Kim, I once was the proud owner of a Microbiota . But it never really established well and it finally dried up last summer. That said,Dave already suggested I should try again,notwithstanding the heatwaves we have in summer. I think I know what may have happened : I planted it between rocks on a slope; on more than one occasion I have noticed that these tend to settle after a while,leaving a gap behind the rocks and the rootball wich then becomes exposed. Dried-up rootball = dried-up conifer, I think. Moral of the story: when creating rock-gardens,check for cracks and settlement and back-fill as required... T. PS: I really liked that plant, but I rarely see it beeing offered anywhere; we don't see it very often on the forum either. PS 2 I have several Junipers of the chinensis/ Xmedia type in several colours wich are growing into one another; this springtime I'm going to shear the lot,hoping to create a multi-coloured dome-thing.

Hi Will, The 'Elizabeth' is a very beautiful one! It looks like the cultivar 'Zuckerhut' is this one an U.S. selection? Hi Clément, 'Frödenberg' must be written as 'Fröndenberg' I have another one to add: Picea omorika 'Roter Austrieb' which is German for 'Red Flush'. Imagine a Picea abies 'Cruenta' with the red spring growth but then as a Picea omorika form which is much more interseting because this time the red colour is outstanding in a combination with the silverblue and green neeles! Picea omorika 'Roter Austrieb'

Hi Barbara at a very quick glance here's my top 30 from my collection, could be totally different tomorrow. No particular order. Abies koreana 'Ice Breaker' Abies koreana 'Blauer Eskimo' Abies koreana 'Tundra' Abies lasiocarpa 'Duflon' Abies nordmanniana 'WB KBNG' Abies fraseri 'Flynn's Flash' Cedrus deodara 'Pygmy' (true form) Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Sungold' Cryptomeria japonica 'Tenzan' Picea abies 'Jana' Picea engelmannii 'Bush's Lace' Picea engelmannii 'Talbot Lake' Picea glauca' Pendula' Picea glauca 'Blue Planet' Picea glauca 'Spring Surprise' Picea pungens 'Freida' Picea orientalis 'Tom Thumb Gold' Picea orientalis 'Prof Langner' Picea omorika '(Peve) Tijn' Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns' Picea sitchensis 'Rayner's Rescue' Pinus mugo 'Michelle' Pinus mugo 'Zwergkugel' Pinus parviflora 'Richard Lee' Pinus sylvestris 'Prairie Dwarf' Pinus sylvestris 'Marshall' Pinus x schwerinii 'Wiethorst' Thuja occidentalis 'Teddy' Thuja occidentalis 'Golden Tuffet' Tsuga heterophllla 'Thorsen's Weeping'

Thank you everyone for such great advice I have learned a great deal from you all. I have found my forum and my gardening tribe with all of you and feel blessed with your company. I have not found gardeners in my area that have been bitten by this conifer bug. Most my gardening friends think I am nuts and are happy to come over and gather up truck loads of perennials as I wing them out of the garden to make room for more conifers. I have bought some fairly standard conifers as a backbone to my new garden ( only a few at places like Home Depot) I try my best to support local nurseries even though they cost more. I know you get what you pay for and Liam is right nice things do cost money so I am going at this slowly and thoughtfully. I have lost several conifers and that is painfull, for two reasons one they are expensive but more so because I get so attached ( something I never did with perennials). I have so many questions but before I ask them I will spend some time looking over past postings. But I will ask all of you for maybe your top 5 conifers for me to consider remembering that I live in hot and humid Virginia. Plus, what books would you recomend on this subject? I keep getting Bitner's Conifers for Gardens book out of the library; they may make me buy it because of all the drool damage I have done to the book! Thanks again for all of the caring advice you have given this new kid on the conifer block. Lynn