Choice with striking blue color.

All three words in the cultivar name are improper...for someone else to correct that has a concern to do so.

Dave

There's an Iseli plant that might be Slenderina (Slenderella) - Anyways it's a Tsuga can. Does this matter, I can't remember?

Dax

Skinners Nursery in Topeka Kansas had 3 for sale about a month ago. I passed for some reason or another. After second thoughts I decided that getting one in the ground now would give it a better chance of survival next year so I went back for the one I liked. Needless to say...it was gone and the other two I passed on because they were not perfect specimens.

These cultivars are only sold by Eshraghi Nursery thus I suppose the high price they command. I did notice on the name tag the cultivar name has changed to Picea pnngens 'Slenderiana Blue'.

Interesting it carries no trade mark now and the cultivar name is changed.

Still one of the Picea pungens to have...a beautiful cultivar that has a pendulas narrow growth habit.

Dave

The other one is being introduced by a nursery that put a patent onto a Pinus nigra 'Arnold Sentinal' look alike.

It is too bad that cultivars are sometimes "rediscovered" in somebody's yard and given new names.

Bob

Labels would've sure helped. I'm not even going any further with that though.

Dax

mark

Is that why the patent application went away?

Mark did your 'Slenderina' live and can you post a photo?

Dave

When I got the tree I was actually going to get a Picea glauca 'Pendula'. And even though I'll have to watch this one a little closer to make sure it stays straight and vertical ( they tend to want to bend over some going into maturity according to Eshraghi ) when I saw how blue this was, and it's slightly irregular shape, I went for it.

And Eshraghi does still go by their full name Picea pungens ‘Glauca Slenderina Pendula’. I'll post a current picture tomorrow.

mark

A good example: Picea pungens 'Globosa/R.H. Montgomery'

Dave

Pinus strobus 'Bennett OD' is identical to the later n amed 'Bergman's Variegated'. Tsuga canadensis 'Horsford Contorted' is identical to the later named 'Pigtail' and so forth.

Just let me say that Picea pungens 'The Blues', which was introduced by Stanley and Sons, where Larry still has the original sport, is apparently identical to the later named '...Slenderina', even to the bending as it ages, and the later named Picea pungens 'Glauca Blue Falls'. I do wonder that such an exceptional weeping form of Picea pungens should appear after hundreds of years and when larger specimens become available, two other weeping forms that appear to be identical also suddenly appear within 50 miles of the first. If these are true sports as claimed, they didn't deserve naming since they apparently are not distinguishable from 'The Blues'. It seems to me that a new cultivar needs to have some distinguishing characteristics or its origin is always going to come into question (as well as adding more confusion to conifer taxonomy).

Technically the nurseries could have trademarked their names onto the plant and then if it is 'The Blues' everything would be out in the open and above board.

Bob

mark

The needle length, bud structure, growth habits including the bending on an angle if not staked is identical in my opinion. I know other nursery folks here agree as well.

Dave, I hope you aren't paying too much more than a Blues of the same size. I just have this feeling it is the same plant. Either way it is still a nice weeping selection and certainly garden worthy. It just would be too bad if Larry's find is not getting the credit it deserves.

Darren

I got the impression that he thought doing so was a little iffy but since he did not know me from Adam and came right out with the story I was also left thinking he thought this kind of thing was more or less standard practice in the industry.

I know quite a few nurserymen and all but a few make every effort to put correct names on their plants. Those that don't shouldn't be in the business. It gives the nursery business a bad name (which you demonstrated by assuming that plant renaming is a common practice in the trade), adds to naming confusion, and creates some bad feelings.

I am not referring to renaming to correct errors but rather for the purpose of taking credit for a plant discovery or for financial gain.

If a plant name is not known for certain, then a nurseryman needs to use the name he thinks it is and indicate what is going on either in the way the name is written or in the catalog description.

Bob

I was also left thinking he thought this kind of thing was more or less standard practice in the industry

Sorry about that. I missed the he.

An example, I was in looking at the final closeouts at my Home Depot and they still had several Japanese maples. But almost all of them were from some nursery that put nice big tags on the trees that said nothing more that Japanese Maple, no varietal at all. So you don't know what it's true colors are going to be, or size, or anything else. And of course the kids working those areas don't have a clue.

mark

One year Home Depot here was selling an evergreen form of Magnolia virginiana as the deciduous yellow hybrid 'Elizabeth'.

And so on. Now that Hines was run into the ground by selling below cost to Home Depot - or so it was claimed by insiders posting elsewhere on the internet - we will see what Home Depot comes up with for subsequent springs.