Hi Jaro- I have S.v. 'Sternschnuppe'(which I received as Sternschnuppe 1 at the time), S.v. 'Sternschnuppe 2(which has done very little growing and does not appear to have any interest in resembling the fine plant pictured on Dennis' website-see link below), S.v. 'Picola'(a very slow grower-1/2 to 1" per year average so far), And received S.v. 'Gold Star', 'Green Star', 'Perlenglanz', and 'Jeddeloh Compact' this year. You bring up a good idea about conifers that are similar to Sciadopitys. In my mind(not a particularly deep or quick moving place)they could be compared to Metasequoia, although sciadopitys are not deciduous of course. They are definitely hardier than the miniature Cryptomerias that I have('Tenzan', 'Kilmacurragh', 'Koshyi'- they all suffer some degree of burning from winter temps). I can not really compare it to my Cephalotaxus haringtoniana 'Korean Gold' because any part of it that has been above the snow line in winter has been grazed heavily by rabbits, this winter I am going to cover it with a new cage that should/will make it impervious to their dam%ed attacks. An example of how tough they are- once this past winter we received a very heavy/wet snowfall. By the time I saw what used to be my 30" tall 'Sternschnuppe', it was doubled over and the top was almost touching the ground. I hurriedly knocked off all the snow but my poor sciadopitys did not spring up, it was frozen in that doubled over position(and temps only slowly warmed up over the next 45 days, so it was like that for a long time). And now it is nearly arrow straight again and pushing growth normally- none the worse for the experience(next winter it will get some staking support- not going to push my luck). Interesting about "Kohout" being Czech for rooster- I thought that it referenced Jorge Kohout of E. Germany(the Abies koreanna 'Ice Breaker' discoverer). Side note- I believe Silvervista said that Echiniformis was Latin for "hedgehog". Dan- Yes, I like Pinus p. 'Little Hedgehog' too. And no, I do not like the quality of the photo I put up earlier(my top of the line 3mp camera from 6 or 7 years ago is really starting to irritate me). So if you like that crappy photo you are really going to love your plant. It seems to have a sort of clumpy outline that is not discernible in previously mentioned crappy photo. enjoy your gardens, shannon Here is a link that might be useful: Sternschnuppe II

Carol, it does not get that disgusting pink-white color. It seems the color bleeds out and it gets pale yellow. Once, they all turned pale green. The blooms last a long time. Here is a photo of an older bloom fading. I don't know how cold hardy it is but I do think it would prefer a cooler climate as the summer blooms are small. My summers are evil--very hot and dry.

Toro, glad you enjoyed the pics! All of the pics were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S5 =) The nuttall will need to grow quite a bit more before any scion can be taken off! It is still getting acclimated to it's new spot, however, it is showing signs that it might be getting comfortable in it's new setting. Arktrees has also spotted a good sized red nuttall(?) in a parking strip in NWA. I need to let Dax (the inspiration for this thread) take a look and see if he thinks it worth grafting. I hear ya on the weeds. I spent the majority of my weekend outside weeding the beds. Couldn't spray roundup because it was so windy. Oh well...

I wish my azaleas had waited, Debra. Bey Easter they will be through. Yes, mantis. Pics in the high 70s. We will have a few more freezes, but if they are like the others, it is only for a very few hours and temps go into the 50w nd 60s. And you are also right about the season not being as good when it starts too soon.