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Hobbiton conifers of the week, August 9th

firefightergardener

11 years ago

My last set of weekly photos from my garden, as Summer peaks out here in the Pacific Northwest. Hope you've enjoyed these small galleries of the the plants we all love.

Pinus uncinata 'Braska' (San Sebastian WB #3)

Picea omorika 'Tijn'

Pinus parviflora 'Billie' - Offcolored?

Picea omorika(crossed with?) 'Wodan' - A strange one with tufted needles.

Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca' - Very blue and thus far, hasn't gotten too ratty, which they can tend to do with age.

Closer.

Picea abies 'Dandylion' - Bob Fincham's Golden seedling #13, this bright-gold beauty is taking a more upright form and seems to be putting on about 4-5 inches of growth a year.

Pinus sylvestris 'Gold Medal' - Very bright gold in Winter surrounded by the crimson red of these heather 'firefly'.

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Ellwood's White' - Seems to be losing it's varigation, I presume this means it's reverting? Edwin?

Pinus parviflora 'Tanima No Yuki'

Larix larcina 'Smurf'

Acer palmatum 'Ven's Red'

Pinus thunbergii 'Aocha-matsu'

Closer.

Picea omorika 'Tremonia' - About 8-10 years old.

Pinus strobus 'Sea Urchin' - One of the best!

Pinus thunbergii 'Ogi-matsu' - One of the strangest pines I grow.

A landscape shot: Coneflowers, conifers, maples, heathers and other perennials form a chaotic blend of texture and color, year-round.

-Will

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Comments (14)

severnside
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
No one comes close. You have a uniquely wonderful garden.

That Pinus uncinata 'Braska' is just perfect, if I had only that one I'd be happy.
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks again, Will. And, yes, I have enjoyed these weekly posting.

tj
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Hi LadyLotus and Firefighter Will! Thanks for the warm welcome. FF Will, I whole-heartedly agree with every word you said up there. So, real life kept me busy for a few days, but I'm back to give you the 411 on my soil. This is what I've found so far: When digging out and amending some perennial beds in the yard, the top 8 to 12 inches is a pretty well-drained clay loam, but below that is some pretty solid orangey-brown super hard clay. Along the house foundation, it's the same thing but there's a lot of rocks in that clay. My property is graded so that the water flows away from the house along the sides of the property down to a drainage easement at the rear of the property. When our Ash tree was taken out at the end of April a few years ago, you could see a lot of water about 2 feet down. The tree was maybe 2 or 3 feet up from the drainage easement along the rear of the property. This is not a major slope; my house sits only 3 feet higher than that rear easement. The intended area to plant the three 'Blue Totem' is along the side of the property (probably about 2 1/2 to 3 feet in from the fence) but about 12 feet up from the back easement. It's seems to be high up enough that the grass is not too spongey there in the spring. This all led me to geek out a bit and research how the roots grow on a spruce. It turns out that they grow surface roots as opposed to a tap root. Now I don't know how deep surface roots actually go, but the roots should do fine until they hit that hardpan. But then again, you see trees growing in rocky hillsides, so roots obviously have a way to find an opening and squeak in. Which leads me back to the statement about "it's not the freeze, it's the frozen water around them." Logically, anything closer to the surface will be more vulnerable. Sounds like I need to mulch heavily and take Ladylotus' advice and protect them for the first year. Based on what I've read around here, a smaller plant will have a better shot at acclimating to this environment. Can you tell I've put a lot of thought into their location? Now I'm just waiting for the utility lines to be marked. Hope you all will let me know if I'm about to make a big mistake. Failure is not an option!!
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Will, I do have the same Abies concolor problems as you, always troubles with fungus... It should be given a nicer result if you would stake the Picea jezoensis 'Aurea' and the Picea orientalis 'Weeping Dwarf'. I do have the same quiestion about the "weeping" thing of the 'Weeping Dwarf', I never saw a pic of a mature tree... Picea omorika 'Buttermilk Falls' isn't a golden weeping form, it's creamy white variegated... Pinus flexilis 'Little Wolf' was found by Erik Bizion as a witches' broom on a 'Vanderwolf's Pyramid' which is a Pinus reflexa cultivar. The cultivar name he gave to this witches' broom was 'Lil Wolf', which will make it Pinus reflexa 'Lil Wolf'... The Denver Botanical Gardens are mentioning Pinus ponderosa 'Marguerite', other spellings found are 'Margaret' and 'Margarette'. One thing is for sure, it's name after Rich Eyre's mother...may be someone know her personal and can ask... Abies lasiocarpa X shastensis 'Horstmann' is wrong for sure. It's name given by Horstmann was Abies magnifica var. shastensis 'Hexenbesen'. But... Also Zsolt is wrong is this case because it doesn't have the needles and buds of an Abies magnifica, but they're from an Abies lasiocarpa because this broom is the same one as Abies lasiocarpa 'Logan Pass', probably renamed for a commercial reason... Thanks for showing us your very nice pics!
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Garen Rees
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
So sad to see them end. These were such a great highlight every week. I never get tired of looking at your yard. There's always something new and beautiful to find in every inch of your mosaic garden. Hats off to you Will.

Now I'm a pesky fan with a request. Because there has not been a Cedrus gallery for 2012 yet and you have so many wonderful Cedrus, would you be so kind as to start us off with a few if you get a chance. I'm particularly interested to see what your Cedrus atlantica 'Cheltenham' looks like this year. I just ordered a 2 gallon for fall planting and I can't find much of any information on this cultivar. I'm really anxious to see what it may look like and what it's growth rate is like for you so far. Even if it's still a stick. =) If your busy no worries. Thanks!

Garen
firefightergardener
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thank you for the kind words, gents, I have had fun doing it and it can give newer collectors some plants to look for. I know my plants are still small but they're getting there, one year at a time.

Garen, I'll be glad to start a cedrus gallery, in fact, I have been going alphabetically so far and just about to do cedars myself, so this won't even be any extra effort for me. I have two specimens(read: sticks), of 'Cheltenham', and I'll be sure to show both, even if they aren't much to see yet! Hopefully I can contribute and revive a few galleries as I take photos throughout the end of Summer and Autumn.

Cheers!

-Will
coniferjoy
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Will, thanks for your posting.
Your gardens look fantastic all year round!

Some comments to your pics:
Picea omorika 'Tijn'
Must be written as 'Peve Tijn'
I guess you're aware of this info...

Picea omorika 'Wodan'
I've it listed as Picea omorika x Picea breweriana 'Wodan'
This cross was made by the Wittbold-Mueller Nursery from Germany.

Cunninghamia lanceilata 'Glauca'
I see your specimen developed a leader.
Now you can prune it's long side shoots away so the shape will be a nice pyramidal.

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Ellwood's White'
Yep, your specimen does have several reversions.
This can happen to every variegated plant, please get rid of those and prune them, otherwise the green parts will take over and in a few years the variegation will be disappaered...

Pinus parviflora 'Tanima No Yuki'
Must be written as 'Tanima-no-yuki'.

Larix laricina 'Smurf'
I never came across this one, please can you give us some background info about it?
Is it a seedling selection or discovered as a witches' broom?
Cher
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Love that Braska and Tanima-no-yuki. As always I appreciate seeing some of your wonderful acers. Your landscape photo is fantastic with all the extra blooms in there this summer.
Cher
sluice
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Will, thanks for posting the Wodan pic. Looks great!

And Edwin, thanks for the additional information on this plant.
alley_cat_gw_7b
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Will, Always a pleasure to see your gardens! Thanks for putting forth the effort. Your last foto is 5 stars!
AL
maple_grove_gw
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Nice, I love the scots pine exploding out of the heather, that's real drama! Would love it if you could post a winter picture side-by-side with this one for the color comparison, next winter or whenever. 'Wodan' is also really nice.

I'm sad to hear this is the last edition for this season. These threads have been quite educational, and many of the selections you've showcased have been added to the wishlist. I often wonder to what extent pictures posted here impact on demand for particular selections. Often find myself wondering the same thing about dsteg's threads. Thanks so much for taking the time to share, Will, your gardens are truly an impressive achievement!

Alex
firefightergardener
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks again for all of the kinds notes - it keeps me sharing my photos and plants with fellow collectors and gardeners.

Edwin, I am pleasantly surprised you didn't lash me at all - I made some errors that you've fixed before but alas, I did this gallery from work where I don't have my accurate database files. I tried to use google to help me along in the corrections but wasn't able to make them all right. Thanks for the info as well regarding 'Wodan'.

I will ask the collector I traded 'Smurf' from if he knows of it's source. He's a newer collector/nursery owner from Oregon.

Cedar gallery coming soon Garen! :)

-Will
Windhaven
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Truly beautiful gardens. I LOVE all the color and variety and look forward to your updates. Keep them coming!

Robyn
Garen Rees
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Yipeee! Thanks Will. Your the best.
Windhaven
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Truly beautiful gardens. I LOVE all the color and variety and look forward to your updates. Keep them coming!

Robyn
davidtree
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Your conifers and gardens look great and you kept excellent records so the rest of us know what to look for, keep up the photos.

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