If it is grafted onto Nordmann or Momi fir, yes.

Is there much information collected on rootstock that is...different (I can't think of the botanical term) than the grafted plant? I have never done any grafting, but I've wondered about basic things like success/failure rates, life expectancy, etc. of the non-species (?) rootstock. I know I'm veering off topic, but it seems relevant in an irrelevant kind of way. ;)

ES Smith,

Please edit your profile so we can see what hardiness zone you are in so we can help you with your questions.

A.K ' Aurea', in your zone, can handle morning sun OR a few hours of afternoon sun.

The plant will struggle, stunt and die in a few years under full afternoon sun.

Also like davidrt28 advised, if it is grafted on Abies Normanniana, then it will be able to handle afternoon sun. I can testify to that. I have a few Abies Normanniana firs and they do well in zone 7.

John N.

Abies koreana is one of the more heat tolerant firs, but as David notes, you'll still want to buy one grafted onto, preferably IMHO, abies firma rootstock. I have an Aurea so grafted that is doing just fine here in Atlanta. There was a nice article in Conifer Quarterly a while back about the dramatically improved survival rates for firs (korean and otherwise) grafted onto firma in the southeast. Even so, 10 hours of sun in a Georgia July is still quite a bit even for a grafted fir. I think a spot with afternoon shade would be best.

I don't know about life expectancy - we are probably still early enough in the "grafting age" that we don't yet know the full life expectancy of grafted firs. But I'm not sure why there would be a difference.

NB that these horticultural cultivars have always been grafted, and usually onto a non-matching species.

Yes a bit of shade might be better for that particular cultivar; I was single-mindedly addressing the issue of which fir root system(s) would likely be able to survive in Atlanta. Firma is best but Nordmann might be easier to find.

Useful to repost at this point, the Rushford phylogenetic grouping of firs...

(via Resin):

Group 1 bracteata.
Group 2 alba, cephalonica, nordmanniana, borisii-regis, bornmuelleriana, nebrodensis, equi-trojani.
Group 3 pinsapo, numidica, cilicica, tazaotana, marocana
Group 4 firma, homolepis, recurvata, pindrow, gamblei, chensiensis, holophylla, beshanzuensis [kawakamii].
Group 5 amabilis, mariesii.
Group 6 spectabilis, densa, delavayi, forrestii, fabri, fargesii, squamata, chengii.
Group 7 sibirica, semenovii, nephrolepis, sachalinensis, veitchii,
koreana, sikokiana, [kawakamii - moved to group 4], lasiocarpa,
balsamea, fraseri.
Group 8 grandis, concolor, durangensis, coahuilensis, mexicana, guatemalensis.
Group 9 procera, magnifica.
Group 10 religiosa, vejari, hickelii, oaxacana.

Common industry rootstocks (per me calling around and asking nurseries) A. balsamea, A. concolor,A. grandis (PNW market especially). So as you can see w/A. koreana, 2 of those are out of group, as Abies firma would be. Many of these groups have common cultivars yet contain no species commonly used as rootstocks. Certainly A. pinsapo 'Aurea' always ends up on another group.

FWIW I think most of Group 4 is quite heat and humidity resistant, though only firma is the one with a proven track record in the southeast. (even north Florida!)

I was considering this one which says its grafted. Might it work? Notice they list only zones 5-6.

http://japanesemaplesandevergreens.com/store/product/abies-koreana-aurea-2-year-graft

If they've gone to the trouble of grafting on Abies firma (seed is more expensive) they will certainly put that in the listing; though there's no harm in calling.