Snow in the valley!

Although our summer arrived quite late, it was lovely, but it does seem as though we had our final day of phenomenal summer-like weather this past Saturday. The high temperature was a little over 80°, the sky was crystal clear in a beautiful gradient of deep, rich blue to soft blue tones near the horizon. There was a slight breeze making the warmth generating daytime chores very comfortable.

Suspecting that we were nearing the end of our dry, outdoor chore weather, we both concentrated on getting as much done in the garden as we could. I had already managed to plant all of my new plant acquisitions, so I didn’t get to dig in the dirt – well, that’s not true – I spent a good hour or two digging out a wheelbarrow load or two of weeds from my newly created/expanded beds. While doing so, I noticed plenty of nice big earthworms doing their jobs aerating the soil and creating their valuable compost in the process. I am disappointed that I was not able to lay a nice thick layer of mulch this year. I definitely need to make that a budget priority next year!

Like snow on the valley floor, Pinus parviflora 'Tanima no yuki' appears as if it has been dusted with wintry precipitation.

Along with the several new conifers I planted this year, I also included several new Lavender plants. You might remember last spring I talked about Lavender being a great companion plant for my conifers. Both my wife and I have enjoyed their calming perfume and pretty little flowers. The bees have been happy and busily working their new discovery this summer. As thrilled as I am with my new collection of Lavender, I am even more excited about some of my new conifers.

The spring candle push of 'Tanima no yuki' is variegated green and white with bright pink highlights.

One of my most prized finds this year as been Pinus parviflora ‘Tanima no yuki’. This little Japanese white pine is a very slow grower within the Dwarf growth rate scale created by the American Conifer Society. The new plant I acquired had put on about two inches of new growth this year. Established plants that I have seen will grow up to three or four inches of new growth, but in a very irregular fashion, creating a small mound with slightly twisted foliage. One of the great features of this new conifer is its variegated foliage.

The maturing summer foliage Pinus parviflora 'Tanima no yuki' is soft and fluffy with white variegation.

When ‘Tanima no yuki’ begins to push its new growth in spring, the candles are a combination of bright pink, green and white. These candles seem to push later than other dwarf Japanese white pines and take even longer for the needles to begin to unfurl and extend outward giving the plant its full, fuzzy appearance. When the needles lengthen and expose themselves, they will have a varying amount of whitish variegation, giving the whole plant a look as if it has been dusted with snow – which incidentally is what the Japanese name translates to: Snow in the Valley.

Hopefully we will have some dry weather and a few days of warmer temperatures before the real rainy season sets in. Although, as winter arrives, we’ll enjoy the year-round beauty of our conifer garden through the large windows while seated in our favorite chairs, sipping warm cups of tea near the wood stove.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

What did you plant in 1999?

The year was 1999. Some happy new homeowners had just moved onto their brand-new property with a blank slate ready for a landscape. One of their number one priorities was to install a fish pond, followed by a nice patio and then landscape plants. Spending most of their budget on the new pond, a collection of colorful Koi, and a very nice covered patio, there was little left for the landscape plants, so they did what many new homeowners do – they spent as little as possible to purchase the largest plants they could afford at the local big-box discount store.

Now, twelve years later, I receive a call from a young friend.

“Hey Ed. I wonder if you’d like to come over and check out our new house. It’s got a cool pond and a whole bunch of big trees – I think some of them are conifers!” He said as if trying to bait this old man’s interest. “I think we’re going to need to get rid of a bunch of these trees and I’m hoping you’ll give me some advice on what to keep.”

Sure enough, my young friends had purchased a nice home, built in 1999, with a fish pond, a nice covered patio – and a collection of species forest trees that were planted to screen the neighbor’s homes which had, in just twelve years, consumed a great portion of the backyard.

Dwarf and miniature conifers, with their managable size, great color and texture and low-maintenance nature make them perfect companions to the natural setting of the backyard pond.

“We’d like to put a veggie garden in over here” my friend said pointing to an area that, because of the number of large trees planted, would receive less than two hours of direct sun per day in the summer. I doubt that much of the backyard will see any direct sun before May, and it will be back to mostly shade by mid September.

“You did say that you wanted to remove some of these large trees, correct?”

Thankfully, my friend is ready to remove most of these trees, opening up his property for a grand vegetable garden and a wonderful collection of dwarf and miniature conifers to complement the pond and make that space a delight. Since the neighbor’s trees have grown over the years as well, the selection of conifers I will recommend will make a much more tidy looking (and easy to maintain) living fence that will not out-grow its space while they regain a great portion of useable real estate and allow much more sunlight into their garden.

I drew up a quick design for my friends, showing them how to implement the plan in stages so that they can plan and budget for each phase of the project. They are excited to fire up the chainsaw and open up their space, and I’m excited that I’ve found a future source of firewood perfect for the fire pit in my own backyard.

The moral to my story is that bigger and cheaper is not always better when it comes to purchasing your landscape plants. It’s always a good idea to have a landscape plan and some understanding of the plants that you are purchasing. My friends are off to a good start and will have a premium garden to pass on to future homeowners, should they decide to sell and move, in another twelve years or so.

Next time I’ll talk about the pond design and my recommendations of dwarf and miniature conifers to complement that space.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Back from the dead

Early last year I was given a great new conifer by a local grower friend. He had been growing this particular dwarf Sitka spruce for a number of years while harvesting scion wood off of it for his propagation purposes. My friend was in the process of re-working a large area of his landscape where this specimen was located, and since I had admired this particular plant for some time, he dug the plant and plopped it into a plastic pot as a special gift for me. I had been out of town at the time and about a week or so after he dug the plant I picked it up and brought it home to plant.

Of course, it was very cold and rainy, and I put off getting this great specimen into the ground for a couple of months. Once planted, I was careful to make sure it had plenty of water. Late last spring it finally pushed a small grunt of new growth. I was happy to see that it had survived, not expecting much from it that first year – especially since it had been neglected from the time it was dug.

Tough as nails, Picea sitchensis 'Silberzwerg' has a great dwarf habit, excellent color and is useful in gardens throughout the country.

We had a bit of a hot spell, and I must not have put quiet enough water on this new planting, because most all of the new growth suffered from sun-scorch. I mentally kicked myself a few times and did my best to give this dwarf spruce better care through the remainder of the year. Unfortunately, as the year progressed, the worse it looked.

It seemed unchanged through the winter and then as my other conifers all began to push this spring, my poor neglected spruce just sat there. I looked the plant over carefully, and it did seem to have some viable buds – they just weren’t swelling yet. Time went on, and it continued to decline. I thought I had lost this new friend.

Then, seemingly overnight, as if it had come back from the dead, my Picea sitchensis ‘Silberzwerg’ popped its first bud, and then another, and another until the plant was covered, somewhat sparsely, with newly pushed foliage! Somehow, through my neglect, this great specimen has survived. I am even more determined to see to it that my ‘Silberzwerg’ not only survives, but puts on a good bud set for next year.

Picea sitchensis ‘Silberzwerg’ is rather new to the nursery trade and I think it will prove to be a great garden conifer. When healthy, it should put on 4-6 inches of new growth per year. When young, it will grow in a mounding, globe shape, but as it matures, I believe it will put on more definite top growth and become a very broad rounded upright mound of green and silvery-blue. The undersides of its very sharp needles have a prominent waxy covering making them near pure white, while the needle tops are a bluish-green color. With a great percentage of the undersides of the needles turned upward, exposing their bright undersides, gives the plant an overall silvery-blue appearance.

Dwarf habit, great color, Hardy to Zone five (and the ability to withstand some neglect on my part), I think ‘Silberzwerg’ has the potential to be an excellent addition to any garden.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

The cute little sister

One advantage to enduring the months of cloudy skies and rain in the Pacific Northwest is the ability to grow a vast assortment of plants, including many conifers that simply will not survive the harsher winter cold and blistering summer heat found elsewhere around the country. For example, many of my friends cannot even consider growing Cryptomeria japonica or any of its amazing cultivars.

The first cultivar of Cryptomeria that I was introduced to, way-back-when, was ‘Elegans’. This intermediate growing tree was quite a beautiful sight to behold – long, soft billowy foliage that softly swayed in the breeze like layers of feathers. When I met this tree while working for a landscaper, it was early spring and it still retained some of its winter copper/plum color. Within weeks it would return to the bronze-green of its warmer season color, lasting until the cold winter temperatures would return.

Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans Nana' is a delightful dwarf sculpture for any of today's gardens.

Although ‘Elegans’ truly is an elegant specimen, it may get too big for today’s smaller gardens. Fortunately, she has a little sister that is quite a beauty herself. Cryptomeria japonica ‘Elegans Nana’ is a wonderful dwarf form of the Plume Japanese Cedar. Growing 2-4 inches per year in my garden, she definitely won’t overgrow even the smallest garden anytime soon. I love her irregular, almost sculpted looking, mounding form. With foliage that is typical of Cryptomeria with succulent, awl-like needles, growing in dense clumps, mounding and layering upon itself, every plant is its own unique creation. Like its big sister, ‘Elegans Nana’ will provide an interesting purplish/reddish/orange color through the cold winter months. In my garden this year, that winter color lingered well into the later months of spring.

A close-up view of Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans Nana'

Purchased as a young plant, ‘Elegans Nana’ is a great candidate for the container garden on the patio or urban balcony. My friends in those colder winter climates might even consider growing many of the dwarf and miniature Cryptomeria in containers if they are able to move them into a protected garage or other structure, remembering that they are rated at Zone 6.

Unique, compact sculptural form, tantalizing soft foliage, color that changes with the seasons, and just being plain cute, I can’t imagine why everyone wouldn’t love to have an ‘Elegans Nana’ in their conifer collection.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Snow in the summer garden?

I know, that last thing many of you want is more snow this year! For those of us in my corner of the Pacific Northwest, with our daily morning drizzle, a little snow would at least be a change of pace. But, that’s not the kind of snow I want to talk about today.

With all the shades of green, blue, and even bright golden-yellow in the conifer garden, I also love the conifers with a more subtle approach to their color scheme. There are two conifers that immediately come to mind that should be useful in just about every region of the country. Some folks will be able to grow both of these plants in their gardens, while others, depending on their location might be better off choosing one over the other.

Cedrus deodara 'Snow Sprite' is a bright spot in the garden all year long.

Cedrus deodara ‘Snow Sprite’ is definitely one of my favorites. This is rated as an intermediate grower by the ACS growth rate standards, but its growth is on the slower end of that scale and in my garden it seems to grow five to six inches per year. I do like to prune my plant to encourage a more fuller, more formal shape, so that can have some influence on its annual growth. What is truly exciting about this conifer is its color. As its name suggests, it is a very light-colored plant with its new growth emerging an almost white, buttery-yellow color. As the foliage matures through the season it does darken a little, but ‘Snow Sprite’ will always be a bright spot in the garden – even in the dead of winter. This Zone 7 tree won’t survive those harsh mid-west winters, but it does quite well along the Pacific and Atlantic seaboards where marine air moderates the winter cold. In the south, cultivars of Cedrus deodara are known to do quite well. I even have a report of ‘Snow Sprite’ surviving happily as far south as Austin, Texas.

Cool off this summer with a Tsuga canadensis 'Summer Snow' planted in the garden.

For folks in those colder winter areas, Tsuga canadensis ‘Summer Snow’ is a fantastic intermediate sized tree that is hardy into Zone 4. Again, it thrives in other moderate areas, but struggles in southern regions. ‘Summer Snow’ flushes its near pure white new foliage every spring which contrasts nicely against the older foliage that has matured to a medium green. Naturally growing into a fairly large tree, it does respond very well to annual shearing which will encourage a fuller form thereby intensifying the effect of its white foliage. Planted against a backdrop of dark green conifers and it will really stand out. Grouping with other colorful conifers and exciting companion plants will give your garden a multi-season appeal with a full pallet of color.

May your garden flourish with all the colors of the rainbow, and may the winter snow truly be many months away!

Ed
Conifer Lover

Losing touch with normality

I had an opportunity to sit down with a long-lost friend at the local coffee shop the other day. Don’t you love it when you haven’t seen an old friend in quite a long time, but when you do finally get together it is as if no time has passed at all. That was how this meeting went.

We talked about all the usual things; family, jobs, religion, politics and gardening. Rest assured, we pretty much solved all of the world problems in just that one visit. Of course my favorite part of the conversation was when we began to talk about gardening – and specifically, conifers!

“Ed,” my friend began in a very serious tone, “I believe I’m beginning to lose touch with normality.”

“Mmmmm…”

“Really – and I think I have you to blame for it.” He continued very seriously.

“I don’t understand. I’m a pretty normal guy.” I said with a straight face. “They don’t come much more normal than me.”

“HA! Ed, you are absolutely NUTS about conifers, how can you claim to be normal!” My friend said, now laughing out loud. “And you’re the reason I’m a conifer nut now too!”

This Picea abies 'Pendula' living fence partially encircles a section of the Jean Iseli Memorial Garden at Iseli Nursery. Planted in 1986, it was staked to a height of approximately eight feet and trained horizontally at about four feet.

We laughed over that as my friend and I shared our experiences with growing more and more conifers in our gardens. Conifers, with their grand assortment of colors, from multiple shades of green and blue and yellow (some a mixture of all three), along with their many forms, from giant trees to tiny little buns, weeping and trailing and mounding and layered, we questioned, “What is normal, anyway?”

After that great visit with my old friend, I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorite conifers, that upon first introductions, people might find rather unusual, but have become very normal and important additions to my garden. These are plants that I often suggest to folks when they ask me what they should add to their gardens – even though their initial response is frequently less than immediately embracing.

Picea abies ‘Pendula’ has become very common and should be available at any independent garden center. If this tree were grown without a support, it would sprawl along the ground, mounding and layering upon itself in delicious waves of dark green, coarsely textured foliage. Most often you will find this plant staked to a height of three to five feet. It only takes a couple of years for the staked main stem to harden and support the plant, so a stake will not be needed for its entire life. Once you arrive home with one of your own, you may choose to let it do its own thing and flop over, and begin to weep toward the ground. As an alternative, you could continue to stake the leader up higher and higher to create a tall slender “waterfall” specimen in your garden. Either way, as the foliage grows down to the ground, it will begin to spread as I described above, adding to the waterfall effect.

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Verdoni' can become a wonderful golden sculpture in the garden, complementing other conifers and ornamentals.

Another fantastic cultivar that has become “normal” to me, but might seem unusual to those new to conifers is Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Verdoni.’ This excellent dwarf cultivar of Hinoki Cypress is notable for its sturdy golden foliage and its naturally sculptural form. Fairly slow growing at two to three inches per year in my garden; ‘Verdoni’ is great accent to any garden because of its bright golden color. Planted as a single specimen to highlight its sculptural characteristics, in a container alone or as part of a grouping, or in the mixed border, this small conifers will be a gorgeous addition to gardens of all sized and themes.

Let me know if these two selections are common normalities, or unusual oddities, from your perspective.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

The colors of peace and harmony

I’ve been thinking about colors in nature and how color has an effect on the human psyche or spirit. Two of the most prominent colors found in our natural world are blue and green. For most of the day, when the sky is clear, it is a vast ever-changing gradient of blues. Then, when we are able to remove ourselves from the confines of large buildings, we can be surrounded by green. From large forest trees towering overhead to small blades of grass, at least for part of the year, we can be engulfed in a world of blue and green hues.

I’ve noticed that I feel much better when the sky is clear and blue and I am surrounded by plants. I began to wonder if color itself may have anything to do with those feelings of peace, harmony, kindness, etc. so I decided to see what I could find online. Sure enough, there is quite an abundance of information that suggests the colors we perceive have an effect on our overall health and mood.

It turns out that blue and green are rather healing in their nature. Green is said to support balance, harmony, love, and acceptance while blue increases a sense of calmness, love, peace, honesty, and devotion.

Abies procera 'Glauca Prostrata' not only makes a stunning statement in the garden, but may also provide a sense of peace and love.

No wonder I love conifers!

Our amazing world of conifers is made up of year-round therapeutic color. From the wide range of green tones through the vast assortment of blues, conifers could single-handedly transform your garden into a private wellness center. Even in the dead of winter, when the blue sky is often blocked from view by a thick layer of clouds and other plant life has dropped its foliage or withered away until spring, the conifer garden can provide a sense of well-being and inner peace.

When spring does arrive, the color of the conifers is renewed as fresh new foliage appears. Plus, with the addition of the yellows, orange, violet and red of various deciduous trees and flowers, the garden can inspire fun, humor, creativity, optimism, enthusiasm, imagination, intuition, vitality, stamina and passion!

No wonder I love gardening!

One really great conifer with a stunning blue color is Abies procera ‘Glauca Prostrata’. This is one bright blue conifer – it is a real stand-out in the garden. Plus, it tends to be a low spreading form that can cover a wide horizontal space. Probably not a true prostrate form, ‘Glauca Prostrata’ does like to send up the occasional upward growing branch which can be easily removed to encourage its flat form. If an irregular, sculptural form is desired, one might choose to allow one or two of these upright stems to grow, but keep a close watch because in time those small upright stems could become dominant and revert the form of your low spreader into a large upright tree. Either way, the color will remain an extraordinary blue.

Until next time, may your garden be a tranquil respite from the stresses of 21st century life.

Ed-
Conifer Lover