Have you been to Longwood? Top notch and a must. Another one which is not too far from Philly is Chanticleer, which is not quite as big as Longwood but excellent nevertheless and definitely worth the drive. Both gardens demonstate effective use of conifers in the landscape, and are a whole lot of fun to visit! I should point out that, while both gardens feature a nice selection of conifers, but it's not their main focus. And the conifers you'll see are mostly species plants, not cultivars. Also, the Morris Arboretum of U. Penn. is worth a visit too. Same considerations apply.

Alex

Susanna Farm Nursery in Boyds, MD, specializes in dwarf and unusual conifers and Japanese maples. Also, have you thought of joining the American Conifer Society? A quick glance at the member directory shows five members in Maryland whose gardens are available for viewing and tours by members.

Sara

Here is a link that might be useful: ACS Membership application

Brookside Gardens is a lovely public garden in Silver Spring MD. They have been renovating their Japanese tea house garden, so it would be worth a check to see if that will be open when you visit. It doesn't focus on conifers, but if I recall, the Japanese section in particular featured some interesting varieties. It is donation only and makes for a nice visit.

LaDew Topiary Gardens in Moncton, MD.

Here is a link that might be useful: LaDew

form, how do you know about Susanna all the way out there in California? Former resident of the DC area or something? They have a nice selection...but vie with a couple other nurseries as the most expensive local garden centers I've ever been to. Which is fine, they serve an area where people have a lot of disposable income.
Here is the order of important *conifer* gardens, IMHO:

1) National Arboretum (if you like cultivars)
1) Longwood (if you prefer species)
2) Morris Arboretum

Chanticleer is an amazing garden. Even some of my west coast friends agree it is one of the top display gardens in the country. But I don't remember many interesting conifers there. The same applies to Ladew, unless you find a monoculture of clipped Taxus and Arborvitae to be interesting. (which isn't to say it isn't worth visiting. They also have nice display gardens but nothing like the vastness of Longwood or the horticultural sui generis and genius loci of Chanticleer)

btw Brookside has a few interesting conifers - like a Glyptostrobus, a Taxodium 'Prairie Sentinel' (which hasn't been pruned correctly), and a Cunninghamia...but you can see those elsewhere.

Through the ACS! Since the OP wanted to view conifers, I wasn't thinking about price, just that they would likely have a good selection to study. Actually I am a former resident of the DC area but it's been almost 35 years!

.but vie with a couple other nurseries as the most expensive local garden centers I've ever been to.

==>>> let me be very clear ... the key here is ... VIEWING CONIFERS ... [thats two words... sue me.. lol]

so go 'view' ... if you see something you like.. FIRST!!! ... snap a pic of the LABEL!!! ... then the plant ... you say.. no way!! ... i say.. yes way.. lol ...

and then.. load the pix on the computer ... and change the pic file name to the plant name ... yes way again ... lol ... then you will have pix of plants.. with names attached.. so you can track them down.. and dont forget.. latin rules ...

and i will yell the rest... THEN SHOP MAIL ORDER .... CRIKEY .. there is no reason to pay a premium ... just for the hell of it ...

now.. on the other hand.. if someone spends an hour with you at some nursery ..... gratis ... then i would whip out the wallet.. and buy something .. they invested .. so why not pay them back ...

the thing with conifers.... as a collector... i would rather buy 4 plants for $100 total ... i have time ... so i will be starting with one foot plants ...

other peeps will pay $400 for an 8 foot specimen of ONE OF THEM ... and all the power to them ... and if your market will bear the price.. so be it ... but that doesnt mean we all have to pay top dollar... and part of that equation ... is walking away worth something in your hand.. to some peeps.. the 'buy' is most the fun ...

in your other post.. i am already leaning you toward fall planting... do understand.. you can buy all summer long.. and you HOLD THEM ... until its time to break them out of the pot.... if you want to learn about HOLDING THEM OVER... new post ...

i see you got a reply to our favored vendors .... yipee ...

if you think you are hooked... by looking online... wait until you see them in person ...

have fun

ken

ps: try to avoid buying BIG ... unless you are willing to have them professionally installed and guaranteed ... .... i would suggest staying under the 3 foot range for a newb ... which translates into a 2 foot plant.. when the pot/roots are in the ground .... and that size.. is mail order ready ....

pps: everywhere you go ... has IDEAS for landscaping.. dont go all tunnel vision on us.. and miss the bigger picture.. of opportunities to SEE everything ....

Ok whoa, so many great recommendations here-- I'm not sure where to start... Thanks everyone!!

Of all the ones mentioned, the only that I've been to are Longwood and Ladew, and neither of them recently, or when I was interested in specific plants. I'm not far from Ladew and could visit anytime but after reading this, it's not at the tippy-top of my list.

I think my first trip will be to Brookside and Susanna's and then on another day Longwood and the National Arboretum if I can do both in one day, which I'm thinking I probably can't... with the kids especially.

Form, thanks for the link and suggestion-- I think I will join! Funds are a little tight but it sounds like a worthy cause with some great benefits.

I'm already so enthralled with many on Susanna's website so am really looking forward to the prospect of finding a couple favorites that will pass my size test and hopefully finding them at one of the recommended mail order companies some of you recommended.

I know I should be ashamed to admit to this extreme level of newbie gardening but what's the big difference between cultivars and species? I'd assume the cultivars were cultivated, ha-- somewhat man-made? Trees that some conifer-loving genius put together to make a new? And species is just whatever original trees Mother Nature started with before we got all up in there and started messin around? ; )

I can't figure out why a few people on this and other boards have said things like "it depends on what you prefer, cultivars or species"... Does one not mix the two in their gardens for some reason? Sorry, I'm just a little stumped on this one. Hehe.

...Stumped.

A 'species' tree is just that - a random individual of that particular species. A cultivar isn't necessarily "bred" or man-made (although they can be) - just selected and cloned.

If you plant 100 seeds of any conifer (or any plant) - they'll all, generally speaking, be identifiable as whatever species they are, but a few might be just unique enough in their characteristics that they are worth preserving and cloning, i.e., propagating by grafting or cuttings to preserve that trait and multiply trees that exhibit those same traits exactly.

Conifers also are prone to "witch's brooms" - dwarfed or contorted branches that appear on an otherwise normal tree that also can be grafted and propagated.

Someone better at explaining things than me can probably chime in...

Hairmetal explained it well. A 'species' tree is one that occurs naturally. Say Pinus thunbergii. Cultivar is short for 'cultivated variety' and is a plant that has been observed as a seedling, as a mutation on a naturally occurring plant, or bred by a human and then selected for desirable characteristics and propagated. The thing to remember with conifers is that almost all of the species trees grow way too big way too fast for most of us to have in our gardens. I have hundreds of cultivars but only about a dozen species trees. To put it in perspective, there are approximately 615 different conifer species (depends on which authority you use) but there are over 8,000 cultivars. A Pinus thunbergii cultivar would be, for example, Pinus thunbergii 'Thunderhead'.

Clear as mud?

Sara

I enjoyed the Gotelli Conifer collection at the National Arboretum.
It's a long way from the main entrance, but very close to the Washington Times parking lot. I believe it's gated now.
I can't see how you can see the National Arboretum AND Longwood in the same day......even without kids.
Mike

I enjoyed the Gotelli Conifer collection at the National Arboretum.
It's a long way from the main entrance, but very close to the Washington Times parking lot. I believe it's gated now.
I can't see how you can see the National Arboretum AND Longwood in the same day......even without kids.
Mike

simple as pie ....

cultivar = cultivated varietal/variety

species grow wild.. in forests... unless you have in excess of 20 acres.. you arent going to be planting many of these... if you do.. plant them under power lines.. so you can complain that when they are 100 feet tall.. the power company cut them down.. lol ...

slower growing versions .. different colors.. etc ... see link ... are chosen ... and cultivated [grown by mankind] ... for smaller yards ... and they usually have a name in quotes ... after the species they belong to ... [and 99% of conifers are cultivated thru grafting ... they arent corn]

soooo ..

as per the example above ...

Pine thunbergi is the species ... google : Pinus thunbergii forest .. flip to images.. and see how big they get ....

'thunderhead' is a really cool cultivar... sought for its slower annual growth rate.. and its cool white buds in spring ... a backyard plant for everyone.. as compared to the telephone pole trees of the forest ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: how fast they grow

Gotcha, thanks for the explanations!

I'm thinking I may have a few species trees on my property now. It's actually a very sad thing. We have several trees and plants that I truly love but are in horrible places. It's like whoever planted them back in the 70's new absolutely nothing about trees-- the placement is so bad, it makes me wish we didn't have them at all. If we have them cut down one day, not only will it cost us thousands of dollars but I can't imagine being able to plant anything else anywhere near where they are now-- the roots systems must be incredible. Frustrating, and sad.

See that huge conifer on the bottom right? We have two of them, one on each corner of our yard, and you have a hard time seeing cars there sometimes-- the bottom branches have had to be cut a few times (when previous owners were here). Plus the snow has weighed so heavily on some of the branches that they've snapped right off, making big gaping holes right in the middles of the trees. The JM is a beautiful dark dark red color-- to me anyway-- but it's huge and directly in front of our front door! Oh and that's an insanely large silver maple sticking up behind the JM... it's in our backyard and only about 15' away from our house.

The other one.

This one is less than 6' from the house. So many branches have had to come off it, it looks kinda silly now.

Finally, the silver maple. This one played a big role in me wanting this house, bc it provides enough shade for me to have some hosta and coleus planted, inside the fence where the deer can't get them. I wanted to build my daughter a treehouse in it. We've had a few local and reputable tree guys come out to give recommendations and estimates. They all said it'll have to go at some point, due to previous "topping off" over the years. Nobody said it's a danger now though, thank goodness. Once it's gone not only will my prospects for a shade garden be gone with it but my favorite place to eat dinner will too. Sigh.

That last shot was taken from the top step, leading up to the pool. This one was taken from the pool area beyond. The tree is enormous even though it's apparently been cut many times, and incorrectly.

Nice patio w/the tree.

Of course the tree-cutters recommend cutting it. Me, I'd find a way to help or preserve that tree -- could live decades more.

Thanks Beng-- that's why I find it so sad. We liked the bare bones of the house but almost every square inch of it needs *some*thing. The patio area was one of the only things I loved straight away and to imagine the tree getting chopped down, stings a little.

I don't think the tree guys were lying though-- there are 2 entire trunks completely cut off at the base, on the opposite side of the pic. See it looks like there are 6? There were 8 at one time. And the place where the cuts are, was infested with termites at one point. Whether the termites forced the cuts or the cuts left it primed for termites, I'll never know. But it can't be good for the tree.

I don't know-- maybe I'll start a thread about it somewhere else. I realized late last night that I shouldn't have added this all to my conifer-gardens post. Anyone know how I can delete these last few follow-ups? I don't want the post all junked up in case others come here for conifer garden recommendations.