"Tops off at about 8 feet"
You had me up until that quote. So when it reaches 8 feet in height the growth rate becomes zero? That would make it unique.

lol, I luv the folk on here who are literalists, one of the great perils of Internet communication...translated it means you'll be dealing with an 8-12ft on average tree not a much taller wild-type one grown for the same amount of time. No living tree stops growing, but you knew that already I'm sure. Now, if you're currently 15 years old and you plant a graftling Twist tomorrow and you're lucky enough to live to see your 95th birthday and your tree is lucky enough to survive that long as well and you haven't moved once since planting it and it has never been pruned or had a serious disease or been through severe freezing or drought and has never had broken branches due to stormy weather, deer, martians etc., then yes, you'll most likely see a taller tree than that but no cultivar's average heights are ever measured for such absolutes, it's totally impractical to weigh all the variables, they're only meant as planting space guidelines for those concerned with potential sizes, nothing more. It's even worse in the reptile hobby, all mature captive snake lengths for the large constrictors are pure guesstimates. We haven't been captive breeding them and keeping them in the proper conditions and proper diets long enough for any accuracy yet. And since most snake owners find it highly desirable to switch their fish/reptile/insect feeding species whenever possible to the much easier to supply and much more calorie rich diet of rodents, the adult lengths of countless species will explode as a result. The more frequent and nutritious a snake's meals, the longer it grows. All the max lengths so far are of adult snakes that were originally wild caught, not captive born well-fed disease and pest-free pampered pets, it's decades too soon for that yet. I will predict now, however, that every captive species length record currently standing will be broken in the next 50 years, like trees snakes keep growing throughout their lives, it's inevitable.

Some favorite Ginkgo's: Mariken

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Jade Butterflies
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Also: Spring Grove. but no pic avail. as for Robbies Twist i have a row of 10 yr plants @ 6 ft.so i also question the 8 ft. estimate.
john

If I could pick one decidious plant it would be Ginkgo! Its a tough choice over Sugar Maple, mainly because of the cultivar and size variability available with Ginkgo.

'White Lightning'....planted for my 5 year old puppy who is also nick named White Lightning.

Didn't get pics last year but as you can imagine it has white variegation vs. the typical yellow or cream.

I believe Whitman Farms still sells this cultivar if you are on the hunt.

John, splendid pictures. Are those plants pruned back on a regular basis?

I don't stop growing either....out anyways :-)

As for Ginkgos I really like 'Blagon' better known as Gold Spire. Nice full but narrow growth pattern. In fact it is quite a bit tighter than my 'Fastigiata' and they're both about 6-8' at this point.

For variegated I also like 'Sunstream' and 'Beijing Gold'. I have to protect both of them from our hot summer sun here, but their leaves are beautiful. My two are still only 3' babies.

Mark

Biased in favour of my own introduction of course - Ginkgo biloba 'Everton Broom'
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I want them all now. Looks like I will have to add one this year.

Whass, did your 'White lightening' obtain much verigation last year? I emailed Lucile Whitman about a year ago trying to obtain some info to help me decide between 'Majestic Butterflies' (another verigated ginkgo) and 'White Lightening'. She said that the verigation in most of the verigated ginkgos were not very prominent. She was nice enough to say that if I contacted her after they leafed out that she would pick me out a good one. Unfortunately I got preoccupied with other plants and forgot to contact her.

Thanks everyone for your enabling =^)

My white lightning variegation has been spotty at best.

Whaas,Thank you. I've sent about a hundred scions off the Mariken to a friend in Oregon.The Jade Butterflies was pruned in youth,pot grown for maybe 6-8 yrs then planted about 8 yrs ago.Always shrubby and spreading with its leader taken out only once. The pictures are a few years old.
john

'Peve Maribo' is my current favorite.

'Peve Maribo' is my current favorite.

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Where did you find this plant???

From a thread in 2013:

"As for Ginkgos I really like 'Blagon' better known as Gold Spire. Nice full but narrow growth pattern. In fact it is quite a bit tighter than my 'Fastigiata' and they're both about 6-8' at this point."

I'm searching for Gold Spire, preferably balled and burlapped from a source in Oregon or Washington.

Anyone able to help?

Thank-you!

have you tried a local high end nursery.. and see if they can order it in for you???

in the alternative.. have you called conifer kingdom???

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=conifer+kingdom&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

You should also consider Elmwood.