Maybe they need a new coat of yellow paint ??

;-)

You both are very good with vivid metaphors. Unfortunately.

The colder it gets (and stays that way) THE more the coloration.

Resin, you're joke still gets me ;) ! You're the anywhere, anytime, any place guy!

Dax

boy.. i expected more from resin .... :)

what is the physiological factor [if that is the right term] in a plant changing its green tissue to yellow in cold weather?

to my mind ... as attled as it might be ... it is contrary to propagation of the cultivar.. since it theoretically makes the plant weaker ...

ken

It never gets cold enough here for these things to get anaemic . . . coldest so far this winter is -2.5°C ;-)

Likely related to drawdown of chlorophyll from leaf cells so they are left "half-empty", and therefore better able to withstand water expansion on freezing without the cells bursting. Don't know for certain, though.

Resin

A COUPLE NIGHTS.. WE HAVE BEEN AT -13.888888 C ...

believe it or not.. i converted it for you ... lol

days are hovering around - 6.666666 C perhaps the sign of the devil ... the 20's F

thanks resin.. i can wrap my head around the idea of a draw down of sapal fluids ...

anyone else have any other ideas??

ken

Of all the yellows and gold conifers I have growing I find that Chanaecyparis pisifera 'Golden Mop' has the best color retention through the winter months.

Dave

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Another one for good measure. Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Vintage Gold'. The Cham. pisifera are the champs for yellow color retention this winter, at least in my yard.

Happy Holidays,

Dave

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That's a cool plant.

Dax

Lucky me!....."Sunshine" on this otherwise "cloudy" day.

conifer 50

conifer50, that looks like your Table Mountain pine -- stunning! Easily outdoes my Wates Golden VA pine. Hope browsing deer aren't a problem in your area.

Ken, it's hard to say -- lack of chlorophyll (yellowing) isn't physiologically a "good" thing for evergreens. Maybe your plants are in better condition than other yrs. :)

That is tight! You got a gem there. Don't patent it!! ;)

And fence the hell out of it. :)

Dax

I only let this "animal" out of the cage for pics, as deer are a constant threat!

Hey Conifer 50......What is "Sunshine"????
.....quessing.....Japanese White Pine??
Sure is a beauty!
Thanks for sharing a picture.
Ruth

That is THE brightest yellow pine I have ever seen. Wow. Thank heavens that you saved it from destruction.
Mike

Conifer 50.
... is that what you think yor going to call it? Sunshine? Nice!

nuconiferlvr - Table Mountain Pine (Pinus pungens)

'Winter Sunshine' would be a good name

I knew you had that baby fenced cause I would do the same thing.

The second discovery of the century to the kin of Da Chief Joseph Lodgepole. I've mentioned this before but while I was visiting Rich's Foxwillow Pines (Chicagoland) I got to see a Pinus sylvestris 'Aurea' that was at least 50 feet tall and man was that an experience. You got a good one co50.

Later,

Dax

Conifer50, that is an amazing clear, bright yellow on your Pinus pungens. I think I'd be staring at that puppy all winter if I had it in my yard. Thanks for sharing the photo.

Ken, the only winter gold that I have showing now is P.c. 'Chief Joseph'. Every year I wait and wait for the other golds. 'Chief Joseph' starts to change in October and my other golds don't really show until January. Maybe that's why I'm so enamoured with 'C J'. It gives you almost 6 months of color. Conifer50's pine looks like it could give it a serious run for its money though.

Here are a few pictures from last year in January at Gee Farms. It was a crappy dark day so the pictures aren't great.

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Pinus sylvestris 'Gold Coin'

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Pinus virginiana 'Wate's Golden'

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Finally Pinus sylvestris 'Nirbeth's Aurea' in my yard from two years ago in January. I've seen it listed as this at several places but still wonder whether there wasn't a little tag corruption along the way (with Nisbet's Gold').
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Dan

'Nisbet's Gem' is listed here but I don't have the foggiest clue. A web-search brings up 2 hits following with other random combinations of:
Aurea
Gold
Nisbet's
Nirbeth's etc -

Erhardt, Walter - 'List of Conifer Names' (2005); ISBN: 3800148813

Then the only listing in Obrizok (Viewed the BCS Website thinking it was from Europe)
'Nisbet's Gem'

Description:
"Dwarf, conical, yellow needles."
Obrizok ('Nisbet's Gem') ÂA Garden of Conifers  Introduction and Selection Guide (1999); Firefly Books Ltd. ISBN: 0913643084

Dax

Dan....some great pics for "Christmas Eve"...does 'Chief Joseph' ever cone?...I'd assumed that the species is quite precocious as is Pinus virginiana and Pinus pungens.

Dax...here' the 'cage'

A 'longer view'

If there is such a plant with the legitimate name Nisbeth Aurea, it certainly does not originate from the UK. P.syl 'Nisbet's Gem is something completely different, nice dwarf with blue-green needles becoming quite rare now.
There is a golden seedling that has been raised from Chief Joseph, called 'Golden Striker',from John Proudfoot in Scotland, gold all year round, but not as intense as Chief Joseph in the winter.

Thanks bluespruce. That cultivar is definitely one in the same but sold under at least two names in the US. I was hoping I found the longshot answer to bring an end to the confusion but apparently there's no hope! Too bad the web doesn't have more info... I grafted one last winter though and my scionwood sent was labled 'Nirbeth's Aurea'. Grafted it up high on a standard which I hope to do more of in the future.

dcsteg - where'd your plant come from, the 'Nirbeth's Aurea'? Thanks.

co50 - Bob Fincham uses seedlings from 'Chief Joseph' to graft, so it indeed cones with age.

For kicks and giggles, here's my new 'Chief Joseph' planted a month and a half ago - photo from today:
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(Thanks for the plant Dan!) The first tree I planted ~~

Later.

Dax

Con50, looks like a tiny TMP seedling snuck in on the rootball. :)

I wanna love those Longleafs to death. My LL saplings won't have a long life here, but if they get to that stage it'll still be worthwhile.

The pines on the slope above look like planted (staggered) Loblollies.

"looks like a tiny TMP seedling snuck in on the rootball. :)"

Or a Pinus strobus seedling from the shelterbelt behind . . . the glaucous leaves do look more like a white pine seedling to me.

BTW, very nice P. palustris saplings!

Resin

beng....you're close!....actually, they are Pitch-Lob hybrids grown from a supposed Korean seed source.

The 'tiny seedling' is probably Pinus virginiana as I used pine mulch from a nearby stand....needles are juvenille, making ID difficult for me.

Here's better pic of the Longleaf's

"Named after A.H. Nisbet, Gosport, Hampshire, England who evidently found it; the original name was ÂAurea Nisbet or ÂNisbet's AureaÂ. In any case, "aurea" is the Latin word for gold and the use of Latin words in a cultivar name is, since 1957*, illegitimate. Because of this, Bob Fincham, Coenosium Gardens, Eatonville, Washington, changed the name to ÂNisbet's Gold when he introduced it to the U.S."

*1959, actually

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinus sylvestris Nisbet's Gold

Hi Bboy, The year I purchased the plant above labeled, 'Nirbeth's Aurea' (note the r) at Stonewall Nursery in Wisconsin I also saw plants labeled the same way at Rich's Foxwillow Pines, and also Arrowhead Alpines in Michigan also listed a "Nirbeth's Aurea". I'm aware there is a legitimate cultivar 'Nisbet's Gold' and I thought the names were too close to be different cultivars and there was likely some mislabelling/misspelling on tags from possibly one source of plants. I've just never officially confirmed it, so I thought I'd throw it out there again. Perhaps I should go with my original supposition and call it 'Nisbet's Gold'. Thanks for the input. Dan
P.S.Sorry Ken hope I didn't inadvertantly hijack your thread, I'm glad to see you started a new one. I'm curious to see what your "golds" look like at the end of January.

Yes: doubtless a mis-spelling. A tag just has to get hard to read and a wrong spelling may get started, with nobody checking and changing it back later.

i dont care about hijacking a thread... i am just thrilled some peeps are posting something...

the holidays make for boring garden talk ...

ken

this year and last .... in the nursery last year.. note the long needles.... must have been moved spring of 2007 .... and budded out in new location ....

obviously a lot of needle shed.... and shorter needles.... any ideas why .. beside transplant????

thanks
ken
Pinus contorta var. latifolia 'Chief Joseph' 02 122607
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Pinus contorta var. latifolia 'Chief Joseph' 021506
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is it possible... that its too cold for them to yellow up properly????

if its a draw down of sapal fluids.. could it have missed a transition phase .. when it went from normal temps.. to too cold.. too fast ...

last season it was warm late.. then zappo ... zero ..

this year.. we skipped half of fall.. and went to near zero ..

seems like a lot of peeps bragging about the yellows are in more temperate areas ....

any thoughts on this theory????

ken

Shame none of the professionals pop in to tell us something more about colour-changes in conifers T.