As I work my way through my records, I find that I have a whole lot more spruce cultivars in the gardens than I first thought! There are several more young plants that I will discuss as well as ones that I've been growing for many years... as noted in earlier posts I am transforming a number of areas in the gardens to more conifers to make the gardens less labor intensive.
Picea glauca var. albertiana (Conica) is the Dwarf Alberta spruce so common in nurseries and landscape plantings. While there are perhaps 30 species of white spruce which are sometimes referred to as Alberta spruce, the dwarf Alberta spruce is pretty recognizable to most people. This is a case where being 'common' ' does nothing to lessen their appeal. They are absolutely desirable and beautiful when well grown in the landscape. They are very hardy... at least zone 3... but there can be serious concerns when wintered over in the garden. They sun and wind burn very easily and are best planted in winter protected shade, which might include the east and north sides of a building. In the photo below, I have grouped three plants as I find them very attractive when planted in odd numbers... in fact, I have seen plantings of twenty-five or more grouped in a landscape in such a way that they made a powerful statement to say the least! Unfortunately I didn't realize how easily dwarf Albertas can winter burn when I planted these. As a result, it's necessary for me to wrap them in burlap each winter. This year I simply used 6' burlap at a length of 12' or so and wrapped it around the entire group. One caution with these non-cone bearing spruce... being too dry and hot can lead to an attack of spider mites... watch for browning during the summer. With a growth rate of 2" or so per year, they work well near the house, but over many years can reach 6' to 12' in height... the largest I've observed have been more in the seven foot range. There also can be quite a bit of variation in their width, some being nicely 'obese' while other strains may be tall and slim allowing for an entirely different look in the garden. Another caution... beware reversions and remove them even though you consider them nicely odd... they can take over a plant as they are nothing more than the species coming back to swallow their young!
I have also ordered three new cultivars of Picea glauca for container planting this spring.
The first is 'Echiniformus', a miniature variety which I will use in a hyper tuffa container. The plant is fully hardy and is a small globose cushion with blue-green needles that have a hint of gray. 'Echiniformus' has a tight network of tiny branches easily maintained as a rounded ball in form. At a growth rate of one inch per year, ten years will see a plant of about 4" in height and a foot or better in width. This cultivar has actually been around a long time, discovered in France about 1855 from a witch's broom.
The second cultivar now on order is Picea glauca 'Daisy White'. This is another miniature reaching about 15" in height and 8" in width in ten years. It derives its name from its white to cream new growth in spring which turns to a pale green or a cream shade during the summer. It will tolerate a certain amount of shade which will in fact cause the new flush of growth to be a bit more white in coloration.
I also have Picea glauca 'Pixie' on order for this spring. 'Pixie' is a miniature 'Dwarf Alberta spruce' with dark green needles which are extremely tiny. It will reach about one foot after ten years and is a perfect plant for the miniature garden.
I also grow a subspecies of Picea glauca, that being Picea glauca Var. densata or the Black Hills spruce. It was originally discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. This tree can be very long lived at 150 years or more. It grows to 30-40 feet in the home landscape and I've found it to spread quite wide and for that reason had to remove one from my property...
My Densata (Black Hills) is a prolific producer of pollen and small cones...
I have many of the large growing Picea pungens varieties in the gardens as well. The windbreaks use both unnamed green and blue Colorado spruce backed by Austrian pines.
One of my favorite Picea pungens is 'Fat Albert'... this tree is on the plump side compared with other blue spruce and remains very full throughout its life. This is another tree selected by Jean Iseli of Iseli Nursery. It is extremly popular because its growth is so consistent, it's leader is straight and it has good color...
In my opinion, Picea pungens 'Moerheim' has just about the best color of the blue spruces that I am familiar with... it was discovered in Holland in 1912. I have seen many thin and awkward looking specimens of this in various arboretums I've visited... the plant is generally a narrow cone with fairly large spacings on the branches. I have been very pleased that mine appear quite full... then again, were they properly labeled upon purchase. I have run into this situation in the past and it would be very difficult to ascertain amongst such similar cultivars. While Picea pungens 'Hoopsii' is often considered among the best for its silver blue color, I actually prefer the color of the Moerheims...
In the following photo are several Picea pungens... the front row has three of the Moerheim cultivars with common Picea pungens 'Glauca' (the common Colorado blue spruce) behind. If you look carefully, you can see the color advantage in the named cultivars, which are much more silver blue... another advantage of Moerheim is that its color is well retained through the winter...
My Picea pendula 'Iseli Foxtail' is finally starting to develop... the advantage to this cultivar has to do with the 'bushy' look of the needles which lengthen toward the base of a shoot reminding one of a fox's tail. Very attractive in maturity, it is a bit broader and more open than some cultivars and is said to be more adaptable to the climate in the southeast United States...
I also have two plants of Picea pungens 'Hoopsii" in the gardens. I guess I'm at a bit of a disadvantage to rate this from my experience with it. Most gardening authorities feel this can be the nicest of the blue spruces and it is well recommended as a specimen rather than in groupings. I was new to conifers when I first planted my much older of the two Hoopsiis in the garden. I had just purchased the small Fat Albert (pictured earlier), and saw a Hoopsii which had been damaged and was totally missing a leader. The salesperson informed me that it would never regrow a leader and would only work as a groundcover, so I planted it near the Fat Albert with that in mind. I can't believe now that I was actually that uninformed when I started gardening! At any rate, it wasn't many years before my Hoopsii had grown a beautiful straight leader, but now the two trees are virtually one and the Hoopsii can't be appreciated as the specimen it deserves to be.... there are three blue spruce in the following photo... towards the viewer on the left is Hoopsii and Fat Albert is to the right. Hoopsii obviously has better silver blue color...
The silver blue of Hoopsii when compared to other cultivars, can be seen to the right in this group of spruces...
Slightly smaller and considered a dwarf, is Picea pungens 'Baby Blue Eyes'. It grows to about 15 feet in height, with a spread of 7 feet. I have it planted with a Hoopsii and a Fat Albert with the idea of giving a good evergreen anchor to this corner of the house. Baby Blue Eyes will be the smallest of the trio and planted next to the stairs with the taller plants behind when viewed from the path. I fully expect these three plants to grow together, but hope to see three strong leaders growing from the group, and the slight variation in colors should add some subtle interest. Actually, you can see that Baby Blue Eyes (next to the lamp post in the second photo) has more than a subtle color difference from the other spruces planted here. While waiting for the trees to put on some size, there are a number of orienpet lilies planted in this area and other small conifers... most of these will be moved after a year or two. It is too soon to evaluate the trio, as only this spring did they start putting out some fresh growth... they spent some time establishing a root system after being moved to this location.
I am just going to touch on several other cultivars of Picea pungens that I'm experimenting with...
'Stanley's Gold'...this is a dwarf golden form found in 1997 amongst 5000 blue green spruce. It makes a small conical tree 4 ft tall by 3 ft wide in ten years and unlike some golden conifers, it doesn't burn in the sun
'The Blues'... this is a weeping Colorado spruce with fantastic blue color. Initially it was discovered as a side sport on a 'Glauca Pendula'. It looks like a larger needled and beautiful powder blue weeping Norway and can be grown in the same manner. In ten years it grows to 6 foot by 4 foot... as I once again research the size info on these plants I'm trying, it dawns on me 'what was I thinking when I planted that one there... it needs moving for sure!' Thankfully they're all small enough at this point to rearrange fairly easily.
The first is 'Echiniformus', a miniature variety which I will use in a hyper tuffa container. The plant is fully hardy and is a small globose cushion with blue-green needles that have a hint of gray. 'Echiniformus' has a tight network of tiny branches easily maintained as a rounded ball in form. At a growth rate of one inch per year, ten years will see a plant of about 4" in height and a foot or better in width. This cultivar has actually been around a long time, discovered in France about 1855 from a witch's broom.
The second cultivar now on order is Picea glauca 'Daisy White'. This is another miniature reaching about 15" in height and 8" in width in ten years. It derives its name from its white to cream new growth in spring which turns to a pale green or a cream shade during the summer. It will tolerate a certain amount of shade which will in fact cause the new flush of growth to be a bit more white in coloration.
I also have Picea glauca 'Pixie' on order for this spring. 'Pixie' is a miniature 'Dwarf Alberta spruce' with dark green needles which are extremely tiny. It will reach about one foot after ten years and is a perfect plant for the miniature garden.
I also grow a subspecies of Picea glauca, that being Picea glauca Var. densata or the Black Hills spruce. It was originally discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. This tree can be very long lived at 150 years or more. It grows to 30-40 feet in the home landscape and I've found it to spread quite wide and for that reason had to remove one from my property...
My Densata (Black Hills) is a prolific producer of pollen and small cones...
I have many of the large growing Picea pungens varieties in the gardens as well. The windbreaks use both unnamed green and blue Colorado spruce backed by Austrian pines.
One of my favorite Picea pungens is 'Fat Albert'... this tree is on the plump side compared with other blue spruce and remains very full throughout its life. This is another tree selected by Jean Iseli of Iseli Nursery. It is extremly popular because its growth is so consistent, it's leader is straight and it has good color...
In my opinion, Picea pungens 'Moerheim' has just about the best color of the blue spruces that I am familiar with... it was discovered in Holland in 1912. I have seen many thin and awkward looking specimens of this in various arboretums I've visited... the plant is generally a narrow cone with fairly large spacings on the branches. I have been very pleased that mine appear quite full... then again, were they properly labeled upon purchase. I have run into this situation in the past and it would be very difficult to ascertain amongst such similar cultivars. While Picea pungens 'Hoopsii' is often considered among the best for its silver blue color, I actually prefer the color of the Moerheims...
In the following photo are several Picea pungens... the front row has three of the Moerheim cultivars with common Picea pungens 'Glauca' (the common Colorado blue spruce) behind. If you look carefully, you can see the color advantage in the named cultivars, which are much more silver blue... another advantage of Moerheim is that its color is well retained through the winter...
My Picea pendula 'Iseli Foxtail' is finally starting to develop... the advantage to this cultivar has to do with the 'bushy' look of the needles which lengthen toward the base of a shoot reminding one of a fox's tail. Very attractive in maturity, it is a bit broader and more open than some cultivars and is said to be more adaptable to the climate in the southeast United States...
I also have two plants of Picea pungens 'Hoopsii" in the gardens. I guess I'm at a bit of a disadvantage to rate this from my experience with it. Most gardening authorities feel this can be the nicest of the blue spruces and it is well recommended as a specimen rather than in groupings. I was new to conifers when I first planted my much older of the two Hoopsiis in the garden. I had just purchased the small Fat Albert (pictured earlier), and saw a Hoopsii which had been damaged and was totally missing a leader. The salesperson informed me that it would never regrow a leader and would only work as a groundcover, so I planted it near the Fat Albert with that in mind. I can't believe now that I was actually that uninformed when I started gardening! At any rate, it wasn't many years before my Hoopsii had grown a beautiful straight leader, but now the two trees are virtually one and the Hoopsii can't be appreciated as the specimen it deserves to be.... there are three blue spruce in the following photo... towards the viewer on the left is Hoopsii and Fat Albert is to the right. Hoopsii obviously has better silver blue color...
Slightly smaller and considered a dwarf, is Picea pungens 'Baby Blue Eyes'. It grows to about 15 feet in height, with a spread of 7 feet. I have it planted with a Hoopsii and a Fat Albert with the idea of giving a good evergreen anchor to this corner of the house. Baby Blue Eyes will be the smallest of the trio and planted next to the stairs with the taller plants behind when viewed from the path. I fully expect these three plants to grow together, but hope to see three strong leaders growing from the group, and the slight variation in colors should add some subtle interest. Actually, you can see that Baby Blue Eyes (next to the lamp post in the second photo) has more than a subtle color difference from the other spruces planted here. While waiting for the trees to put on some size, there are a number of orienpet lilies planted in this area and other small conifers... most of these will be moved after a year or two. It is too soon to evaluate the trio, as only this spring did they start putting out some fresh growth... they spent some time establishing a root system after being moved to this location.
I am just going to touch on several other cultivars of Picea pungens that I'm experimenting with...
'Stanley's Gold'...this is a dwarf golden form found in 1997 amongst 5000 blue green spruce. It makes a small conical tree 4 ft tall by 3 ft wide in ten years and unlike some golden conifers, it doesn't burn in the sun
'The Blues'... this is a weeping Colorado spruce with fantastic blue color. Initially it was discovered as a side sport on a 'Glauca Pendula'. It looks like a larger needled and beautiful powder blue weeping Norway and can be grown in the same manner. In ten years it grows to 6 foot by 4 foot... as I once again research the size info on these plants I'm trying, it dawns on me 'what was I thinking when I planted that one there... it needs moving for sure!' Thankfully they're all small enough at this point to rearrange fairly easily.
Picea Pungens "Montana Ave" ... this one is a miniature, reaching 1 foot by 1 foot after ten years, it's basically a steel blue ball.
Picea Pungens "Mesa Verde"... a spreader that will expand to six feet in ten years, but will only be 6" tall. It's a green spruce with needles the same size as full size spruce.
Picea pungens ‘Mrs. Cesarini’ ... I purchased a good size plant of this variety, grafted as a standard. There is apparently some dispute as to whether this is actually a form of pungens or not. I suspect this is a great choice for a standard as it only puts on about an inch of growth per year and makes a flattened ball form that won't get overgrown too quickly. It was discovered on Long Island in New York. Mine is currently a bit over 18" wide.
Picea pungens `Blue Pearl'... this is a plant I have on order for this spring because of its classification as a miniature and excellent blue color... I plan on using it in a container. I have seen some good pictures of this selection and impressed with the color as well as the texture. Its ten year size should be 6 inches tall by 1 foot wide.
Well, that does it in terms of the Picea pungens I'm growing. There is one that I've been on the lookout for the past couple years... 'Walnut Glen' grows to ten feet tall by six foot wide and the foliage is blue with a cream over the top. I'm pretty certain that I saw mature plants of this installed in an extensive garden I visited this summer and they were very 'different' to say the least. Unfortunately they weren't labeled.
I had originally intended on completing the Piceas in my gardens with this post. I'm afraid the post is running a bit long so I will deal with the other varieties of spruce next post, including Picea orientalis and omorika. If you are a 'conehead' ( I believe this is the term used by folks really into conifers) this is all probably a bit on the elementary side... if not that interested in conifers, this is probably 'way boring'... but if you have a newfound interest or even a little experience like myself, perhaps you can glean a little something from this post.
Conifers really can make an exciting and colorful garden over time if you do your research... just check out some of the great conifer garden web sites on the internet... you'll be amazed. Perhaps I'll share some links I've discovered in the last post of this series.
For today... Larry
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