In my first post I referred to some of the spruce cultivars I've planted in the gardens here at Oak Lawn Cheese Factory. I would like to continue with my picea cultivars today. While I have photos of the older plants, I don't have many of the newer ones planted in the last year or so, so I will simply discuss them a bit over the course of my next couple posts.
For starters, I'd like to say that it is very important to know the eventual size of the plant you are dealing with.... find out where the plant you are going to purchase falls in terms of the American Conifer Society's size categories. Following are the general guidelines for conifers...
Miniature conifers (M) grow under one inch per year with a ten year size under one foot.
Dwarf (D) conifers grow between 1 and 6 inches per year with a ten year size of one to six feet.
Intermediate (I) conifers grow between six and twelve inches per year with a ten year size of six to fifteen feet.
Large (L) conifers can grow more than twelve inches per year and may have a ten year size of over fifteen feet.
Keep in mind that the connotation dwarf as frequently used in a cultivar name simply means that a cultivar may grow slower than the naturally occurring species and the ultimate size may be somewhat smaller... this allows for some pretty big 'dwarfs'!
Miniature conifers (M) grow under one inch per year with a ten year size under one foot.
Dwarf (D) conifers grow between 1 and 6 inches per year with a ten year size of one to six feet.
Intermediate (I) conifers grow between six and twelve inches per year with a ten year size of six to fifteen feet.
Large (L) conifers can grow more than twelve inches per year and may have a ten year size of over fifteen feet.
Keep in mind that the connotation dwarf as frequently used in a cultivar name simply means that a cultivar may grow slower than the naturally occurring species and the ultimate size may be somewhat smaller... this allows for some pretty big 'dwarfs'!
I ran into problems with this many years ago when I planted two plants of Picea bicolor 'Howell's Dwarf' Tigertail' which is said to be the most colorful of all bicolors, with foliage having silver-blue undersides, green tops and a tint of yellow and nice reddish colored cones/ They are truly beautiful plants (particularly when young) but the word dwarf is definitely a misnomer. They form a flat topped bush when young but eventually can develop into a pyramidal tree and can become very large over time, even before throwing the vertical growth. One of mine is in too much shade and the size is restrained for that reason, but it isn't nearly as attractive as the plant growing in full sun. Had I realized that it would grow this wide, I would have been pruning much more than I have.
Howell's bicolor dwarf is pictured below just to the right of the blue Montgomery spruce... note how some of the branches are starting to ascend... I think I'll let this happen as I am curious as to how it will end up over the next several years. If you look closely at the third photo following, you can see the silver blue on the needles reverse with green above...
When seen from the opposite side, this developing 'ascendency' is even more obvious. I definitely misplaced this tree, especially now that I've come to realize that it is rated as a 'large' based on the standards provided earlier!
About eighteen months ago I added my first engelmann spruce, picea engelmannii 'Bush's Lace', the species of which hails from western North America including British Columbia and Alberta. It's extremely hardy to zone 1 which is a minus 60 degrees. It is somewhat similar to Picea glauca 'Pendula' which I'll be discussing next, except it is a nice gray blue color rather than green. Forming a strong central leader, the pendulous branches eventually create a skirt around the base of the tree. Its ten year size should be six foot tall by four foot wide. I am anxious to see how this tree does over the course of the next few years. My plant is still quite small and I have no photos, although you can find good pictures on the web if interested. (I prefer to only use photos I've taken myself for my posts.)
My second weeping white spruce is in the center below...
It's becoming obvious that I won't come close to discussing all the Picea cultivars in my gardens in this post and I'm having some frustrating issues with spacing and sizing of text on Blogger this evening... so, with that in mind, I'll continue with the spruces in my next post... have a great weekend... we are now in line for a possible foot of snow with winds to 40 mph... that should do a great job of insulating the gardens... take care, Larry
Howell's bicolor dwarf is pictured below just to the right of the blue Montgomery spruce... note how some of the branches are starting to ascend... I think I'll let this happen as I am curious as to how it will end up over the next several years. If you look closely at the third photo following, you can see the silver blue on the needles reverse with green above...
When seen from the opposite side, this developing 'ascendency' is even more obvious. I definitely misplaced this tree, especially now that I've come to realize that it is rated as a 'large' based on the standards provided earlier!
However, I do think Howell's Bicolor Dwarf is lovely with its new cones and growth in the spring as seen in the following two pictures...
About eighteen months ago I added my first engelmann spruce, picea engelmannii 'Bush's Lace', the species of which hails from western North America including British Columbia and Alberta. It's extremely hardy to zone 1 which is a minus 60 degrees. It is somewhat similar to Picea glauca 'Pendula' which I'll be discussing next, except it is a nice gray blue color rather than green. Forming a strong central leader, the pendulous branches eventually create a skirt around the base of the tree. Its ten year size should be six foot tall by four foot wide. I am anxious to see how this tree does over the course of the next few years. My plant is still quite small and I have no photos, although you can find good pictures on the web if interested. (I prefer to only use photos I've taken myself for my posts.)
I have two Picea glauca 'Pendula' or weeping white spruce in my gardens. I was greatly impressed with this cultivar many years ago while visiting a conifer garden/nursery outside Dubuque, Iowa which belonged to Dennis Harmsen. I was amazed at a pendulous tree that was approaching twenty feet tall with a footprint of perhaps 18-24". It apparently can eventually reach as much as 40' in height with an 8-10' spread, although I doubt I'll ever get to see that with mine. I've read that the cultivar originally came out of Versailles, France in 1867... I have my doubts about that as the following information seems more reliable. Iseli nursery says that Jean Iseli 'rediscovered' the plant in 1982 at the Morton Arboretum outside Chicago. The plant was originally planted there in 1958, having been propagated from a tree in a native stand near Guelph, Ontario and was almost lost to cultivation. Perhaps the two stories refer to slightly different cultivars having similar features... at any rate, here are photos of mine, both now approaching ten feet in height and never staked...
My second weeping white spruce is in the center below...
It's becoming obvious that I won't come close to discussing all the Picea cultivars in my gardens in this post and I'm having some frustrating issues with spacing and sizing of text on Blogger this evening... so, with that in mind, I'll continue with the spruces in my next post... have a great weekend... we are now in line for a possible foot of snow with winds to 40 mph... that should do a great job of insulating the gardens... take care, Larry
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