Lovely.

Very nice Dax! What's the story on the Betula uber?

Pretty sweet that some of the those plants didn't miss a beat given their exposed locations. Looks like Picea orientalis still managed to burn for you.

Keep the pics coming! Things are just starting to push out here...some further ahead than others.

how long has it been.. since you invaded this property??

isnt it great .. to finally be able to see them across the lot.. lol ...

i notice all the fencing and stakes seem to be gone ... are they now ibg enough.. did you just give in .. or have the white tail vermin moved on????

how about a pic from the deck.. years ago .. and recent.. so we can get the great overview ???

thx for the pix ...

ken

ps: that golden ghost is brilliant.. and the guy who sent it to you.. a genius ... lol .. [modest too ... ]

lovely =)

Hi Robin. Long time. B.uber is similar to the Metasequoia story in that it was somewhat recently found and had been considered extinct. A very small band of trees was found along a river in North or South Carolina, I think. At the time I planted it in 2008, it really wasn't being allowed for propagation w/o a license and just about a year or some such thing, later, it was being offered from nurseries. Mine came from a friend whom at the time had a propagators license for them. ..You're welcome here anytime you'd like to visit.

Whaas, I'm going to do a thread about Picea orientalis and Nordmann fir about mid-summer. I've been photographing them, sort of as a time lapse if you will. As I had stated a month or better ago, neither were "aesthetically-pleasing," but all are making a comeback. You'll be astonished just how horrible my orientalis seedlings appeared. I'll post more pics soon, thanks much.

Dax

Hi Ken,

It's kind of tough to photograph this place. It was Sept. 07 I officially moved in, and spring '08 I got the shovel into the ground. I had dug a few conifers from my previous home mid-December that year ('07 mild winter) and quite a few of them survived, however I do know I lost (2) resinosa 'Fastigiata'. The beginning of planting however was 08.

Your 'Golden Ghost' is growing rapidly. How you were able to put knife to seedling & scion is still a mystery of the cosmos. I thank you though, lol.

These are at photobucket so (you) may click on a pic and magnify them twice.

Here's a fun picture. This is a 30 meter grape trellis I built the last week of April and it's behind what I call my conifer collection 'area' if you will. This is my smallest area of property and is behind my house. There are 14 seedless varieties of grapes planted beneath. My other 'acreage' is a mix of many-things, while this area is pretty well conifers:

This is such a good picture it's tough not to add it. Additionally I've mulched everything inside the fence, since.

I have removed a majority of my fences. 1/2 I was tired of looking at them, 1/4 I figured the rabbits and deer weren't eating my plants, & 1/4 they are maturing.

More pics. It's tough to photograph a lot of acreage but I did as did as best as I was able:

Picea omorika: one of many seedlings planted '08 as 15'18":

Picea omorika 'Aurea'

Picea pungens 'Wendy'

Beech x 'Prince of Darkness' (species Asian beech x sylvatica 'Atropurpurea)

Acer truncatum 'Fire Dragon'

Naturally, panoramic photos can become 'funky'. Obviously i.e. my hoophouse isn't 'bent' like that, at all.

Dax

Now for some old:

winter '07
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December '07 The first tree I planted, a 'Chief Joseph'

'07 December: here you are able to see the resinosa 'Fastigiata'(s) I lost:

December 07' plants I brought from my previous home getting in the ground:
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behind the house '08
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'08 prior to my farmer-neighbor brought a batwing mower over:
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More of what the land looked like, '08

August '08

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My 'Green Giant'(s) all along the right that are now 9' tall or thereabouts, 10'? winter '08-09'

'09

Here's 'Barrie Bergman' in '09 (shown above)

'11: "first plantings"

Dax

Looks great Dax!

That Tenysu-Kazu, aka Goldylocks has put on some strong growth. How old is that plant?
Love how your little Griseum is already showing that beautiful trunk color.
And the omorika 'Aurea' is also showing some strong growth. How old is it? Are you getting more than a foot per year out of it?
I have a small 1 gallon one holding over to plant in the Fall. Need to place it properly if it grows very fast.
And finally, congratulations on getting so far after literally starting from scratch. Transformation pictures are always nice to see.

Lookin' good Dax!
Before and after pictures are super enjoyable for me.
Mike

Great to see things coming along so nicely. Among lots of choice plants here, the P. glauca cultivars are the winners in my book. 'Burning Well', 'Ivan', and 'Blue Wonder' are looking mighty fine. This crew just marched onto my wish list.

Dax, if memory serves I believe you did a thread last spring along the lines of "5 years of Picea omorika"...it would sure be a treat if you could update that in a few weeks when they're reaching the end of this year's flush.

Alex

Hi wanabg, I would have to say that Tenysu-kazu is a minimum of 10 years old. It was possibly 2-3 years old when Dennis Dodge sent it, likely. omorika 'Aurea' is putting on a good 12-15" annually. It was purchased locally in '07 in a 3-gallon I have written on the tag, so probably about 3' tall then. Right now it's 2 2/3's meters (6'8"). In 2008 I bought plugs from Heritage Seedlings of Acer griseum. They take a while but clearly worth the wait and, I get to watch them grow.

Mike, -- you betcha. This may be a gorgeous piece of property someday. It's starting right now.

I did Alex. I'm glad your memory stemmed that thought. I'll write a note to continue with that. I have 300 Picea abies understock to pot up. I wonder what I should graft for you?

Dax

You have made great strides with a very raw piece of land. Makes all the difference with the thought you've put into your plantings. Great photos and plants both.
Cher

Beautiful rolling land, I can't imagine the wind in winter. Question, how do you water all the trees, do you have a mobile tank of some sort?

Wow, you have done a wonderful job!!!!! Beautiful photos!

Cher, not much thought went into it. Just a vision from plant to plant to plant......thank you.

fair: I have a sprayer tank that works really well and it's towed with my mower. And I have a system of course of ribbon color that let's me know what was planted last year and this year or other specimens I believe need more water than two years I continue to ribbon those. Winter wind is something, you bet. So it is: spring, summer, & fall.

petra: thank you so much.

Dax

Great stuff Dax!

'Ivan' & 'Barrie' are handsome fellows and 'Wendy' is a babe.

Also really like 'Nanaimo', 'JM3C' & 'Cincinatta'

Have you any recent shots of Abies nords 'Tortifolia' and 'Limelights'?

Amazing as always. Especially love all the pungens and glaucas. Was happy to see the 'Derksen' update too.
Thanks for the tour.
Jeff

Excellent, excellent, excellent, Dax! Fingers crossed for all the defenceless trees ;-)

Busy working guys.

Severn, lol, a thing of beauty: Nordmann 'Tortifolia'

Nordmann 'Lime Lights'

Leader on Lime LIghts

'Lime Lights' is an example of the worst of my nordmanns.

This is a Nordmann literally just feet away:

This Picea orientalis is a good representative of all other seedlings. I'll prune on all of them back to a bud that's breaking and clean out all the dead shoots. They'll all recover fine.

Jeff, rock on brother.

John! thanks, great humor.

Go easy all,

Dax

How'd your breweriana do? I planted mine out and only had a handful make it through the winter, even though they were all under snow cover. Possibly dessication?

Love that beech, man.

Dax, I think your Nordmanns & other conifers suffered because they were not established yet. Once they get roots down deeper, cold shouldn't be a problem.

Love the story of your land and plantings through your pictures Dax. I'd love to come see it in person one day. Keep the pictures coming!
Love love LOVE that beech!

Sorry to see the browning on the nords, really hope they bounce back.

John, I potted every breweriana and put them in my unheated hoophouse and they all died. During one of the coldest days of the winter I looked outside and saw the hoophouse was ripped to shreds. I had shingles fly off my home and rip the poly. I don't believe it was that single (overnight) event that killed them, however.

I rushed and brought everything into my basement and placed them all on blankets, however I couldn't water. Lots of combinations of bad.

That beech is an interesting character of a plant John and Robin. It's weeping. It's purple for a good amount of time then gradually turns green. Fall color is pretty decent.

Beng: 100% agree. Our thoughts are precisely on the same page.

Severn, they'll all return. It'll be five years until they look perfect again.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Robin email me anytime for your guided tour :-)

Dax

Your place is looking great.

We go back a few years. Many memories of all the conservations we had together.

Your conifers/trees are growing well. I am glad you found your little spot of heaven and are doing well.

I can't remember the name of the Acer palm. I sent you. How is it doing?

Dave

Dave, I just sent a picture of it. Telepathy...
Acer japonicum 'Oguayama'

Dax

Dax. Do you still have your pinus contorta var.latifolia 'Asher'? I'm interested in it's growth rate and form. Yours would be about 4-5 yrs old now?

Deer ate the leader off of it a couple years ago.

What it looks like because I've seen an old grafted plant is a tree seedling. It just takes a long time to get there. If I was going to guess it grows 4" per year while it's juvenile, then the growth rate increases.

Dax