i am an old hosta fiend... and have had a lot of trouble with cultural info from British authors ... look at a globe and they are WAY north of maine.. let alone MI .. let alone CA .... BE VERY CAREFUL IN RELYING ON SAID INFO ...

there is a reason that the Brit's are a pasty bunch.. and its the inclination or declination of their idea of full sun .. compared to ours ....

i am not familiar with the sunset system ...

i have to run to pick up the 6 year old.... i will figure out where lodi is .. north or south Ca .... and advise from there ...

a better question for the 'sperts.. based on your complete list of cultivars.. which if any will have a hard time with ambient humidity .. or the lack of cold... or other cultural problems inherent in those specific plants ...

otherwise.. keep yellows and whites out of blistering sun ... they tend to burn ....

ken

We're in the central valley of California described by Sunset as:

"ZONE 14. Inland Northern and Central California with Some Ocean Influence
Growing season: early Mar. to mid-Nov., with rain coming in the remaining months. Periodic intrusions of marine air temper summer heat and winter cold (lows run from 26 degrees to 16 degrees F/-3 degrees to -9 degrees C). Mediterranean-climate plants are at home here."

Summer days are hot. This year we had a 7 to 10 day stretch above 100F, but nights do cool down to 70F to 55F. Is is a dry heat and irrigation is a must.

Here is how certain plants grow:

Seedling Japanese maples grow well with some burn; most other cultivars fry.

Hosta, astilbe...never.

Picea g. 'Conica'; full sun with slight burn, beautiful in shade.

Camellia sasanqua; full sun

Cedrus deodara...short blue cultivars; full sun.

Blue Spruce...'Fat Albert' and standard globe; full sun

Chamaecyparis p. 'Mops'; Burns some summers in full sun, but green in shade

Pinus strobus 'Nana'; full sun

Mugos; full sun

Thuja; full sun

Chamaecyparis o.; morning sun.

Everything else has been mostly shaded in containers...

Thanks!!

Barbara

Can't speak for the rest, but I'm sure your Picea o. 'Pimoko' would thank you for a bit of shade.

tj

Maybe the question should be re-worded(I need a break from moving the load of mulch).

Do miniature conifers generally thrive in the same exposure settings recommended for their full-sized counterparts?

Barbara

i would venture yes.. e.g. a picea abies is a picea abies.. WHEN DISCUSSING GREEN PLANTS .... when we deviate from green to yellow or white tissue ... there is the burn issue.. but i think i addressed that ...

IMHO .... conifers are full sun when green .... or blue [but there is a wax issue with blues in heat] .... when you remove chlorophyll for white or yellow .... late afternoon shade MIGHT help that tissue .. all presuming the plant is zone appropriate ...

however for me.. with snow cover ... i can get dwarfs to zone push .. under the snow ... no wind. .. no sun ... in winter ... but for that one winter where i get no cover .. and lose some ..

the problem i have with sun.. is winter sun ... and its ability to thaw tissue on a sunny day.. which refreezes when the sun disappears .. and i have to say... its hard to find winter shade ..... your sun issue is NOT dis-similar .. in that you have to define the suns impact on tissue ... [i have gotten 3 calls and 2 cable guy visits while trying to write this.. forgive me if it is disjointed ] ....

otherwise .... look to heritage for guidance.. IMHO ...

my only visit to CA was to stockton .. go figure on it being your neighbor city ... all i recall about the trip is having to drive hours and hours to sightsee .... lol ...

ken

BTW: you asked for help on a stanley order.. i never chimed in.. because your zone is just so foreign ... all i can add is general observation.. with the caveat that my zone.. aint your zone ...

Barbara, plant them all in full sun unless you want them in east exposures or under dappled light for whatever the reason may be. Your climate for spruces, pines, (don't know about firs) all the stuff everyone here grows and the same type of stuff you bought from stanley, we plant them in full sun.

For the next year you should water every week or every other. You have clay soil so dig very wide or have someone help you to do so, and I would think where you are with that sort of extra heat, mulch made of organic material is almost a must for five years or until the trees and dwarfs are very established. It's been over 100 here for a week. It's not going to be much different except you'll be able to grow other species better than say I. You'll have better luck with the pungens, the flexilis pines, the ponderosa pines, the japanese black pines, the Austrian Pines, ...but certainly Picea omorika should like the dry conditions I tend to disagree with TJ.

Anyway, plant em.

Hinoki's your favorites, I would think you need dappled light huh? That's a question.

Dax

Barb, I think in your case you should watch heat waves and lack of precipitation and water your conifers more often. Junipers you won't need to, just thinking aloud... Cypress..

Dax

Dax, you are right about omorika, in general, but 'Pimoko' can be a bit less sun tolerant, on occasion.

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Sometimes a burner

Thank ya mr. t.

Dax

"dig very wide or have someone help you to do so"

'Help' is considered enabling an addiction at my house..... my never ending thanks to all of YOU enablers!

Barbara

Hi Barbara. Here's a closer picture of my 'Pimoko'.I planted it around easter '07 and as I got it from a nursery 'up north' it was quite green in colour.By june the same year there were quite a few burns on it.However,over the summer it grew quite well and became a lot bluer (guess why) ;this year I had no problems with it
although I must admit that a rose bush to the left of it got much bigger and provides some shade in the afternoon.It is more or less the same story with Pinus mugho 'Wintergold',witch I think is a real stunner, or,at least will be in a couple of years! T.

Picea omorika 'Pimoko'

Pinus mugho 'Wintergold'

I had a Pimoko about the size of a football and one day the needles were present and the next day they all fell off. It was the craziest thing.

Now I'm growing 'Peve Tijn'. Now that's one for the must have's guys.

Dax

Hmmm...sounds like Pimoko is iffy sun or shade; I'll just give it my best shot. Thanks for the pictures, warnings, and suggestions!

Barbara