I doubt any will grow for you in MD. I've seen freeze damage to K. evelyniana and K. davidiana can be damaged in NC some years. They are next for sure. Here they are fast growing, new flushes of growth can be very reddish and the cones are cool. They are similar to true firs, but have no scent to their foliage and the cones fall from the trees intact like Picea. They can be rooted from cuttings pretty easily, but seeds seem to have short viability and most bought online are duds.

I've seen K. davidiana rated to z7, even one place said z5 (which seemed laughable based on the native range).

Not hardy in Germany, except with some luck and good winter protection in Z 8.(wine climate).

Wolfgang

Whenever you see what seems to be a significant or unorthodox zone rating for a plant try to get whatever background information you can on what the specific basis was for that rating - misinterpretation of the USDA zoning system is frequent.

I grew one of the Keteleeria species to maybe 2' tall before it appeared to freeze out one year.

The NCSU arb. lists a few. They are essentially a zn 8a climate IMHO that has had a couple severe zone busting freezes. But I'm not sure where the current map places them.

They've been listed as zn 7 by nurseries for a long time but compared to say, Cunninghamia, I think actual specimens in zn 7 locations are essentially unknown. For example that's how my Forestfarm 1997 catalog lists K. davidiana, but zn 8 for K. evelyniana. I've known about them for a long time but in contrast with many other rare conifers I could think of, I've never seen a picture of one that made me think "wow, I want that in my yard with limited space" and hence never bothered to try one. They always sorta look like a cross of a fir, a yew, and a hemlock, though, or perhaps just a particularly non-descript China fir. I suppose red new growth would be something.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/horticulture/current_plantings/current_plantings_advanced_search.html

I would love to see a FF 1997 catalog just for grins.

Some university libraries have nursery catalog files and stacks going back many years. These are where you go to get first dates of introduction to commerce (or at least first appearances in catalogs) and original descriptions of older cultivars.

The only place in the DC that might have something like that is Brookside Gardens library, but I doubt it. (They probably have current ones) Catalogs, even though they can seem literary in scope, seldom seem to merit preservation anymore . I just checked, even the LOC and Longwood don't have Forestfarm catalogs. I seem to recall reading the garden club of America has a catalog collection but it's only available to researchers. UPDATE: the EC Miller Library in Seattle has most Forestfarm catalogs going back to 1987, Good for them. Very forward thinking. In an area like horticulture, the history of the field's commerce IS part of the field's history. It's a commercial art for crying out loud.

Anyhow you'd be surprised how similar it is to today's Forestfarm catalog; their selection over the years has been pretty steady and unchanging.

I see a changing gallery of items every year. Many listings come and go during the course of a season - the fact that some of the inventory continues to include the same items for many years does not mean there is not a frequent rotation of the rest of it.

Typically stacks of old nursery catalogs are the kind of thing you find in the basements of university libraries, not up in the "active" collections - although a few may have some so disposed.

Yeah that's why I said "over the years", not "from year to year". Of course when a new species or cultivar comes along into general cultivation they will offer it if they can; OTOH they lose their sources for certain things like Ehretias and have to stop offering them. Things filter in and out based on their propagation choices, but there's a core group of plants they always try to offer...which for them is a big chunk of the standard temperate ornamental plants solid in this country. Sometimes I think I'm seeing a new offering and I go find an old catalog that had it. But they aren't like Seneca Hill Perennials, for example, where if you compare the 2000 catalog with the 2006 catalog you might only find 25% overlap. Colvos Creek's list has more flux, too. I think Forestfarm is fairly unique for their ambitiuous breadth, at least for a retailer.

I suppose you could be right that some universities keep unofficial copies of catalogs...or that they end up in collections that separately indexed.

The keteleerias at SFA look good, they need heat do well and fill out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Keteleeria evelyniana - SFA Gardens

Thanks Fairfield, I'd forgotten to look there but it's certainly a plant that Dr. Creech & company would have thought to try. (they even have a Sequoia semprevirens there. Yes Virginia, there are California Redwoods in Texas, and Virginia!) I still say based on the helpful pictures in that article, it would be near the bottom of my list of rare conifers to fret about obtaining. Although I suppose the branching of the ancient Chinese one has a certain mildly picturesque quality.

I sure they do have a Sequoia there, they have a lot of different stuff. I have a 'Soquel' myself. I can't wait for the spring plant sale, lots of things I could never find here.