Hi Jaro- I have S.v. 'Sternschnuppe'(which I received as Sternschnuppe 1 at the time), S.v. 'Sternschnuppe 2(which has done very little growing and does not appear to have any interest in resembling the fine plant pictured on Dennis' website-see link below), S.v. 'Picola'(a very slow grower-1/2 to 1" per year average so far), And received S.v. 'Gold Star', 'Green Star', 'Perlenglanz', and 'Jeddeloh Compact' this year. You bring up a good idea about conifers that are similar to Sciadopitys. In my mind(not a particularly deep or quick moving place)they could be compared to Metasequoia, although sciadopitys are not deciduous of course. They are definitely hardier than the miniature Cryptomerias that I have('Tenzan', 'Kilmacurragh', 'Koshyi'- they all suffer some degree of burning from winter temps). I can not really compare it to my Cephalotaxus haringtoniana 'Korean Gold' because any part of it that has been above the snow line in winter has been grazed heavily by rabbits, this winter I am going to cover it with a new cage that should/will make it impervious to their dam%ed attacks. An example of how tough they are- once this past winter we received a very heavy/wet snowfall. By the time I saw what used to be my 30" tall 'Sternschnuppe', it was doubled over and the top was almost touching the ground. I hurriedly knocked off all the snow but my poor sciadopitys did not spring up, it was frozen in that doubled over position(and temps only slowly warmed up over the next 45 days, so it was like that for a long time). And now it is nearly arrow straight again and pushing growth normally- none the worse for the experience(next winter it will get some staking support- not going to push my luck). Interesting about "Kohout" being Czech for rooster- I thought that it referenced Jorge Kohout of E. Germany(the Abies koreanna 'Ice Breaker' discoverer). Side note- I believe Silvervista said that Echiniformis was Latin for "hedgehog". Dan- Yes, I like Pinus p. 'Little Hedgehog' too. And no, I do not like the quality of the photo I put up earlier(my top of the line 3mp camera from 6 or 7 years ago is really starting to irritate me). So if you like that crappy photo you are really going to love your plant. It seems to have a sort of clumpy outline that is not discernible in previously mentioned crappy photo. enjoy your gardens, shannon Here is a link that might be useful: Sternschnuppe II

Thanks so much for all the lovely comments. I'm glad I took these pictures when I did, because overnight the temperature went from 74 to 90 and a lot of the blooms are fried and it all looks quite different now. It will be hot again today and I'm afraid the spring flush for the most part is over, although Blush Noisette's many buds haven't opened yet, and ditto for Potter and Moore and a few others. I'm glad that we'll have beautiful roses to look forward to from those who have spent their winters buried in snow.

I love it, as usual. I know some of your roses are young, but your garden has that mature, established look to it. Everything blending together seamlessly. It looks so natural and flowing. I am striving for that look, but I'm a little too free handed with wildflower seeds, and the recent demo has set things back a bit. But you are right. Removing those useless palms has helped tremendously. Lisa

Can you give us a closer picture of the one you want id'd. Did it unfurl all green and then colour up? Dave