too embarrassing to not edit it out ... lol

the term SHADE ... really means nothing ... i have been in gardens where shade means a dark grotto ... [and even grass wont grow] and i have been in hosta gardens.. where the tree canopy was lifted to 50 feet and you needed sunglasses .... [and the grass was as lush as full sun] ...... and both are considered full shade ....

its on sale now ... i just looked... 24 bucks at CK ... and look at that leader growth ... perhaps this is one of those plants that prefers the PNW ... as compared to my MI .... maybe one of them peeps can opine

ken

This post was edited by ken_adrian on Mon, Dec 15, 14 at 14:12

Heavy heavy shade may not be the best, but moderate shade or dappled shade is probably ideal. More than 3-4 hours of sun is probably going to burn or even kill the plant. In the Pacific Northwest it can probably handle more sun than the Midwest simply because our temperatures are much lower. It's a cool plant in any case. :)

{{gwi:2125259}}

-Will

'Silver Seedling' is one of the only conifers that doesn't just tolerate shade, but actually prefers and requires it. Edwin (coniferjoy) recently posted some excellent pictures on facebook of this cultivar, one grown in a few hours of direct sunlight and the other grown in dappled/filtered, high bright shade. The one grown in the shadier condition had vastly superior white coloration than the one in the sun. The one in more sun did seem to maintain a more formal, conical appearance, while the shadier one was more squat. I'm not sure if they were the same age or if any type of staking had taking place. I would assume you could train it to be formal upright in either case, but you can't achieve the superior coloration if there is too much direct sun.

As Will suggested, heavy shade is not ideal. It would be best if you could find high, bright shade.

Ken, the way Silver Show and Silver Seedling achieve their color is different. Silver Show is just curling it's regular green needles to display the whitish underside of the needle. Silver Seedling's foliage is nearly all cream/white color, making it very sensitive toward sun. There is no way this cultivar could handle full sun the way your Silver Show does, it would fry.

Here is the pic of Edwin's Silver Seedling in shade:

{{gwi:2125261}}

This post was edited by SC77 on Mon, Dec 15, 14 at 13:23

SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I WING IT ... how embarrassing ... lol ...

ignore most of what i said above... except for what your SHADE really means ...

and crikey.. if it burns in the PNW ... its going to burn just about everywhere else ...

one thing about these types ... give them two or three years.. to get fully established.. before you expect the transplant to stop burning ....

i had two dragon eye pines... lose ALL their needles for two years running .... in full sun ... after planting... they have been near bulletproof since ... all i can think of is that they couldnt hold their needles thru winter.. before being fully established ... whether it was winter sun.. or winter wind ... both??? .... who knows ...

ken

Hmmm...I know this is slightly off topic, but can I please ask:

What conifers do enjoy/handle heavy shade well? Maybe I can find a slow grower/foundation friendly cultivar. I am in zone 6b...

I believe the sun in this particular spot is less than 30 minutes a day...it is right up against the north side of my house with steps next to it.