A tale of twelve Norwegians

Thirty years ago when I was a young fella with boundless energy, I planted my own first real conifer garden. Prior to that, I was on a piece of property that was so large, and I was so busy with work and life and home repair/re-modeling projects that I just didn’t have much time for gardening. Well, at that time I was more of an organic vegetable gardener. We had a huge garden filled with enough vegatables for us and our city-dwelling friends. Then we experienced some of life’s changes and we moved to a city lot. Much smaller, more manageable and the back yard was a clean canvas of a weedy lawn.

Picea abies ‘Pendula’ can be trained to any height and/or allowed to mound and sprawl, covering the ground in hardy green waves.

I had almost forgotten, but back in those days I was a huge fan of the dwarf and miniature cultivars of Picea abies (Norway spruce). Honestly, I don’t think I’ve become less of a fan over the years, I’ve just added many more plants to my list of favorites. One of the main areas I created back then had a combination of 12 different cultivars with varying size, shape, and textural characteristics. I had drawn out a traditional overhead-view design of the garden with both the planted sizes and my projected 20 years sizes. Then I also sketched out more of an eye-level view to give me more of a real-world perspective. I mention all this because I still think that plant selection was great for any beginning conifer gardener. They are easy to grow and extremely hardy and adaptable into a great many climatic conditions.

What I like about the cultivars that I chose for this project was that they all have distinctive shapes as they grow and mature creating a multi-leveled, three dimensional, sculptural bed of varying shades of green. This menagerie of shape and texture would become the year-round foundation to the garden bed which also included my first experimentation with assorted perennial flowers and some broadleaved shrubs. Over the nine years that we lived at that place, I did fill in with other conifer acquisitions and everything grew together nicely. As we sold the place and moved on, the landscape was beginning to have the “feel” I was seeking in my original plan by screening the garden shed and the neighbors directly behind us. I can only image how nice it must be now. If I were to do the project all over again, I would include more dwarf and miniature cultivars in an assortment of genera which would widen my pallet of color and texture – essentially taking the place of all those bothersome short-season perennials.

Picea abies ‘Witches Brood’ is a cheery sight with its covering of bright green new foliage each spring.

Here is the list of those original conifers. These should be relatively easy to find (or special order) at your local independent garden center and will be great selections to anchor any new garden plan. Fill in spaces with whatever your heart desires from companion small trees, shrubs and flowers to herbs and vegetables. As the seasons change, your garden will have the stability and beauty of year-round color, texture and an assortment of shapes from tall columns to broad pyramids, varying sizes of rounded, mounding forms and undulating waves of weeping groundcover. Have fun!

Picea abies ‘Clanbrassiliana Stricta’
Picea abies ‘Cupressina’
Picea abies ‘Elegans’
Picea abies ‘Gregoriana Parsonsii’
Picea abies ‘Little Gem’
Picea abies ‘Mucronata’
Picea abies ‘Nidiformis’
Picea abies ‘Pendula’
Picea abies ‘Pumila’
Picea abies ‘Sherwood Compact’
Picea abies ‘Thumbelina’
Picea abies ‘Witches Brood’

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Great color for the cold days of winter

After several days of spring-like temperatures, our Pacific Northwest weather has made a u-turn back to winter. Well, around here that means the east wind is howling, bringing low temps to near freezing. But, when you factor in the 15 to 30 mph winds, that makes us feel considerably colder. With our friends in the mid-west and back east enduring much lower temperatures and a fresh onslaught of snow, all I can think about are cold hardy conifers!

Three of my favorite hardy conifers make a beautifully colorful vignette when grouped together in the landscape or in containers. This time of year when many other plants are taking a beating from the bitter cold, these three provide enough color to make anyone smile.

The foliage of Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Curley Tops' has a unique curly habit as can be seen in this close up photo.

My first selection is the bright, silvery blue, Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Curley Tops’. This vigorous grower rates within the Intermediate growth range as charted by the American Conifer Society, putting on 6″ to 10″ of new growth per year in my area. ‘Curley Tops’ has a very nice compact form with soft, dense, curly blue foliage. If you would like to slow its growth, it does respond very well to a nice light annual shearing. Naturally growing in a cone shape, if one desired, it could be shaped to the heart’s content.

'Golden Mop' is a slow grower suitable for small spaces in the garden or in containers when young.

Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Golden Mop’ is listed as a dwarf, but keep in mind that it can become large in time. As a young plant, ‘Golden Mop’ will form a broad roundish mound of bright yellow, coarse, tread-like foliage. In time it becomes broadly pyramidal in form and is quite stunning in the garden planted near dark green or blue conifers. Its color takes on a rich golden hue as winter becomes more intense.

Like the fluffy clouds it is named for, 'Cumulus' is a perfect miniature puff for any small space in the garden or in containers.

Finally, Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Cumulus’ is a great little miniature with tight coarse green foliage and a form that is reminiscent of those wonderful, fluffy, puff-ball clouds on a warm spring or summer day. Since this one is a true miniature conifer growing close to an inch per year, it is perfect for the container garden too. In fact, if acquired as young plants, all three selections are suitable to be grown in containers for a number of years. Then, as they put on some size, you could place them near each other in the garden for a spectacularly colorful corner. Add more colorful conifers or other companion plants for a display worthy of the finest gardens.

Until next time, stay warm!

Ed-
Conifer Lover

And it begins…

The new year has always given me a fresh new outlook. I suspect that it is not so much the turning of a page on the calendar, or remembering to change the last two digits of the year when writing checks, but more the simple biological fact that the hours of daylight are increasing and a sense that new life is just around the corner.

December was a very dark and rain-filled month where I live. Even though clear skies bring much colder temperatures this time of year, I am energized by the sunshine we have experienced the past few days. Sunny days encourage me to open the curtains, and open curtains mean a great view of my garden.

'Kelsey's Weeping' is a premium conifer any time of year.

Brisk, cold mornings often bring frost, and frost gives the winter garden a special charm. The conifers all take on a new look with sparkling new colors when they are covered with frost early on a sunny morning. Even the last crumbling brown remnants of my wife’s perennials look good when covered in the multi-faceted crystals of a good, hard frost. Fortunately though, most of my garden is filled with the vast assortment of shapes, sizes, colors and textures of my conifer collection.

From the tall dark green of my Picea orientalis ‘Aureospicata’ and bright blue of my Picea pungens ‘Hoopsii’ to the weeping forms of Sequoiadendron giganteum ‘Pendulum’, Tsuga canadensis ‘Kelsey’s Weeping’, and Picea omorika ‘Pendula Bruns’ and all of my various and assorted dwarf and miniature conifers, they all have an exciting new look in the bright early morning sun.

As I take a brisk walk through the garden, the ground makes that familiar crunch as my footsteps break through the frozen heaves of gravel in my path. I see birds busily searching for seeds and even the squirrels are out to harvest some of the goodies they had hidden away earlier in the year. The sun, very low in the sky, in an unsuccessful attempt to warm the morning air, creates a wonderful golden hue to the garden while the shadow patterns move silently across the landscape.

I think about the smell of the soil and realize that it won’t be long before I am able to bury my hands in its goodness as I begin a new year of gardening. But for today, I think I’ll just enjoy the garden, in all its winter-time beauty, from the comfort of my favorite chair near the woodstove with a fresh cup of tea.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

I love my Twinkle Toes

Since the local weather forecasters are all predicting that we will warm into the lower 80s today, I thought I’d better get to my favorite garden center early while it was still cool. (And by cool, I mean that we were totally covered with clouds and there was a very fine but steady mist falling.)

I arrived at the GC with really nothing in mind to purchase, I suppose I just wanted to hang out with the plant folks there, see what was new and exciting, and maybe even find something on sale. What I ended up with has really got me excited! I found something so new, so rare that I don’t know how I was able to find it. First though, let me run through some of the other goodies I found. Yes, I know, I already have some of these in my garden, but… well, I think you know; I’m a hopeless conifer addict (that’s a good thing, right?)

I found the cutest little Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Butter Ball’. I had always thought that ‘Butter Ball’ would remain in its ball shape – the two little guys I’ve had for a couple years have stayed that way. But this one is larger to begin with – even larger than the two I have now – and it appears more like a soft serve ice cream cone with a bit of a pointed top. So I called my friends over at Iseli, and sure enough, as they mature and get a little size to them (which, being miniatures, I’m talking less than 18 inches in any direction) they do begin to become somewhat broadly conical in shape. This little fella is on its way now and is quite the cutie!

I also found a beautiful Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Gemstone’. Now this one I know is supposed to be a miniature upright grower, and it is off to a great start. Its tiny dark green foliage and compact, irregular  form make it a gorgeous companion to the ‘Butter Ball’ – I’ll be planting them near one another in the rock garden.

Finally, (I am so excited I can hardly type) I found a brand new plant called, Cryptomeria japonica ‘Twinkle Toes’. This is one that Iseli has been evaluating for a number of years under the name of C.j. [Tansu Yellow Sport] because it was discovered as a mutated branch growing on a larger ‘Tansu’. With very tight and congested foliage, this golden irregular upright is somewhat of a conically shaped plant and will be a real treasure in my garden. I had seen this plant during its evaluation years at Iseli, but I didn’t know that they had named it and had begun to release a few for sale. I’m glad my favorite local garden center was willing to experiment with something so rare and unusual. Apparently one of the employees was trying to wager a bet with the others that I would snatch this thing up the moment I saw it – she was right!

‘Twinkle Toes’ makes my toes curl with excitment!

Good thing my birthday is coming up, I’m sure I can convince my wife that these great new plants will negate any responsibility she may feel to purchase me a present. Otherwise I may have to give up my autumn garden budget since the spring and summer plants purchases have already slightly surpassed their allocated funds. It’s all worth it though – I love conifers!

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Thinking is the best way to unravel

For the past several days, I have had the opportunity to sit, with little else to do than think (and cough and blow my nose). I learned long ago, perhaps when I was ten years old, that the common cold, though very uncomfortable, is an excellent time for thinking.

I’ve tried to spend time reading when I have a cold, but with the sinus congestion, headache and spontaneous eruptions of coughing and sneezing, I find it very difficult to concentrate on the tiny words printed on the pages of a book no matter how engaging its subject may be. Thinking, on the other hand, can drift and flow around the symptomatic distractions of the microscopic invaders causing my discomfort.

You are likely to have guessed that a great portion of my thinking time these past few days included gardening—conifer gardening in particular. One morning, my wife enticed me to join her on our back patio. The sun was shining brightly, butterflies flittered about seeking flowers that are weeks behind schedule, birds were singing and their songs seemed to swirl about in a mesmerizing surround-sound effect which encompassed my garden and stimulated the thinking process.

I thought of the trees that surround my property and how they provide food and shelter for so many creatures with which we share our temporary home. I wondered how disturbed these same creatures would become if I were to remove a clump of 60-70 year old birch trees that are clearly declining in health. I envisioned clearing out some of these older, failing trees and planting a new garden—a new conifer grove of some of our native large trees.

A small, intimate garden space can include hardscape items such as large rocks, gravel pathways and miniature conifers in fine ceramic pots.

I’ve always wanted to live at the edge of a forest. As a young boy, I dreamt of living on a hundred acres of forest with a small space cleared for my house and vegetable garden. I am not likely to ever achieve that dream, but I do have an opportunity to increase the wood on my little acre. If I did expand the area taken by large native species of conifers, my overall garden workload would decrease somewhat as those trees grew larger and larger, their foliage covering an increasing proportion of bare ground.

The critters with which we share our space would undoubtedly be thankful for the increase in food and shelter. The larger trees would help protect our house from the strong, cold, winter east-wind and provide cooling shade in the few weeks of hot weather that may arrive during the months of July and August. Long after I am gone from the surface of this earth, the trees will be of benefit to generations of others who may call our little acre, “home.”

As I sat in the warm sun on the patio with my wife, between the coughs and sneezes, I thought about many things not previously in my contemplation. I realized that I could easily continue to enjoy the dwarf and miniature conifers, that I love so much, in containers and a smaller more intimate garden, should I choose to create a new wooded space surrounding our home.

Ed-
Conifer Lover