The uniqueness of the conifer in the attached photo was a highlight of the tour. This conifer is available through Buchholz.

Dave

Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Schirrmann's Nordlicht'

Wolfgang

Dave

Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'White Spot' is a variegated "Dawn Redwood" with light green foliage blotched with white. I used to not care for it, and don't even have one anymore. Then I saw it looking absolutely beautiful in the rain at Arboretum Trompenburg in Rotterdam. Gert Fortgens, the director, told me the secret was to keep it pruned. A fantastic mutation did occur on 'White Spot' in Germany. This dwarf happy-looking conifer is called 'Schirrmann's Nordlicht' in Europe, and we were given permission to give it the translated name 'North Light' in America (However we use both names on every label when they are sold).

Here is another random rant in his blog. Its funny because it reminds me of grumpy old man.

Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood'
But, in mid July, what still looks good? Well, most cultivars actually. Many nurserymen and gardeners have grown callous to the purple-reds, both the uprights and the mounding laceleafs. They are ubiquitous for sure, and can be found in every type of landscape. I can show you a decent-looking 'Bloodgood' in front of a dilapidated white-trash trailer, and I have to applaud the dwellers for having spent part of their welfare check on a great plant. More likely they stole the tree, but at least they took a classy plant over a toilet with petunias.

Speaking of trash, a trailer neighbor resides at the beginning of the back-road entrance into our nursery. They and their drug friends park on my road, and then look surly at me as I wait for them to move. Their scabby horses jump their poorly-tended fences and trample through our display garden. For thirty two years I've had to hold my breath as I pass these low-lives. They keep breeding, and every sixteen years or so, I'm presented with another generation.