Mother and child reunion

Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’ is a majestic golden colored  spruce tree. One of its desirable features is that it begins to set cones at a fairly young age. The purplish red cones,  both, female and male, add real color contrast and interest against the golden yellow foliage of this beautiful tree.

One of the advantages of a tree with prolific annual cone formation is that thousands and thousands of seed may be collected and germinated. Iseli Nursery began germinating  seed collected from the two large specimens of ‘Skylands’  located in the Jean Iseli Memorial Garden in the early  1990′s. Literally thousands of seeds have been carefully  planted, germinated and observed ever since.

Picea orientalis 'Skylands' and one of its offspring

Naturally, when growing thousands of conifer seedlings,  some variation will be apparent. Some of the seedlings  appear almost identical to the parent cultivar with similar foliage color and rate of growth. Others may have a  tendency to be more green in color or even have a faster, more open habit than the original. What Iseli is looking for though are plants with a more compact form,  more intense  golden yellow color, resistance to foliar sunburn, resistance to pests, etc.

Over the years, selections with the best characteristics are made for continued observation. From time to time, some of the lesser seedlings are made available to collectors who  may begin to propagate and distribute them as new cultivars. Meanwhile, back at the nursery, the folks at Iseli continue the evaluation process until one or two seedlings with extraordinary characteristics are chosen for production. Cuttings from those few selected new cultivars are then propagated and the inventory of those selections begins to expand. Eventually, those new cultivars are given names  and made available to the retail market.

One of those original seedlings from back in the early ’90′s  is coming very close to that final stage right now. Currently referred to as Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’ [#1 Seedling], this  new cultivar is truly exciting!

‘Skylands’ [#1 Seedling] is a much more compact grower  than its mother growing just 4-6 inches per year instead of  the 12″+ annual growth rate of ‘Skylands’. The new cultivar  also has brighter, lemon yellow foliage on densely clothed  branches forming a compact golden pyramid. I suspect this  small tree will grow tall in time but should remain  comparatively narrow.

The photo above shows both the “mother” and “child” growing near one another in the garden at Iseli. The ‘Skylands’ in the  background is just over 30 feet tall at perhaps 35 years old,  while [#1 Seedling] is nearly 42 inches tall at 17 years.  Seedlings tend to grow more slowly in their younger years and as they begin to mature, their annual  growth rate stabilizes.

#1 selected 'Skylands' seedling

I am looking forward to this outstanding new cultivar being named and made available to the retail market. I know several people that feel they don’t have room in their gardens for ‘Skylands’. When they see this new cultivar, they will jump at the chance to have its bright golden foliage and compact form highlight a special place in their own landscape.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

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