Everything looks great. I did my last planting this weekend but I am in zone 7 and could probably continue to plant. I'm just hoping everything that I planted this year (3 oaks, 4 maples, 2 pines, 2 spruce, 1 juniper, some roses and perennials) survives the winter. I am new to New Mexico gardening, having come from Alaska. What is the tree in photo #2, the one after the group photo in the pickup bed?

aklinda, the list just below the pics was in the correct order, so the plant in question is Pinus thunbergii 'Banshosho'. Thanks for the response, Dan.

Great prices, glad you had a fun time. I actually left my house yesterday and went gambling on the riverboat with my mother and usually I'm gone, outta there in an hour, sometimes less - but managed to have a good day for four hours. Delusional disorder, paranoia, etc - ain't anybody's regular walk in the park...

I thank you for purchasing the extra scionwood!

And I'm not kidding!

See ya,

Dax

Dan,

Great conifers. I always enjoy looking at your landscape layout. You have that special knack for good flow and color to bring the design together.

I started liberating my front yard 8 years ago. Then the side yards succumbed to my late at night ideas and of course, the back yard followed suit. Once the bug bites you there is no turning back. I used to buy 6 bags of fertilizer to treat my lawn in the spring. Now I am down to 2.

My wife also got involved in this venture and I am not sure who is hooked the most. One thing I know is, I used to get dinner when the wife came home from work. Now she changes and is out enjoying the garden. LOL on that one. What does tomorrow bring for us, a 50 mile trip to a nursery. For what, you guessed it, more conifers.

Dave

Hi, the pix look great, in the photo w/ the skylands,etc what is the columnar evergreen on the right side of the pix?
Thanks,
George

Don't you just love those end-of-the-season bargains! And a day to yourself to BUY and PLANT. As you said, priceless!! Nice group of plants, especially love your 'Skylands'. Ditto Dave's message -- you have a great talent for deisgn and placement. Thanks for sharing. Look forward to more photos.
Kim

George,

Picea glauca 'Pendula' I'm sure.

Dax

Dave and Kim thanks for the comments. George, Dax is right, its Picea glauca 'Pendula'. Thanks, Dan

Dan
which nurseries have you visited and would recommend?
Love your pictures, great design.

I'm not sure what it is that is making me feel faint... all those lovely conifers and that nice big yard to put them in, or the thought of ...triplet... three... year... olds...

Lindalana, locally I like Alsip Nursery in Frankfort and Sid's Nursery in Palos. When I have time to make the trip, I visit Rich's Foxwillow Pines in Woodstock, and Stonewall Nursery in Wisconsin or go the other direction to Gee Farms and Arrowhead Alpines in Michigan. Dan

karinl, sometimes the triplets make me feel that way as well. I should be contributing to future ACS membership though, all four of my girls love going to the local nursery with me. I usually spend more time chasing them around than looking though, which is what made Friday's day off so great. Thanks for the response, Dan

Dan, what a great haul. That Banshosho is beautiful and what a great price. Gorgeous Skylands specimen too. You guys with all that planting space are SO lucky....

Those are very nice trees. I especially like the pines, the 'Ban Sho Ho' in particular. And I agree that you've done a great job on the yard / garden. Seeing yards like yours and Dcsteg's makes me want to get to work in mine.

In a way we have something in common. You seem to push the cold hardiness of a lot of those plants, I'm always trying to see what can tolerate the oppressive Texas heat.

And while those do seem like very reasonable prices, you still must have an understanding wife if you didn't get criticized for the 400 dollar nursery expedition. Mine keeps asking me why I keep tearing out 'perfectly good flowers and replacing them with tiny trees that dont have any flowers'. I think I'll show her the pictures of your place and tell her that's what I'm going for. Thanks for sharing.

T

tcharles, Dave may be able to shed some light on getting your wife on board with the conifer thing. I've been unsuccessful so far with converting my wife. I try to set aside money for my hobby throughout the year which I described in a previous post as my "conifer budget". I went $50 over so I might get a bit of grief for that. But yes, my wife is great. Guess she figures I could have worse hobbies than collecting plants.Its probably a good thing that I'm in zone 5 and can only plant half of the year. As for my part here's my best pictoral attempt at a convincing argument. Here's some reposts of pics from the last few years.
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Gorgeous Dan!! Is that Metasequoia in pic #7? Which cultivar? And where do you get most of your Japanese Maples? Name of cultivar in pic #4? If you're not already doing any design consulting, you should be! Would be a great way to add to your "conifer budget". Kim

Those are great too. Just give me a few years.......RE: Kims questions - I'm guessing the maple in the 4th pic is Acer Shirasawanum 'Aureum' or 'Autumn Moon'. I like the big leaves on Shirasawanum, but havent gotten one yet. Although I read somewhere that Autumn Moon is supposed to tolerate heat and humidity well.

I don't know about the metasequoia.

Photo 7 probably Thuja occidentalis 'Golden Globe'.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Vintage Gold' has crossed my mind too.

What's the verdict Dan?

Dax

Kim, thanks for the compliment. The Acer in the 4th picture is, as tcharles said, Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum'. (A.s.'Autumn Moon' is in the 8th picture[spring foliage]) If you're refering to the golden foliaged plant to the lower left of picture #7, its actually a perennial with fern-like foliage which flowers with orange button shaped flowers. Its name escapes me but if I find it, I'll post it.(sorry, didn't mean to turn it into a trick question).If you have any more nonconifer questions just e-mail me privately and I'll be happy to respond.
Thanks everybody for allowing me a little latitude with my pictures. Conifers are my biggest love, but I still like mixing them with other cool plants. Have a great weekend! Dan

look what i found... what a breath of fresh air.. on a miserable snowy MI day

can you give me a specific picture for Pinus densiflora 'Rata'

would you presume that rata = rata gold???

thanks

ken

Hey dan, is that golden perennial Golden Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare 'Aureum')?

Hi Ken, pulling up some old pics huh? Sounds like you may be as tired of winter as I am :). The conifer you asked about, I got from Gee's as 'Rata Gold'. I haven't found it listed that way anywhere else though. Could be that it is just 'Rata' , I'm not sure. Gee's availabilty list has quite a few misspelled cultivar names, so it's definately a possibility. I don't have a current pic of it because I moved it and it's currently in a pot. It might not make this years cut but I'm going to let it candle out this Spring and make a final decision. I'm trying to be more selective about my purchases lately, because my space is so limited. I envy your acreage and wish I could just plant it out of the way and see what it looks like in another 5 to ten years. I'm making a conscious effort to stick with small dwarf and miniature cultivars now. If it gets the boot, I may send it off to live on a farm in Michigan where it has freedom to grow, I'll let you know :).

Fledgeling, the Gold Leaf Tansey is a great plant! I thought its cultivar name was Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold' but I lost its tag and I could be wrong. It has great foliage and looks great up until about early to mid Summer when it gets lanky and falls apart to the outside. I usually cut it back to about 6" and by late Summer it looks just as good as late Spring (like the picture) and provides color and texture all the way through fall. If you don't already have it, and want it, send me an e-mail in the Spring and I'll send you some. Thanks, Dan

P.S. A last minute confession. Of the cultivars I planted in November '06, all are doing well except the 'Skylands'. The Spring of 2007 was brutal. The ground was frozen solid with 60 degree F temps and windy conditions followed by 3 weeks of temps in the teens. It was doing well until that point but lost the top 2/3 of the plant at that point. In retrospect, not one of my better decisions. Luckily I have another 'Skylands' (seen in the last pic) that I've had for four years that is still doing well.

Hey dan,

'Isla Gold' is likely it, your probably right. It looks fantastic, how long have you had it? I have seen enough of the green type of Tanacetum vulgare so that I know to run in the opposite direction! The green type spreads widely by roots and is rather invasive. Your golden plant seems like it is in a orderly clump. Is this plant well-mannered for you?

Fledgeling, I've had it for mabe 7 years. The great part is that I don't think there would be much of a diffence between a 3 year pic and a seven year pic. The clump widens very slowly and has been extemely well behaved in my garden. Like I said if you want to give it a try just e-mail me privately and I'll send you some and you can do your own analysis. Thanks, Dan

Thats a very kind offer, I think I will take you up on that later, as the ground is still frozen here! Thanks!

Pinus densiflora 'Rata'

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Do you need any scion wood Dax. I'll bring you a Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Vintage Gold' when I stop by your house later this month.

Frank

The cultivar of Tansy in the Photo IS 'Isla Gold'. There is another cultivar 'Aurea' which I have in my yard. The Aurea is smaller with significantly different leaves and flowers. Mine has slightly ferny foliage (more like a columbine) and tiny white daisy flowers with yellow centers. 'Aurea' is also a smaller plant.

Whew! I may be behind the curve on conifers but I DO know my perennial cultivars! LOL!

It is this post with the stunning 'Skylands' spruce you bought that convinced me to give the 'Skylands' a go. How is it doing in your yard now that the cold has been here? How is the winter color of this tree? Thanks!

bindersbee, that would be Tanacetum parthenium aureum - Golden Feverfew - if it has daisy flowers. Different species!

Here is a link that might be useful: Golden Feverfew

I don't see it above, but Dave (dcsteg) wrote in one of these conifer threads about protecting both P. o. 'Skylands' and P. o. 'Tom Thumb Gold', the first two years after planting, from direct afternoon sun to prevent them from burning really bad. I think he said he used some sort of screening to reduce the sun's intensity.

I have also read this in other places that these plants need to become established to overcome the potential burning of their needles.
Mike

Doh! You are correct of course, I suppose I should not have gone from memory! LOL! Slinking off to my corner now.

I will shade the 'Skylands' and 'Tom Thumb'- I did read about that. The sun can be pretty intense here. I'm also going to plant a shade tree on the west side of the 'Skylands' to help provide some late shade over time.

Frank,

The 'Vintage Gold' I could definitely use a plant of. Mine after a few years (rooted cutting) I think bit the dust last summer. I can't say for sure at this time.

No to any other scionwood. I'll send an email.

Later on,

Dax

P.s. 'Rata' is how another collector I know has their plant named. You can check the ACS Database but Frank's photo is a much larger specimen.

I drudged up this thread because these pictures are what good conifer gardening or gardening in general is all about.

Beauty, perfected.

Dare I ask if it's the hammock or the laptop in the bathbubbletub occupying your newly deserved time/break?

Dax

Hah, laptop - partly because I am a baseball fan and eagerly watching and listening to games.

Also, we had another freak snow storm today - 6 more inches and probably 40-50 inches on the year. We average 4-6 inches a YEAR here so this is all pretty shocking. Three more orders of conifers arriving VERY soon and then it will be right back to work. Hopefully I can get reviews out later in the week - it's nurseries I have not tried yet.

The hammock will be in service heavily from mid May through October! :)

Baseball's for guys who aren't good enough athletes to make it into the National Basketball Association.

Remember that!

Dax

lol... not to hijack this thread, but while I'll agree basketball takes more athleticicm, baseball takes more intelligence of the game and hand eye-coordination. I can hit three point shots all day and dunked when I was in highschool but put me in the cage against a 90 mph heater, even if I know it's coming I can't touch it.

Another couple of notes:

Dan seems to 'get the most' out of everything he plants.

The blue iris against the yellow-gold leaves of A.Shir. 'Auream'.

The blinding colors of A. pal. Beni Schischihenge.

It's all just really amazing.

Dan, I'm wondering if any of your neighbors are picking up on what you are doing in your wonderful landscape? You know, like asking questions, praise, etc.
I always enjoy your pictures.
BoTann

FFG, thanks for the compliments on the old pics. By the way I'm a baseball fan too. I wish they would show more preseason games on T.V. but it's only a few weeks 'til the beginning of regular season.
Botann, the neighbors really don't appreciate the garden too much, but I do get the occasional passer-by that I give an impromptu garden showing to which is always fun. My neighbor across the street always kids me that he knows it's Spring when I get another few tons of rock delivered in my parkway.

Have a great week, Dan

Hi Dan, nice to see you are still around, look forward to more posts from you and your garden come the spring and summer.