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firefightergardener

Hobbiton conifers of the week, June 11th

I should have more photos next week too, lots of cool conifers are waking up now.

Picea sitchensis 'Bentham's Sunlight' - the famous Sitka spruce of 'Haida' lore. Amazingly bright, even in part-shade.

Abies sibirica var. alpina - acquired from a roadside nursery in Oregon. We'll see how it likes being spoiled.

Abies koreana 'Gelbbunt' - Bright variegation.

Picea abies 'The Blues' and 'Gold Drift' dancing.

Pinus mugo 'Pal Maleter' - VERY unusual candle color that lasts all growing season - and this plant is in 75% shade.

Abies koreana 'Gait' - with cones maturing.

Abies grandis 'Aurea' - SLOW growing so far, reputed to be faster with age, like so many firs.


Pinus sylvestris 'Inverleith' - Brilliant variegation though I waited too long to begin candle pruning.



Closeup.

Calocedrus decurrens 'Maupin Glow' - A rather attractive conifer all year but particularly beautiful in Spring/early Summer when the new growth pushes electric shades of gold.

Pinus contorta 'Taylor's Sunburst' A keeper of a pine and this color lasts in the Pacific Northwest for 5-8 weeks. This plant, originally a Coenosium Gardens product, has been in the ground now four years and doesn't seem to want to speed up at all - a good trait if you ask me!

Pinus mugo 'Sunshine' - Keeping with the spring variegated forms, a beautiful somewhat dwarf mugo with needles of green and gold. This is the first year it has really colored up well, a product of our sunny Spring.

Abies concolor 'Hosta La Vista' - need confirmation of the spelling, this is the Hidden Lakes broom.


The maple of the week, Acer palmatum 'Ryusen' - An EXTREMELY fast growing, completely weeping(or in this case prostrate) form with palmatum leaves and stunning fall color. My plan is to train/prune it alone the entire creek bed, fifty+ feet into the forest... Should be fun!

As long as folks enjoy this 'enabling', I'll keep on keeping on. :)

-Will

Comments (12)

  • Fiddlegal08
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Picea abies 'The Blues' and 'Gold Drift' dancing...
    You must have gotten this from Bob Fincham! I saw one when I was there this spring. Keep us posted on the maintenance. I think I remember Dianne saying one grows faster than the other.

  • greenhaven
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I never, ever get tired of it, Will. Amazing as always. I think I am going to have to put that Picea sitchensis 'Bentham's Sunlight' on my wish list, but I think someone told me sitka spruce was not well-suited to our area.

    I love 'The Blues' and 'Gold Drift' dancing. Did you plant them root ball to root ball and let them play?

  • monkeytreeboy15
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Love the Abies grandis 'Aurea'! Where did you get yours?

    The blue and gold spruces are a wonderful pairing indeed.
    Also, it's Picea pungens 'The Blues' but you probably know this.

    'Hosta La Vista' is correct. I believe this plant was named as such because it was found as a witch's broom at Hidden Lake Gardens, and the tree was near a bed of hostas.
    So they gave it a name that literally means "a view of the hostas": a pretty clever play on words, in my opinion. :0)

    -Sam

  • severnside
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great pictures again FFG, you certainly are getting a show from your plants.

  • maple_grove_gw
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Another great installment, Will. These threads have become a treat to look forward to. Don't stop 'enabling' now.

  • whaas_5a
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That Pinus mugo 'Pal Maleter' is pretty sweet. I have one as well, just a baby, and he flushed green. We'll see what happens next year.

    Taylor has surprised me this year as its still fairly yellow. Perhaps its due to the fact its in part shade. Going on about 5 weeks now and will probably last 7 or 8 weeks.

    Nice Abies concolor 'Hosta La Vista' as well. Mine is looking subpar for sure.

  • clement_2006
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago


    Abies grandis "Aurea" in center,no doubts, it's a big tree.
    Clement

  • firefightergardener
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The idea for Picea abies 'Gold Drift' and Picea pungens 'The Blues'(Thank you Sam, that was a careless error) was after visiting Boyko nursery in Oregon with Bob Fincham. Jim's an amazing grower and tender of conifers and he has a great number of ideas displayed through his plants. He had several very large combo's of these two wonderful plants and I was smitten. According to Bob, 'Gold Drift' will outgrow 'The Blues' over time, suggesting that if you choose to do this you start with a larger 'The Blues' and things will slowly even out. Mine appears well set to do just that.

    Thank you Sam also for more backround info on 'Hosta la vista', which is indeed a great combination name both of it's location and a common saying. The former Governator would be proud. :)

    Thanks for showing us all the potential of this monster Clement, THAT is a monster, but beautiful tree. It seems likely mine won't want to stay in it's pot too long!

    Sam, my graft was acquired from a local nursery that, if you haven't, you HAVE to visit. Dragonfly farms is run by Heidi Kaster out of Kingston and besides several thousand other varieties, her conifer offerings are well over 1,000 varieties. Yeah, as in three zero's behind a one. She gets stuff from all over, Iseli, Buchholz, R&R, some newer smaller nurseries in Oregon and she's been a great enabler for me over the last few years. She's less then a half hour from you I think. :)

    More soon, as I'm back from vacation and just starting to get back into the swing of things.

    -Will

  • harv2016
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wonderful pictures, brightens my day to come to the site and see fresh pictures. The Pinus mugo 'Pal Maleter' great.

  • sluice
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nice! The Abies koreana 'Gait' looks grait.

  • unprofessional
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    As a small update, 'Hosta la Vista' was shown in my grafting class yesterday, as well as 'Hosta la Vista Baby' which is a broom found in the original broom that grows about a 1/2" a year. The propagator mentioned that the original 'Hosta la Vista' broom is about 15' across!

  • davidtree
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    great looking pictures

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