A few simple words

I recently had an opportunity to show off my garden to a few friends that are relatively new to the world of conifers. They exhibited all the responses that I have seen time and again for years. I find it quite amusing to hear educated people reduce their vocabulary to just a few one or two syllable words.

“Wow!” or its variant, “Oh, wow!”

“Awesome!”

And the very popular, “Ooooooo.”

Frequently as I give tours of my garden, people are at first amazed, and then very curious. Probably the single most asked question is, “How big will it get?”

How big will it get? An excellent question that seems to be increasingly confusing as more and more growers market their products. Some growers list basic information such as, “Grows to 25 feet” or “Matures at 25 feet.” Some growers provide an annual growth rate and a 10 or 20 year size. These are the most useful because conifers will never get to a certain height and just stop growing. If you look at the annual growth rate and the current size of the plant, you can make a fairly accurate guess on how old the specimen is now. With simple math skills, you may determine the approximate size of the plant in another 10, 20 or 50 years.

Since one man’s’ dwarf conifer might be another’s miniature, The American Conifer Society has adopted a very useful guide to help conifer enthusiasts determine how their plant may grow by setting up four categories:

Miniature = less than one inch per year
Dwarf = one to six inches per year
Intermediate = six to twelve inches per year
Large = Greater than twelve inches per year

A large growing conifer, such as the Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), a native forest tree in the Pacific Northwest, could be expected to grow more than 12 inches per year. (I’ve seen young trees put on two to three feet of growth in one year.)  In contrast, the dwarf cultivar, Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Little Jon’ grows approximately 3 to 5 inches per year. The native Douglas Fir will be well over 25 feet tall on its 20th birthday compared with the ‘Little Jon’ that will grow to three to five feet tall in the same time. Comparatively, the miniature Abies lasiocarpa ‘Duflon’ will only add one to two centimeters of annual growth making it well under one foot in the same 20 years.

If you have ever wondered why growth rates can be so varied for a specific cultivar, you must keep in mind that physical environments related to geographical location can greatly affect the listed annual growth rates. The grower in Oregon in near perfect conditions with ample water, great soil and mild temperatures is sure to see different growth rates than the gardeners in Syracuse, New York, Atlanta, Georgia or Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Oregon, the Douglas Fir enjoys one or two feet of growth per year while in Wisconsin it may grow 6 to 12 inches per year.

Conifers truly are amazing.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Thanks to my friends at Iseli Nursery for the photo link!

For the love of gold

 

We enjoyed our first heat wave after what seemed like an endless weather pattern that was not quite winter and not quite spring. Then, suddenly we found ourselves with temperatures in the 90’s for two days. Today, it’s back to rain, but at least it’s more typical of May in western Oregon with temps in the 60’s rather than the 40’s!

 

With our crazy weather the past several weeks, the conifers are running a few weeks late with their push of new growth. Even so, they are beginning to “wake up” and the color of their fresh spring growth always brightens my mood. One conifer that gives a double color show this time of year is Picea orientalis ‘Skylands.’ 

 

 

‘Skylands’ is a beautiful golden yellow oriental spruce with short, soft, glossy needles. It forms a very tidy large tree with stunning color all year-round. The first sign of life is during the spring when small reddish pollen cones begin to develop all over the tree adding great color interest. A few weeks later, the buds will break forth with bright yellow foliar growth that is simply stunning. The color of this tree is something you really need to see in person for its full impact. The yellow color seems to intensify through the summer and matures to a rich golden yellow tone in autumn and then fades just a bit to a golden tinged green before the whole process begins again the next spring. 

 

 

Hardy to Zone 4, great color, tidy large grower, and gives a happy sense of well-being all year long. I love this conifer, and I think you will too!

 

Ed-

Conifer Lover

 

Looking sharp in the garden

 

One of the great native trees to my area in the Pacific Northwest is the Sitka Spruce. Picea sitchensis is the largest growing of the spruce family and has a history rich in the folklore of the native peoples in this area. One very large old specimen near the Oregon Coast had been known as the largest Sitka Spruce in the United States until the storm of December 2, 2007 brought the tree down. It was reported to be 200 feet tall and estimated to be 500 to 750 years old. A beautiful forest tree, but a little too large for the average home garden, Picea sitchensis has “mothered” slower growing cultivars that are more garden friendly.

 

 

Picea sitchensis ‘Papoose’ is one dwarf form of the Sitka Spruce worthy of a place in any garden. Its needles are bi-colored giving the overall plant a nice blue-green appearance. Upon closer inspection the bi-color nature of the needles is revealed. Be careful, those needles are very sharp to the touch. When the new growth emerges, the outer sides of the needles are visibly bright green. As the foliage matures and hardens through the season, the green color becomes darker and the needles expand and curve outward exposing their waxy coating on the undersides giving a bluish appearance. Growing only 2-3 inches per year, ‘Papoose’ remains compact and tidy in the garden. The beautiful specimen pictured here is approximately seven feet tall, eight feet wide and nearly thirty years old.

 

Ed-

Conifer Lover

 

Thanks to my friends at Iseli Nursery for the photo links.