my understanding ... for what it is worth .... is that a wholesaler plant growers has to provide... say 1000 plants to lowes/bigboxstore .... if they have only 900 of the contracted for plants... they will throw in 100 of whatever they have spares of .... bigboxstore workers.. not being in horticulture ... being paid simply to take the pallets off the trucks.. proceed as paid .... it is left to the buyer ... to know what they are buying ... and whether it is appropriate ... caveat emptor ... as they say .... if you are going to rely on the seller .... you have to rely on a hort person ... who works at a nursery .. as noted above .... what really irritates me.. is when the wholesaler has tags that have improper info on them .. like when lowes sold me a cryptomeria japonica... labeled as zone 5 ... it is a zone 6/7 plant .... i cant even blame the bigboxstore for that ... anyway .. i would contact the manager ... during the week... maybe not on a weekend .... and ask him if he will mind if you return it.. even though it is planted ... or whether he will honor the guarantee next spring, if it dies .... good luck ... ken

Thanks midwestdave. I see zero burn on shedding needles here. If Iseli was aware of the compatibility of understock to scion it could be possible they'd be writing a different article-description. DavidV - the same does hold true when it is grafted to anything "other" than Pinus contorta. Bob's emphasized it clearly. The reason he uses seedlings of CJ of course is because of the closest prodigy of seedling and scion, but also because, he has stock plants coning freely. He figured out something of rare proportions whether thru luck/skill - it doesn't matter. It's a wonderful discovery, he's made. Of course mugo - or var. pumilla (used a lot for grafting dwarf/mini conifers in Europe) - or anything of dwarf understock-growth should not be used for long-term compatibility because the scion will soon outgrow the slower understock - creating an imcompatible union that will "snap off", failing later....Speed of the understock needs to be compatible to that of the scion for you others out there that may not know this or understand how to select seedling-understock choices when grafting. var. latifolia should be used for hardiness purposes -(Pinus contorta var. latifolia)..... I'll assume. One more tip - never graft Abies concolor to Abies fraseri. You'll be looking at 100% dead plants in about 10 years. Glad I could be of help. Dax

Hi t. How's life in snowbound Zone 7? "You ARE a conifer-promoter. T."... Not really, just a collector/gardner. The gates always open if anybody ASKS to take a tour. No promoting...just show and tell time. Come prepared to take notes and spend 1-2 hours just having fun. Hi Kim, It's alway good to her from you and never miss your threads when you post. The low growing pine behind the Picea p. 'Procumbens' is Pinus sylvestris 'Hillside Creeper'. It's a creeping form of Scotts Pine. Quite interesting as the foliage on 1 limb turns yellow in the Winter time. The Picea s. 'Papoose' is 10+ years old. Puts on 1-2 inches of growth per year. In full sun with southern exposure. Yes that is Microbiota decussata sometimes called Siberian Arborvitae in the trade. I will be acquiring more plants on standards. I particularly like the effect they have in the overall scheme of conifer gardening. I will call it layering ...starting a new conifer garden over the top of the one already there. Those guys in G.B. and Europe have it down pat. As far as the Pinus m. 'Zundert' every serious collector should have one. Unassuming in the Summer time. A real show stopper in the Winter. Has a tendency to curl your toes when given the slightest bit of attention. Where did I here that from? Some guy in Michigan I think. Anyway... Dave

Ken and Dave, It has nothing to do with the kind of understock which was used for this dwarf cultivar. Imo a faster growing branch arose which was propagated and since then it started to live it's own life under the same name... The same thing is happening with the Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Gracilis' and Picea glauca var. albertiana 'Conica'. In both cases faster growing branches were taken for propagation and the original dwarf form is slowly diasappaering... Ken's specimen doesn't show a reversion which could be "helped" by cutting it out, no his whole plant is a reversion. Dave, you're showing the true 'Adcock's Dwarf' here, which is a very nice specimen! Please, never feel afraid to ask or comment something about conifers at this forum. That's why this forum is for, there are specialist here in all kind of fields...