its time to finish transplanting in zone 5 in the next week or so ...... get it in fast ....

i have one.. pure sand ... no protection .. babe of of a plant .. one foot or so ... did just fine last winter with no snow cover ... in full sun .. and full wind ...

the anti-dessicant might help just for this year due to the transplant ...

ken

I bought one of these in a Home Depot store coming home from Georgia several years ago - stopped to load the van with bales of pine straw and it caught my eye. I have it planted in part shade/sun and it's doing fine. No browning issues, but I've been shearing it per the recommendations some time ago from someone in this forum. My plan is to keep it rather narrow. It's about 4 feet tall at this point and started off at about 10 inches.

I had to look it up, since I'm not familiar with Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard'.
But now I see that it somewhat resembles Chamaecyparis lawsonia 'Blue Surprise' -- a plant that caught my eye, for its neat appearance, due to its "mostly juvenile foliage of an attractive gray-blue color."
According to one catalogue, the same-size 'Blue Surprise' is priced at twice as much as 'Boulevard', while they are supposedly zones 5 - 6 and 4 - 8 respectively.
Would anyone here have both, and provide some comments/ recommendations, please ? (Thnx)

I'll try to take a photo of mine tomorrow, but for the moment will mention that mine grows in part shade, has a bit of a brown-out problem, but IS REGENERATING FROM THE TRUNK. Tiny little sprouts at the bases of tufty little branches that had browned out/died off. I've never sheared it in the ten or so years I've had it, and suspect I should have.

I just got a Blue Surprise this year, Jaro, so can't do much useful comparison yet.

Foliage of the two is distinctly different - texture of 'Boulevard' (sometimes seen as 'Cyano-Viridis') is larger and softer and the plant itself has less of a conical aspect, often becoming a large blue dumpling if left unpruned. Browning is common and more so if sufficient moisture is lacking. 'Blue Surprise' is narrowly conical and will remain so, texture is much lighter and finer. IMO, this is a much tougher plant to grow and is rather prone to root rots. There have been more returns of this specific conifer at both nurseries I've worked at than any other.

"Tiny little sprouts" may never replace the original foliage mass.

At a trade-oriented seminar on new introductions held at the Center for Urban Horticulture, Seattle L. Stanley showed a slide of C. lawsoniana 'Blue Surprise' and quipped "The 'Surprise' is when it dies."

I prefer to call it 'Bad Surprise'.

I'm liking mine very much. It's just been in the ground a year and a half, but I'm hoping it will continue to respond well to my care. I hope these pictures are helpful to someone.

1 - June '05
Just after planting, starting with a good-sized plant
{{gwi:848626}}

2 - June '06 - One year later.
{{gwi:848627}}

3 - August '06
I cleaned out a good deal of brown growth in spite of conflicting advice. Left it all on the ground -- natural mulch, you know :) I used a pruning shears as a lot was left after I tried a jet spray and my hand, cutting off just about every dead spot. I also pinched back just about every branch. Wrong time of year?

4 - November '06 - you can see the brown building up again, but growth is good. I intend to shear lightly in early spring.

5 - Just yesterday after rain. The leaves are so beautiful. {{gwi:848630}}

Maro, a novice.

It looks great, Maro! Thanks for sharing the pics! I finally got mine in the ground today w/ much grunting and heaving and hoing. LOL It needs the brown stuff cleaned out and will look much better after I do so. I put it a bit above ground level to allow for good drainage and put the hose on slow soak for several hours. I'll get it mulched before winter and see how it does!

I had the surprise of a 'Blue Surprise' myself Ron!

Hmph, well my photos of the inner sprouting foliage on Boulevard didn't turn out (perfect focus on the wall behind the tree, will try again after typhoon) but I got a good shot of the foliage of Blue Surprise for comparison with Maro's photos above:

KarinL

Interesting, KarinL. Do the branches get a red tone as in the 'Boulevard'? Actually, I never really was struck by the red-brown bark until I saw my own pictures. :)

Can someone would comment on whether I am pruning correctly and/or whether things look right in general.

If Blue Surprise is such a notoriously bad specimen, I wonder why Larry pursues in his propagation of the thing - other than the Almighty $?

"Can someone would comment on whether I am pruning correctly and/or whether things look right in general."

Oops. I meant to redo this sentence. :)

I would love any opinions as to whether I'm caring for this properly and/or whether things look right in general.

Thanks, Maro

Well -- I FINALLY looked this up on this forum and found most of what I wanted to know in THE RESPONSES TO MY OWN QUESTION that I asked last year. :)

Thanks, Maro

'Surprise' is quite appealing in size and appearance, just more delicate than usual. Any Port Orford cedar can be go brown suddenly, if you plant this species you always have root rot in the picture.

For photo of 'Blue Surprise' in Seattle (nice to see one live long enough to get this big) ...

Here is a link that might be useful: The Conifer Connoisseur