I'm not familiar with this Picea and no info about it could be found on the internet.
At the pic is written that this one is a cross (Picea x 'Moonlight', so only the red spruce isn't possible.

From where did you obtain this plant and can you also show us a close up/detail pic of it's needles?
Thanks!

I put your pic into the following link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Picea x 'Moonlight'

I just called it P. x because i have no idea what species it is. although i live in Nova Scotia, I'm not very good at telling three of our picea apart. I just haven't bothered to id it yet. I don't know it's parentage. As far as I know it is the only one of it's kind. I will take some pics this spring and post them here.
ps thanks for the link , I'm new here, coniferjoy.

That's a pretty good size tree. It appears the branches start up and then lay horizontally or close to. I see that droop on a few of the golden shoots. I can't imagine all of them drooping, at once.

Quite the tree.

Dax

From where did you obtain this conifer and did you give it the cultivar name 'Moonlight' by yourself or did you buy it that way?

I found this tree growing in the hay field fence row about 12 years ago. It was spring and it really stood out even though it was only like 30cm tall. I dug it up and transplanted it. I tentativly gave it the name 'moonlight', however I do not have a patent on it, and i have a hard time naming it. nothing with the word gold in it though, too common. As far as I know it is the only one of it's kind, however, i would like to get it grafted soon.

I would like to graft it.

Dax

Yep, grafting this special one of a kind is a very good idea and 'Moonlight' is a very good choice as a cultivar name!

If I'm correct, the red spruce is the U.S. name for Picea mariana?
Are there more of this species in the neigbourhood of that hay field fence row?

Great find! That is the kind of plant I dream of discovering someday.

When I first found some plants I wanted propagated Dax was a great help to me. If you need some grafted, he will treat you right.

Keith

Thank you all for your kindness and i really apericate the feedback from conifer experts. I am not sure it is a sport of red spruce (P. mariana). I need to go visit this tree again soon, and ID it. Iwould like to get a patent on this plant before i send branches to be grafted. I don`t want to be the boy who sold the goose that laid the golden egg. I don`t want to be greedy, but if someone is going to make money off of this tree, i would like to get a share too. I am very protective of this tree. I even keep it`s location secret. I would like to use any money i recieve for this plant to start my own nursery. Anyone have an opinion or advice here. Can I even register a patent for a tree I did not breed, but simply discover. Anyway, I would love to develop a trial of grafted trees and get them marketable soon. Of corse i will need help. I have never had much luck or experience with grafting. I understand I need to do it in a greenhouse with potted stock of similar spruce species. I potted up some spruce this summer, but I need to do alot of research, in order to procede myself. I live in Nova Scotia, and have had one serious offer by a local nurseryman to graft it but I don`t know him that well. Anyone have any advice. how would you proceed.
I am in the beginning phase of planting an arboretum at my mother`s farm, and would love to make a copy of this spruce to showcase there.
One final thought, naming this tree: any suggestions. The color is that of bananas, I like moonlight because I am currently working for two nurseries and one private garden. Moonrise also sounds good. would love some creative suggestions from anyone. Thanks to everyone.

I'm not sure what advice I may be able to give to you rockstonegarden. I'm just going to start with a ramble...

Take for instance, Taxodium distichum Mickelson... ok, I can propagate this tree with no royalty charge. ...It also goes by the famous known name: 'Shawnee Brave'. I use that name and now I have to pay a royalty. Someone (it is possible) will buy one of your propagations (from wherever...) and then simply calls it anything they want and now it's being propagated under two names. It's a dirty trick, yes...... This is just an example. 'Mickelson' however was the first name chosen for "Shawnee Brave" - in this particular case, someone "stole" from the original name to make money on a plant already being propagated.

This above example was the furthest thing in my mind, so I've chosen to start with the lesser important information.

Patents - all that stuff - you probably won't see a dime for 10 or 15 to even as far as, 20 years. I've heard this from old-time grafters as well as a very prominent Author in North America. This is the reason:

The time it will take you to get this tree out and being sold and where you make your royalty as well as "all the hassle" of patenting a plant - you'll have already starved to death, waiting... it's really that simple. If you chose not to try to make money, you could get that plant sent around to more grafters who in turn get the plant in peoples gardens. The objective of beautifying peoples gardens.

Now I'm just going to say this..... nobody has asked you how long the yellow color lasts - there are already so many spruces that flush yellow, available, that the market is flooded. And there are a lot of good ones too. One quick example before I go to my last thought to actually help you if you are bound and determined to proceed with patenting it is this... a nursery friend who grows Picea pungens in the field finds as a well averaged #, 1 golden pushing seedling per 100,000 seedlings. This year I think he found 4.

Here you go... I might look at Buchholz & Buchholz Nursery for your propagation TM/Patent needs. They describe themselves as 'finding the most unusual plants from all parts of the world'.

Boyko Nursery in Oregon - would be "my" first choice, though. I don't even know them personally, but I've heard so much good about the guy... and that's exactly what they do... you might consider a simple "growers contract" with one nursery such as them -

Good luck.

Dax

Dear stonerockgarden,

Yesterday, by chance, contract growing came up...

The whole purpose of Contract Growing is to get a plant out so other nurseries (and common folk) begin purchasing your plant. I cannot say what a fair price is for each propagation sold, because I do not know. I am aware of one person being paid 5$ a plant... however, this is all I know.

Patenting could be a complete waste of time and energy. If you find a good-responsible-, nursery - this seems to me the direction you should pursue.

Back real quickly to the point I made of multiple golden selections... Buchholz & Buchholz has been down this road already, many times. I know for a fact that Picea pungens Golden Feathers was one of theirs, and now the newest 'craze' to hit the market and for a very good reason being so... is Picea pungens 'Gebelle's Golden Spring' - which flushed gold for three weeks. That's been unheard of until, recently...

You might have a "larger" case if your tree is a species that is rare... if it is a species not common in these "groups" of plants. Or if simply it is a tree that doesn't have significant overlap among presently selected cultivars.

Naming's gonna be important. 'Moonrise' while an easy and good name, might not be enough. How do I say this properly... a name such as 'Three Week Gold' / 'Boyko's Best Golden' / 'Buchholz Moonrise' - are going to get you further.

My estimate of 15-20 years I think is too steep. You should be making a few thousand a year or ??? within 5-10 years. ...You need stock plants... that you can maintain to produce long juvenile-shoots. Have someone 'whip graft' larger shoots with a lot of branching at the tip to begin the process of making your stock plant(s). Each winter you'll have these vigorous-shoots to clip from... where you'll leave a few buds at the bottom of these shoots - for next years stock plants. Each summer (July) you'll thin out the weakest shoots and you'll continue this process into infinity.

Maybe some time you could send me a few three scions...

Dax

'Spring Bananas' is a pretty good name. Dax

To me another issue is how do you know it is a real "discovery". Like you said Dax there are endless spruce varietals out there that are cream and yellow pushers. So how does someone really know for sure if it is truly something new, or just new to the discoverer?

mark

Dax is right about the number of golden spruce on the market today. I find at lest 15 a year as seedlings. I evaluate every one. Some burn, some have limited spring color and some are outstanding. Not to discurage you about trying to ubtain a patent, but speaking with others in the nursery trade, it may be more trouble then its worth. You may spend $5,000+ for all of the paperwork, and at the end of the day a patent makes a plant less desireable for a nursery who may not want to deal with the added stress of paperwork, tracking and explaning why to their customers this plants is $3.00 more then that one when thy are both yellow in the spring. You would be better off to contact a specific large nursery, Maybe Iseli Nursery in Oregon, and ask about their interest in being the exclusive grower of this plant. You can work out a contract with them to be paid per plant they sell. It will take them 10 years or so to introduce it to the market and then they will have control of the market. Eventually, say another 10 years after that other growers will have started to grow it, but not in the quantity the original nursery who introduced it is growing.

The name is very important. Many times good plants with bad names get passed over. You dont want to select just any nursery, but a larger nursery, or 2, to release the plant. They will have the distribution needed to popularize the plant.

It is no mistake on how popular Cham. nootk. 'Green Arrow' became in relatively short time.

But unless the plant is drastically different from what is on the market today, you may have a hard time getting started. If the plant flushes bananna yellow and droops at the ends like a cluster of bananna's, you may have what you need to make a run of it.

Best of luck.

If you can't make a ton of money off it at least name it after yourself or a significant other. Just watch it with the bannanas thing. Something like "Mike's bannana" might not be what you are looking for.

It is a nice tree though! Nova Scotia must be fertile grounds for golden spruce. I was reading this link the other day and thought of it when I read your post.
Good luck

Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down for a pic near the end

Thanks to everyone for their great advice and suggestions. I really did not expect this level of help. I really didn't want to use the word banana in the name. Many plants named after deserts seem to take off on the market, but P. x 'Banana Split' or something doesnt seem distinguished enough for a statley spruce. Just to clairify, the color is very much the color of yellow-ripe bananas, and lasts about 3 weeks in the spring. The tree is young (~12 years) and about 14' tall. I havent been to the site to see it recently, but I plan to go and id the species and study it more closely. I have offered to let a small nursery in Nova Scotia graft it for me, but how do I prevent them from stealing the 'DNA' and producing it with no credit to me? I would prefer to graft it myself, but lack experience and setup. Could I form a contract with the grower or charge them a fee for the sicon, if so what is reasonable ball park? I am hoping this tree will reach 70', what an amazing sight that would be. There is a red spruce in New Brunswick which was recently determined to be almost 400 years old. I hope this one lives that long.

Ask a patent attorney. For a royalty fee, take a look at Heritage Nursery website. They have all kinds of plants with Royalty Fees...

Dax