Hi. I suggest picea omorika pendula. I planted one last year and has grown several inches since last spring.

picea marianna variegata ... or some version of that spelling.. lol ..

if you are getting ready to get into conifers.. it is worth the time to learn the latin.. this is the one group of plants.. where i learned the latin .. and now i am having a hard time with your common names ...

so i think you are looking for abies and picea... right???

abies concolor comes to mind.. a few neat things in that line ... cnadicans has the color of hoopsi.. but really unique needles.. blue cones.. and fragrant needles ...

you have a picea pungens ...

how about picea gluaca ... DENT comes to mind... neat coloration ...

i will have to mull on others ...

i am trying to think of things that you can actually buy ... i can name a lot that frankly.. arent available ...

ken

A few very large firs and spruce I'd recommend are:

Abies concolor 'Candicans' - SUPER bright blue-almost white needles, large tree.

Abies koreana 'Silberlocke' - A silvery beautiful fir with amazing needles and cones. Slower growth, perhaps 8" a year, but eventually forms a nice sized tree.

Picea mariana 'Aureovariagata' - A dazzling spruce with blue needles that are 'painted' with gold on the top where sun hits them. A fantastic large tree, very few compare.

Picea omorika 'Berliners' Weeper' - Similar to 'Pendula Bruns' will grow quicker probably and be a little thicker/fuller. 'Pendula Bruns' tends to be a spire, very narrow.

Picea orientalis 'Skylands' - Tried and tested, fast growing beautiful golden yellow/green spruce. A beacon in any landscape.

Most of these aren't so rare that you can't find them online or at specialty nurseries.

Will

For a really large tree, the Picea abies 'Pendula Major' with its weeping branchlets, is very nice. But then this is not that different from the best of the more weeping NS.

For something that is really beautiful in form and foliage, just the regular species oriental spruce is hard to beat. For me the the color of the 'skylands' looks a bit unhealthy, but then I have never been fond of the yellow cultivars of much of anything. One exception for me would be some of the NS yellow cultivars. Although it is not strictly speaking actually yellow, but a yellow-green with cream colored highlights, is the Picea abies 'elegantissima." This tree has an absolutely beautiful form, and wonderful weeping branchlets in addition to its outstanding color. A bit slower growing than the species, but a large tree nevertheless.

My favorite cultivars of Oriental spruce are 'Gowdy,' 'Atrovirens,' and 'Nutans.' The first two are somewhat slower than the species with outstandingly dense and lush foliage, but eventually get to 40' plus--growing a little over 1 foot per year.

The 'Nutans,' a stunning and gaceful, but pleasingly irregular weeping form, is a bit slower, maybe too slow for you, but eventually it grows into a good medium/large tree. But as a young plant, it is, for some tastes, excessively awkward looking.

Eastern white pines are wonderful trees--I love them and am sorry you don't.

Well, sorry, my recommendations, except, perhaps for the P. abies 'Elegantissima' don't have the color you are looking for. But they are absolutely wonderful trees--maybe you could consider them anyway.

--Spruce

I agree with 'Elegantissima' but actually that one takes a long time to get going. I believe Bob Fincham has a photo of one with two older gentlemen and the tree is approximately 25 feet tall and 5o years old. I can't be certain of the age but I'm positive I've read on Bob's website (Coenosium Gardens) that it's a slow tree. I do have one though and agree it's extemely, exceptional.

There's a lot of good varietaged stuff.
Pinus koraiensis 'Oculus Draconis' is superb - the best pine species for Illinois and a lot of the US due to it is resistant to about anything and everything.

It's new but be on the lookout for Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Sparkling Arrow'.

Abies homolepis 'Variegated' is quite nice.

Pinus contorta 'Taylor's Sunburst' will always be one of the best cultivated conifers there is.

Picea glauca 'Mac Golden' is superb but only during it's spring flush is it showy.

Definitely plain species Picea omorika and cultivar 'Pendula' or aka forma 'Pendula' because many clones are sold under this trade name.

Bob Fincham is offereing these this year (send for a catalog or visit his website at Coenosium Gardens).

Abies koreana 'Gelbbunt' "This tree has variegated yellow patches of foliage among the normal green colored foliage. The variegation becomes less pronounced as the tree ages."

Pinus cortorta 'Taylors Sunburst'

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I'll think more about this later. I'm taking a break.

Dax

Thanks for all of the suggestions. All of these are beautiful. I definetly have some looking to do. Looked quickly for some of these and having a hard time finding sources for mail order, but I will keep looking.
Keep the suggestions coming.

Any one have any experience with pice pungens 'sunshine'

Thanks
Jim

Jim, Picea pungens 'Sunshine' is a favorite of mine because it holds its color longer than most other spring-colored Picea pungens, but it is definately not what I'd call a large conifer. It's growth rate is more in the dwarf category. Others you may want to consider that are a bit larger are Picea pungens 'Maigold' or 'Gebelle's Golden Spring'. Ken might bust out some Spring photos of his spring-colored pungens if you ask him nicely ;-). He has some nice ones. 'Golden Feathers', 'Colonial Gold' etc. Here's a photo of my P.p. 'Sunshine'.

Dan

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Dax:

I am happy that you also like P. abies 'Elegantissima.' But I have a confession to make--I have never had anyone give me a positive ID on this one. I have just made what I hope is an educated judgement. The tree I have in mind is the large NS in the Gotelli Collection at the National Arboretum in D.C. I talked to Sue Martin, the conifer curator there, about labelling it as something other than species NS, and she said she couldn't do that without the proper provenance, and she couldn't find any. But if this were just a chance seedling, it would be "mind blowing," so to speak.

Another bit of evidence that this NS at the Arb is at least a special cultivar, is that there was another one, seeming to me to be exactly like it in the seperate spruce area there. Two chance seedlings? No way. This second tree, last time I saw it, looked like it would die--too bad.

I am also growing what I think is also an 'Elegantissima,' but it was sold to me as 'Elegans.'

So, you see where I am on this one. Just one more bit of a description I can give you, to see if you can add some confidence to my identification of this cultivar. The foliage has an especially nice soft "brushy" appearance. I am not sure if I can describe it correctly, but the effect may come from needles that have more of a tendency to be at a 90 degree angle to the twig, at least on the secondary twigs, or at least they are not as forward as the species. But to be honest, I might have to look again to confirm just what effect I am talking about.

Anyway, you may be right that the tree is slower than the species, but the one in the National Arb is large--I would guess something like 55 or 60 feet and has a decent growth rate of something over a foot per year, but I have not seen it in a while so my impression may be faulty. Anyway, I think it is the most beautiful tree in the Gotelli Collection.

Oh, one more thing--the last time I met with Sue Martin, I showed her a witches broom up in a semi-hidden portion of the upper crown. She took great interest in this. I wonder if she did anything with it and whether it turned out to be anything nice.

--Spruce

Hi Spruce,

Picea abies 'Elegans' and 'Elegantissima' are not the same.
The first one is a very old form, has uniform fine needles and doesn't have the golden yellow shoots in Spring.
I hope you have the 'Elegantissima' in your garden...

coniferjoy:

Yes, I assumed that it was mislabelled when I bought it and had an idea it might be 'Elegantissima,' but wasn't sure. My Krussmann says 'Elegans' is a true dwarf. I know it is basically hopeless to get all the cultivars straightened out. I was intrigued last year when I saw a Picea abies labelled "golden Norway spruce." So I bought that one, but as yet have no idea if it is the same as the one I think is 'Elegantissima' or not. They look very similar, but the first one I got that I think might be 'Elegantissima' I have had only three years--it is four feet tall. This second one looks very similar, but I want to see it after it is established to make a close comparison. I see 'Elegantissima" for sale, I think, from a couple of reputable places this spring--I would have to go back to remind myself from just where--maybe Arrowhead and/or Gee. I will probably buy one from each source and have fun comparing and watching them grow.

Anyway, the tree in the Gotelli Collection to my eyes is just simply georgeous, especially when the new growth comes out in the spring--the whole thing is like one giant soft yellow/green flower. But then some conifer lovers may think it is too ordinary in some ways. One of my absolute favorite thing in all the world of conifers is a good basic Norway spruce with gracefully weeping foliage. Any special cultivar is going to have to go a long way to beat that. And the tree I think is 'Elegantissima' starts out with just such a weeping form, and then adds the special color and texture.

--Spruce

Dan thanks for the pic of 'sunshine'. I will continue to research some larger confers. I however seem to get distracted by all of the other wonderful specimens out there.

Jim