Will, I also like this spruce very much, it's a beauty all year.

It's also in the trade under Picea mariana 'Golden' and Picea glauca 'Aurea'.

The Iseli Nursery is using the cultivar name 'Golden'.
They choose a commercial cultivar name above the original name which it was given to it a long time ago.
This is wrong and can not be accepted...

Hi Edwin,

I once tried to challenge the Iseli people for marketing Picea mariana 'Aureovariegata' as 'Golden.' The only response was that they appear to be very similar cultivars. I purchased my Picea mariana 'Aureovariegata' with an Iseli tag that says Picea mariana 'Golden,' but I do not accept this name as valid either.

As an aside, wouldn't you think that if Iseli wanted to come up with a catchy, marketable cultivar name for this awesome tree, they could have done better than 'Golden?'

~Dave

Hi Dave,

For sure they could have given it a much better renaming then 'Golden'.
But you need a good fantasy for that, I guess they don't have that as we can see with their fake 'Bentham's Sunlight' which they still gave the same name, while the plants are totaly different from eachother...

But anyway, in this case they have to go back to 'Aureovariegata'.

thx for the pix will ...

that plant has to go ...

mine are going on 15 and 18 feet respectively ...

note the leader growth on yours.. looking to me at 18 inches ... which means in 2 years.. it will be 3 feet taller.. and at least 2 feet wider ... by which time.. it wont be easy to transplant ... of course.. you could just kill it [and that would salve the whole name thing.. lol]

do you have a garden you donate to???

ken

Dave, who was the person at Iseli you asked that question to?
Was it Ed Remsrola?
It's too bad we didn't meet him last winter ;0)

I look at this site daily but don't always post on many of the enrties. One of the things I enjoy most are the pictures from firefightergardener with "Four years of ". Just enjoy the pictures immensely when you see the radicaly change a conifer makes over such a short period. Alway come away wanting to plant more, and thanks for posting these pics. This plant is one I have on the buy on sight list, picea mariana's are some of my favs, them and pinus cembras

I once had a 'Golden' from Girards that was much different than 'Aureovariegata'. It looked more like a typical 'Aurea' if there is such a thing. Local nursery had some 'Golden' and I couldn't tell the difference.

Oh, and Will, I bought two of these from Jason because of your dang pics of this plant!

You shan't regret it, Will. :) Just expect a little bit of top-needle burn for a year or two in your climate. Might not, but if it does, don't panic.

Harv, I'll have to post a few 'Four years of Pinus cembras' :)

Edwin, I see your research has come up with a result to the different clones. Sad to see, both for collectors and the industry as no one wants to deal with several plant names for the same plant.

Ken, this is one of my 'keeper' plants that will stay the duration. It's too beautiful and I'll gladly remove nearby plants or prune them if possible to allow them to stay in it's shadow. 'Aureovariegata' is too damn beautiful. Also, I think the photo doesn't give you very good perspective to it's size. It put on less then ten inches last year and not yet six inches this year. It's about 8 years old and under 6 feet tall. Some spruce species grow ballistically in our climate, but not this one(so far).

-Will

well???

good luck with that ...

i think i was the one who told you that you had too much grass.. and for years you said.. ohhh nooo... i love my grass.. lol... eventually you saw the light ...

live and learn... go for it ...

anyway... you didnt answer the question... do you have plans for a donation garden.. perhaps you have answered that somewhere else... but if you did.. i missed it ...

the pic under '2012' .... second from last .... that is ' less then ten inches'????? .. wow my eyes deceive me ....

ken

Dave,

Ed Remsrola is a pen name for Jean Iseli and has been continued as such for others at Iseli Nursery. Jean has unfortunately been gone since June, 1986.

As 'Aureovariegata' gets larger the gold may not be quite as intense but the main reason for an apparent loss of color in large specimens is that the observer is looking mainly at underside foliage.

Picea mariana 'Golden' is a name that came out of the Northeast U.S. in the 1960's. I am not certain who it started with but it might have been William Bennett. I first saw it at Hillside Nursery. I believe Layne considered it a new plant because the golden forms of mariana were listed as NIC (not in cultivation). Also the descriptions don't quite fit this plant, but are very close. The 'Aureovariegata' is supposed to be green with yellow variegation not flushing gold with a golden frosting through the summer.

Iseli Nursery got their start from Layne under this name and they do not change names without some convincing (rightly so).

Coenosium Gardens used to offer this plant as 'Golden' until a trip to Europe when I saw identical plants as mariana 'Aureovariegata'. Since this cultivar originated in Europe and NIC is not always true, I converted to that name. In retrospect I am not certain they were the one listed as NIC or plants that were of American origin and renamed. (That does happen there as well as here.)

I do plan more research on this one. Until then 'Golden' and 'Aureovariegata' are the same plant. I would like to know if there are plants in Europe or America that are older than 45 years?

Bob

Great to see such an active discussion and history behind such a beautiful plant. I too grow 'Golden' and Picea glauca 'Aurea', and would love to know if they are indeed all the same plant.

To answer your question Ken, some of my larger conifers have made their way and will continue to make their way in Winters to a local botanical garden that has about 40 unplanted acres for future large trees. So far I've made about 100 donations, though we've just 'traded' for most of them, as the owner/creator also owns a Japanese maple nursery(Yang's nursery/botanical nursery).

I'm lucky that this arboretum is merely a half mile from my house and open to me year round.

Also, I'll go measure the growth for you from last year and this! :)

-Will

Will, can you show us some pics of the Picea mariana 'Golden' and the Picea glauca 'Aurea'?
Thanks!

Bob, who's the other person at Iseli that's using the name Ed Remsrola now?

Stunning plant! Thanks for the photo progression.

Can any of you recommend the best place to buy gorgeous conifers in the New England states? I love reading your comments and the tree is beautiful....but wherever can one buy these? Chpielme

chp

at least 50% of my 500 conifers.. came mail order ..

ken

I highly recommend Dennis Dodge at Bethlehem Nursery. He's in Bethlehem, CT. I've gotten some great mail order stuff from him. Wish I had the means to pay a visit. He's one of the great conifer guys of the country.

~Dave

Very choice Will,Thats a beauty. Please keep em coming...i also miss the 'parades' you used to lead on! thanks
Al