Looks so friendly and soft! I like this one for sure.

I have 'Thunderhead' but have been warned that Pinus thundergii "may" not perform in my zone 5.

Any ideas on age? I can find out what low your plant experienced unless you know it off the top of your head.

i am in wind swept.. full sun.. COLD zone 5 .. interpret that anyway you want ...

this thunbergii ... if in fact it is such .. grows like a weed ... with no care about being in z5 ...

thunderhead also does well .. but shows some winter burn.. is half the size ... in about the same number of years ... and needs to be cleaned out often.. and that is not a fun job ...

database says:

mini mounds: GIR 6/2004
thunderhead: SS 9/2003 -- which is stanley

i dont have a current photo of thunderhead ... walked right by it when i snapped the current crop of pix ... both would have been 2nd or 3 year one gal pots .... as i rarely bought bigger than such.... once i started buying in volume ...

ken

Ken,

It is a beautiful tree. I was thinking the exact same thing as Whaas that it looks so soft.

What do you mean Thunderhead needs to be cleaned out? Here I though conifers were NO WORK? LOL So you actually have to clean out the old needles from the ground?

Lady, some pines aren't very dense so the needles fall to the ground. Others are quite dense and require you to pull out the needles within the canopy. You need to do this to improve air circulation.

I can tell Ken is going to have to clean out this 'Mini Mounds' plant.

I think that 'Mini Mounds' is just a renamed Japanese cultivar like 'Sayonara', 'Maijima' or 'Banshosho'...
Just can't say which one because I've never seen mature one's of these.

Whaas, do you use a rake for the taller varieties? I've never done anything like that with my conifers.