give them a deep watering once a week and twice a week if it was in the 90s or 100s.

See how badly I missed on your conifer cultivar?? LOL Advice is just that, advice.

Goodluck!

-Will

Welcome Renee,

That's a nice looking garden path!

In addition to the suggestions you receive on this forum, one idea is to visit a local botanic garden or arboretum to see what conifers thrive in your climate. Japanese gardens are also good, although the conifers there may be somewhat limited to pines.

Nate

Thanks for the ID and the advice. I searched the forum for this cultivar, and it gets 30 FEET TALL! and 6-9 feet wide!

Someone pointed out that it usually dies of canker in hot inland valleys. I guess it will remain a potted shade plant in my garden, since I can get a similar color and a more reasonable size with Arborvitae.

I'll give the poor redwoods more water.

Keep posting those fabulous, inspirational photos of your gardens. There are a whole lotta people like me, with wide eyes, who are looking rather than posting. Thanks!
Renee

Welcome Renee,

My daughter lives in Redlands. They sell a lot of them over the Christmas holidays. I purchased two of them for her at Trader Joe's 6 years ago. They were 12 inches in height. When she moved this Spring they were approaching 10'.

You are pretty well limited conifer wise in the hot inland of Southern California. Get into the foot hills of The San San Bernardino Mts and the opportunity opens up to grow a wide variety of conifers.

You can grow and assortment of pines, and cedars in the inland area. Norfolk Island Pine is a choice selection you can grow.

By the way...wonderful garden you have there.

Dave

Renee, your garden looks lovely and really lush for where you live (often very hot and dry). some of the "standard" dwarf conifers may take lots of care either in the ground or in containers because of your conditions (many if not most are derived from cool climate species and genera). if you dont have it already you might want to get a copy of the "sunset western garden book" and look up plants that do well in your area (probably their zone 18). some larger conifers that might do if you have the space include calocedrus decurrens (incense cedar), abies pinsapo (spanish fir), cupressus sempervirens (italian cypresss), c. forbesii (tecate cypress) and many kinds of juniperus (juniper) which run the gammut from ground covers to small weeping trees ("tolleson's blue"). some of the true cedars (cedrus)may have weeping and low forms that may fit into gardens with space considerations and pinus mugo is a widely used and adaptable "small" pine tree (needs pruning/shearing to stay in its place over time). a good place to look for native conifers is the nearby to you theodore payne foundation native plant nursery, the rancho santa anna botanical garden in claremont has great examples of native plants and plant sales and the huntington botanical garden in san marino has both wonderful gardens and plants for inspiration plus periodic plant sales. hope this helps a little.

Find which conifers thrive in Las Vegas, Renee. Sunset Western Garden Book is key for you.

Dax

Hi Renee,
Your average annual rainfall is listed as 18.39". You need to look for conifers that can live within that limited rainfall with hot temperatures. Arizona Cypress and the Tecate Cypress mentioned above would survive and do well there. Also the California Gray Pine (Digger Pine) and perhaps Incense Cedar. There may be some others. I'd recommend trees that are native to hot dry weather and native to your state. There should be some Junipers that fit this also. Arizona Cypress has been used quite a bit in Texas and is a reliable drought and heat resistant conifer. Its native to Texas, Arizona, and California and available commercially(tho I've found the trees grown from seeds far more interesting than the cloned trees).

Tho Redwoods normally only grow wild near the coast, I've seen them planted in Ca. towns quite far inland and doing well. Don't know enough to recommend them but perhaps someone more knowledgeable on them will chime in.

Thanks for the compliments and the tips. My next door neighbor has two beautiful Arizona Cypresses that the birds love to nest in. My neighbor does not like them, but I have convinced him that they are great trees for his back forty. I can enjoy them from my yard.
Renee

I used to live in the San Fernando Valley (Woodland Hills), which is just a few miles away from Simi. Moved to the Midwest to escape to political volatility of California, only to discover that Illinois isn't much better (and in some ways, worse). But we do have plenty of water!

In any event, I experimented with a variety of dwarf conifers in my Woodland Hills garden. I can tell you that the alpine varities, such as fir and spruce, will abolutely not work in SoCal because of the intense dry heat you get in the summer and the lack of a winter "hibernation" period (as others have noted above). I remember trying some Pice abies 'Little Gems', which burned to a crisp during the first 110 degree Santa Ana's.

On the other hand, I had a lot of success with dwarf junipers. For example, J. communis 'Gold Cone' did particularly well and was also fairly drought tolerant. Another good choice are the cedars, such as Cedrus deodara and Cedrus libani (the latter hailing from Lebanon, which has a Mediterranean climate just like SoCal's).

Pines are another good choice; the Japanese Pines (Pinus parviflora) which are somewhat marginal here in Zone 5a thrive in California's mild climate.

One other thing to consider are conifers from the Pacific islands, such as the Araucariaceae (eg, Norfolk Island Pines and Monkey Puzzle trees). The Norfolk Island pine's we grow as Charlie Brown Christmas trees in the Midwest become lumbering giants in a SoCal yard.

Good luck...and pray for rain!

Go check out the conifer collections at Huntington Botanical Garden in LA. You will be amazed at what can be grown well there. Many, many Mexican species do great there among others. Try Pinus patula, Juniperus flaccida, Podocarpus henkellii etc to name a few. I know you are hotter and drier than LA, but a visit there will be inspiring.

Hello Renee,
I live in southern Cal. Sunset 19 as well, perhaps a bit hotter and colder than Simi Valley but very similar and have been trying different Conifers to see what did well and was less commonly planted.
I have lost many more than have made it. The following is a list of what I know does very well and looks good year round. Many are not normally planted but are very choice.
Not on the list for the most part are ones which rapidly grow to large trees.

Cedrus
all types of Cedrus do well as do their selections.
the dwarfs do very well.
Cedrus libiani 'Green knight' & 'Green Prince'
Cedrus deodara 'Descanso Dwarf', 'Devinely blue'

Firs
Abies pinsapo - Spanish Fir slow growing,like a hedghog.
Abies guatamalensis - Guatamalan Fir looks more like typical fir.

Pines
many types of pines will do well ,these are less common and are exceptional.
Pinus bungeana - Lace bark pine, from asia slow, small tree,very nice colorfull bark.
Pinus flexilis 'vanderwolfs pyramid'-great color, structure.
Pinus heldreichii - Bosnian pine,small deep green, great form,like a xmas tree,white bark.
Pinus lumholzii - weeping Mexican pine very pretty.
Pinus maximatinezii - Mexican nut pine,big cones, blue when young, thrives.
Pinus mugo - the dwarf ones, great around rocks.
Pinus pinceana - weeping mexican pinyon small, nice form.
Pinus quadrifolia - blue/green nut pine, nice pyramid shape.
Pinus thunbergii 'Thunderhead'- deep green color,large white candles, makes a neat large Bonzai.
Low Growing.
Chamaecyparis obtusa'Split Rock' - small,blue and round.
Cryptomeria japonica'koshyi' - a small round bun
Juniperis horizontalis'Limeglow' - Limeglow juniper.
Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star' - Blue ,Star Juniper.
Taxus cuspidata'Monloo' - Emerald Spreader Japanese Yew.
Sequoia sempevirons 'albo spicta' - Dwarf white tipped, Redwood.

Upright narrow
Thuja plicata'virescens'- bright green medium size.
Juniperis comunis'Gold cone' - small ,gold tipped nice.

Calocedrus decurrens 'veriagata' - Verigated California Incense Cedar ,medium size upright,giant splashes of bright yellow color.

Spruces,
do not be tempted though commonly found in the nursery
during the holidays, if they survive it will look bad compared to what they should be.

Two more places to visit to look at Conifers.
Descanso Gardens in La Canada.
San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido has a very good and unusual conifer collection, take care not to wander to far off the paths, one area is up against the Lion enclosure and when they roar it will scare your pants off.