Boy, that was a hot ass week to be shipping conifers from the west coast, lol.

I'm sure they where well watered and hardened off though.

I'd give them a good drink and put them in full shade for the next several weeks. Once you see a trend of 60s or low 70s for a high then I'd plant them out.

You'll get a wide range of opinions here but I'd simply tease the roots and plant. For those that are excessively pot bound I plant and then dig up in March to fix the roots. I wouldn't attempt to do a full bare rooting of a conifer for fall planting in zone 5.

If you did get any b&b, just pull the dirt away from the trunk to find the flare and make sure that its at or just slightly above ground level. Don't mess with that rootball otherwise.

it was over 90 in my MI this week ... high humidity.. muggy nights ...

i would plant no conifer in august in MI ...

i would put them in full shade.. and insure a good watering.. and understand.. that they are not annuals nor perennials.. and do NOT need water every day ....

and target when nights are reliably cool ... and days 70 ish warm ... no sooner than mid sept .....

in other words.. what he said...

refer to the link.. especially all that revolves around clay soil ...

MI is in a rare area... where planting can be done either in fall ... or at ground thaw in spring ... either way.. you have 6 to 8 weeks before ground freeze [suspended animation of winter] ... or 6 to 8 weeks.. before the heat of summer.. or if fall planted ... 6 to 8 months before high heat ... that is what i call.. root growing time.. so that the plant will be able to process the water.. to get thru the heat ...

you go much south of us.. where there is no ground freeze .... and the rules change significantly ..... north is about the same as us .... as whaas notes ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Well they got here in pretty decent shape it looks like. I think I will leave them in pots for a couple of weeks as suggested (although the instructions on conifer kingdom website says to plant within a day or two).

I have to say they plants look great, size is fabulous and love the blue on the St. Joseph's broom. Its so tempting to put these in the ground now. They also threw in an Acer palmatum ben otaki as a freebie.....now got to figure out where to put it!

Will definitely use them again.

Some of those in the pic are locally acquired (see first post)
The tag for Thuja orientalis Franky boy indicates it can be sun/part shade/shade.....I had a full sun spot for it but now wondering it it should not be in part shade for protection

if they are warrantied....

you do what the warrantor tells you to do ...

not some schmuck down the road ... lol

many of mine.. came at a discount.. as i waived the warranty ...

so i waited ...

if there is any question.. CALL THE SELLER AND ASK ... keep in mind.. some guy in the rainy NW ... might not appreciate MI in august .... i often wonder.. how sellers offer planting guides that cover all of the northern hemisphere .... eh???

but as i keep saying.. many of these growers are rather lonely peeps.. and do NOT mind a phone call ... so call them ... you paid your money.. you are owed a little hand holding...

congrats... them there are some prime looking plants ..... consider yourself: ENABLED... lol ...

ken

ps: also keep in mind.. on my 5 acres.. if i plant something 450 feet out from the house.. i MIGHT forget about it for a week or two ... and find it dead a month later... on your smaller suburban lot... i doubt you will lose one.. just keep inserting finger.. and do NOT let the roots dry out thru november.. and you will win .... note: do check in nov.. in MI we usually dont need anything then... but it doesnt hurt to check.. too many peeps put away hoses at first frost in mid october.. and its another 6 or 8 weeks before ground freeze ... and SOMETIMES.. drought can happen .... no one knows your soil.. so we cant tell you when to water.... so you keep sticking your finger in.. but one thing for sure.. on low draining soil.. do NOT allow the roots to freeze into an ice cube.. even frozen soil moves air ... but an ice cube does not.. and roots need air.. just as much as water... especially trees/conifers ...

Here is a link that might be useful: planting guide in case you have clay soil... there is nothing here.. that any of us would NOT demand you do ....

You can plant them round year as long as the ground is not frozen. It really has more to do with proper watering and planting plus the ground is a lot cooler than the air in the summer. I've done it plenty of times.

Often too times, people plant trees in the summer but never water it. That is the key issue.

Well I heard back from them, they are more concerned about people leaving the conifers in the pots for long periods and over-watering them. They did not have a problem with leaving them in pots as long as I was careful about watering.

That SJB is one of my favorites from them. Nice and full Carstens as well. Have fun with your new plants!

If you get fresh 1 gallon and 3 gallon stock from Iseli it can be some of the best in the industry. However they have some of the most pot bound stuff in the industry as well. Not sure why its such a mix.

"Not sure why its such a mix."

They want to get rit of their junk first, repotting was probably not an option...

Thuja orientalis 'Franky Boy'
Must be written as
Platycladus orientalis 'Franky Boy'

Pinus mugo Carstens wintergold
Must be written as
Pinus mugo 'Carstens'

Whaas, the St. Joseph broom is great looking, love the blue color but I think the Carstens is a close second. Im assuming there is no problem putting the Carstens in hot sun as long as there is adequate water?

The iseli plants are from a reputable local nursery. I'm assuming that these have been sitting in these pots for several months now. No idea what state the roots are in, I don't plan on taking a closer look till I'm ready to plant.

Coniferjoy, thanks for the corrections. I appreciate the value of good nomenclature as its relevant to my field but for a different group of organisms. However, I'm just repeating the names that Conifer Kingdom put out. I'm assuming they are dealing with the same problems that happen in my field. New names fit the organisms better from a scientific point of view but you have to deal with the fact that the new names are not well known to average layman (such as myself, these are my first dwarf conifer purchases ever). ...................And then just when you finally teach everyone the new name, they just go and change it again :)

close up of the Carstens

Platycladus orientalis 'Franky Boy' should do fine in full sun. I have a small one, much like yours, in full sun and I have seen others happily growing in full sun. Platycladus orientalis has been bulletproof and worry free for me.

Here's one planted in full sun at Lakeview Garden Center in Cincinnati Ohio. This location gets hot and is right next to a very busy road.
{{gwi:644920}}

Carstens will do great in full blazing sun.

Mine tends to burn in March when the ground is frozen but the intensity of the sun increases.

This happened to all my winter golds with the extended cold temps this past March.

This forum isn't helping, as Ken said I can't help myself now. Just took advantage of some local sales to get
Chaemacyparis pisifera white pygmy
Pinus mugo Ophir
Picea glauca pixie dust

Sorry if I butchered the names

You bought yourself another nice selection of conifers.
You didn't butcher the names, they're all right but not written in the proper way.
Let me help you for a next time so you don't write them again as just a row of names.
You wrote:
Chamaecyparis pisifera white pygmy
It must be written as:
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'White Pygmy'
The same counts for the others:
Picea glauca 'Pixie Dust'
and
Pinus mugo 'Ophir'

I hope I helped you with this info.

Looks good and some great choices! Just remember... once you start... it's hard to stop =)

Tell me about it, I'm already thinking about cutting back on the perennial beds!

So I just realized that I planted the St. Joseph broom in about 6h of direct sunlight. While that would be adequate for a full sun perennial, I'm wondering if that's enough for a full sun conifer. Should I consider moving it?

Still hoping to get an answer to my previous question in the post above. Also, getting ready for a last batch of purchases before fall. Here is my shortlist

Abies lasiocarpa 'glauca compacta' (Ken convinced me)
Abies koreana 'Kohout's Ice Breaker'
Picea omorika 'Peve Tijn'
Picea abies 'Soft Mountain'
Pinus strobus 'Louie'

The last one is the only one I am questioning. This would anchor the corner of the bed where most of these are going. The area for it would be 3 feet wide, I'm guessing it will take a long time to ever get that big? I could take Ken's recommendation to enjoy it for a few years and then move it. Feel free to suggest alternatives.

6 hours will be fine for any sun conifer.

You should pass on Louie. 1 meter isn't worth your money and time. You might consider Thuja occidentalis 'Malonyana Aurea'. It looks like it might be tough to locate.

Dax

Thanks Dax, I really want something from the pinus group or failing that the picea group. Have a lot of Thuja around here. My fallback option was picea pungens 'blue totem' but I really like the look of pinus needles. Just want something that's not too wide and not plain green all the time.

Dax can you explain why you suggested skipping Louie? Gets too big? I could expand the bed a little bit to accommodate.