Four years of Abies koreana 'Kohouts Icebreaker'
Perhaps no plant in the last few years has caused so much excitement amongst conifer collectors and avid gardeners and not without good reason. This is an amazing newer introduction and sure to be a long-time winner and beauty in any garden. Found by Jorg Kohout, it's a slower growing, silvery beautiful plant, though it's growth habit can be variable unless controlled by pruning. I can now show four years of growth from two specimens, both planted in 2009, purchased from Coenosium Gardens. They are in dissimilar light situations, as explained below, and have thus grown quite differently though it remains to be seen if the light conditions are the reason for the difference in growth.
This first specimen has been growing in full sun, which here in the Pacific Northwest means 12+ hours of daylight in Summer. It's been watered normally and never fertilized.
2010
2011 - Early push.
2011 - Hardened foliage.
2012 - Early push. Super color.
2012 - Here at the bottom of the plant, you can see a strong leader forming.
2013 - This year the leader exploded into a strong upright terminal leader with a growth of about seven inches.
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This second specimen is planted under a Japanese maple and gets little more than 4-5 hours of direct sun a day, and that's at peak Summer. The rest of the year it gets barely a few hours of direct sun with the rest, indirect. As with all of my conifers, it receives NO fertilizer and is planted in well-drained, relatively poor, sandy soil.
2010
2011
2012
2013 - Still no sign of a leader though it does seem to be growing laterally towards the sun, so to speak a little faster than the other lateral shoots. It's small in comparison to my front yard specimen.
Finally I have a specimen grafted on a standard. It's only been in my garden since Autumn, 2010 but it shows a little more compact behavior. Rest assured it IS 'Kohouts Icebreaker'. I know some people will think it is not but it's a Bob Fincham graft, so I am confident in it's identity.
2010
2012
2013
So what is going on? Is it simply more sun causing the first specimen to grow so strongly? I think so, though it is seen often in dwarf/miniature fir cultivars that with many years they turn upwards and form a faster growing, though still dwarfish leader. This front yard bed the first specimen is growing in has several other fir miniature/dwarves and almost ALL of them that have 3+ years in the ground are exhibiting similar behavior. Here are some examples:
Abies koreana 'Silberperle' - Two monstrous leaders appeared out of nowhere on this plant, after years of 1" a year growth.
Abies veitchii 'Heddergott' - Very symmetrical until it exploded upwards with a six inch leader...
My own gardening experience with conifers is in it's infancy. I've learned what I can from the great noblemen/women in the industry/hobby. My opinion is a small grain of salt to be sure but my hunch is simply that full sun AND time will generate a more upright plant with accelerated growth upwards, though still a very beautiful plant. Certainly others with much more experience than me are welcome to chime in.
One thing is sure. The sooner you can find one of these beauties and get it planted in a protected, sunny spot, you'll be a happy gardener sporting one of the most beautiful 'trees' known to gardening.
-Will
Comments (18)
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
PRODavid Olszyk, President, American Conifer Society
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David Olszyk, President, American Conifer Society