A great day for conifer gardening

I knew I was dreaming, and I was aware that I was about to awaken, but I didn’t want to.  I had a strong desire to stay right where I was, in the midst of a dream, where the sun was warm and bright, and any troubles were worlds away. As I sat – or stood, now I really don’t recall – I perceived that the light was becoming brighter and engulfing everything around me. I knew I was waking up and BAM – I was awake.

My room was bright. I hadn’t seen this much light, this early in the morning in a long time. I made my best attempt to jump out of bed and instead sort of hobbled over to the window. Sure enough, the sky was clear, and the low rising sun was intense. “It should be a great day to spend some time with my conifers.” I thought to myself.

The natural habit of Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Reis Dwarf' lends itself to creating delightful garden sculptures for growing either in a container or among other plants in the garden.

After a quick breakfast I strapped on my hand pruners, grabbed a small pruning saw (just in case), queued up a playlist on my mp3 player, stuffed my gloves in my back pocket and headed out to see what fun chores I might find to do out in the garden. Once outside, I began making mental notes of the more tedious and less enjoyable things to do like picking up all the fallen debris from the recent storms, pulling the early-season weeds – that sort of thing – while I looked for an activity that would be a little more fun.

Eventually, I found myself in the front garden scrutinizing my Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Reis Dwarf’. Now, before I go on with my morning adventure, I suppose it would be a good idea to tell you a little about this particular cultivar.

‘Reis Dwarf’ is the clone of a seedling selected by Joe Reis back in the 1960s. This cultivar has a very unusual growth habit giving it a tremendous amount of character as it grows and matures. Initially, it grows very slowly with small, scale-like foliage on tiny branches in a low mounding form. It does, however, randomly shoot out much more vigorously growing branches from time to time. The gardener may choose to snip these occasional growths out as they appear, or if a larger, more upright plant is desired, simply allow this accelerated growth to continue on its own. The longer growth will then begin to fill in with smaller, slower growing clumps of foliage – much like the original small plant – adding tremendous character and opportunity to this unusual specimen.

Next time, I will continue the tale of my encounter with my ‘Reis Dwarf’ on this sunny winter morning. Until then, may your gardens be filled with the year-round color and interest of these landscape gems.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

If your garden were a symphony

It had been a long and hectic week; one project after another interspersed with appointments and social events; by the end of the week, I was exhausted and decided that nothing would pull me away from my favorite chair near the big picture window overlooking my conifer garden.

As I sipped my tea and read The Hobbit, allowing myself to become pulled into Middle Earth with Bilbo, the dwarves and Gandalf, I would occasionally take a break from the adventure and gaze out upon my garden. I imagined that this odd group of adventurers would probably feel quite at home in my garden of unusual, dwarf and miniature conifers.

Let your imagination run free while you spend time in your garden!

My Picea omorika ‘Pendula Bruns’ actually does remind me of a tall wizard with a long pointed hat and certainly many of my other dwarf plants are reminiscent of other whimsical creatures from tales of fantasy and folklore. Just the other day, my wife called me to where she was sitting and pointed out that a Cheshire Cat was staring at her from the garden. Sure enough, my Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Verdoni’ had somehow morphed into a large cat sitting with the largest grin you might imagine – and it did appear to be staring right at the place that my wife had been sitting.

If your garden were a symphony, would if be as bold as Shostakovich or a delightful dance by Dufay?

Our imaginations are wonderful and mysterious. Just the other day, between rain storms, as I took a stroll through my garden, I began to imagine that it was a symphony and the plants were not just the players, but their shape, size, texture and color all contributed to the sounds they made. Larger, dense plants gave off rich, deep tones like that of a bow slowly gliding across the strings of a double bass – strong and loud at first and then tapering off to a gentle tone before silence. Other plants, such as my Thuja plicata ‘Whipchord’ were higher pitched and they played their tones as an arpeggio of notes fluttering like a flute or piccolo. By the time I had made my way through the garden, I was refreshed and felt as though I had just enjoyed a live symphony at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

If your garden were a symphony, would it be a grand waltz by Johan Strauss such as, The Blue Danube, or would your garden be something more subtle, like Robert Rich’s Seascape?

Think about your garden design from a different perspective this coming year and see if dwarf and miniature conifers might be just the plants you need for the perfect year-round garden symphony!

Ed-
Conifer Lover

My trip to an ancient forest

I had one of those strange dreams early this morning. I was sitting at a table with my inventor friend. He was holding an unusual looking small box with several different colored wires sticking out, curving, and going back in. On the top of the box was a small red light and a large toggle switch. The light was dim and flashing slowly as we talked.

Suddenly, my friend’s face changed from his usual very serious look to one of mischievous joy. “Here we go!” he said and then flipped the switch. The flashing red light steadily became brighter and flashed more and more quickly until it seemed to be a solid glow. And that’s when it happened.

This absolutely gorgeous selection of the giant redwood, 'Greenpeace' is best suited for larger gardens where it will have room to grow.

I seemed to be flying – or floating – high above a lush green mountainous forest.  Off in the distance I saw a small glow and as quickly as I wondered what it was, I was hovering over a vast forest fire. In no time, the fire was out with just the smoldering after effect of what had once been the undergrowth of a giant redwood forest (Sequoiadendron giganteum).

I found myself on the ground now and as I turned, viewing everything around me, the forest began to come alive with new growth. Tiny seedlings began to sprout and a new generation of redwoods were beginning to emerge. Time moved at an incredible speed as I continued to turn, taking in the view. The young seedlings quickly grew larger and larger as the older generation of trees began to die and fall, undergrowth filled in and died away, and eventually, the tree closest to where I stood, which I saw emerge as a seedling, was a couple of hundred feet tall with a huge girth to its trunk – like pictures I have seen of giant redwoods thousands of  years old.

'Little Stan' is VERY rare and will require some effort to find.

Just then, as quickly as I found myself above that vast forest, I was sitting next to my grinning friend. “How was that?” he asked just as my cat started his morning routine of kneading my chest. I awoke.

Did you know that there are several selections of the giant redwood that are suitable for contemporary gardens? These days, most any gardener may enjoy the sensation of a 3,000 year old forest in their own backyard – even in containers on the patio or balcony – without traveling through time and space.

There are very small, slow growing cultivars, such as ‘Little Stan’ or ‘Blauer Eichzwerg’ that are perfect for smaller theme gardens or containers. I love the blue forms that will grow into large trees but with shades of blue from the soft, bright blue of ‘Power Blue’ to ‘Hazel Smith’ and ‘Glaucum’. ‘Greenpeace’ is a gorgeous, rich green tree that is slightly slower than the species, and develops into a broadly pyramidal form. Finally, there are several weeping forms, from the popular classic, ‘Pendula’, to more recent introductions like, ‘Barabits Requiem’.

No wonder I’m dreaming about giant redwoods – I love them!

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Miniature conifers inspire big imaginations

I believe that my love of miniature gardening began in the late 1960s or early ’70s. Terrariums were reemerging as a popular and low-care way to enjoy houseplants. I checked out several books on the subject from the local library, some of which included lists of where plants and supplies could be obtained through the mail. I ordered a few catalogs and a whole new world of plants was revealed to me.

I remember planting my first terrarium, with its multi-layered soil which included fine crushed rock for drainage and horticultural or activated charcoal to keep the soil “sweet.” My desire was to create a self-contained miniature world in a bottle. I found that the empty, clear glass gallon jugs, that were readily available near the dumpsters of the local drinking establishment, worked quite well as the vessels for my new experiments.

Picea glauca 'Blue Planet' is a half-sphere with a bluish tint.

When my first planting was complete, I found great satisfaction just sitting and gazing into my miniature garden, while my imagination lead me through all kinds of adventures in my new little world. I made several terrariums over the years including hand-crafted leaded glass containers complete with stained glass highlights. Occasionally I would sell custom creations to folks I would meet. This hobby lasted into the early 1980s and was completely overtaken by my growing love of dwarf and miniature conifers.

Pinus mugo 'Moppet' is a tiny version of the Mugo pine.

These days, folks are creating all kinds of miniature gardens, whether they be a combination of plants in containers or other larger themed gardens such as authentic rock gardens, alpine gardens, railway or fairy gardens – all of which are ideal environments for growing miniature conifers.

I love to encourage young people to become involved in gardening and they really enjoy having a small garden to call their own. Miniature conifers in containers can provide kids with little landscapes to play out the many adventures of their active imaginations, while teaching them about plant care. Some of the most remembered play-times of my childhood revolve around playing in the simple gardens where I lived. Sometimes my adventures involved army men and vast battles, other times it was miniature construction projects with my Tonka Trucks.

Almost nothing makes me happier than when the Picea glauca 'Pixie Dust' starts to shimmer in summer.

These days I love miniature gardens filled with colorful miniature and dwarf conifers, complemented with other miniature plants. I still love to sit and gaze into my garden, whether be the miniatures or my full-sized garden plants and allow my imagination to conjure grand ideas. I hope you will find inspiration in your gardens, whatever their size, and enjoy the tranquility of gardening with easy-care conifers.

Ed-
Conifer Lover