If someone can grow firs in the south, it'd be you. But I'm surprised Nordmann is so blue-green.

Great looking firs!

You are in N. GA right? Are you at some elevation?

Beng: Nordmann is one pretty Fir, I guess different provenances have different color hues.

Hair: The Firs are at 1530 elevation on "bottomland" near a trout stream!..lots of cool air drainage at night.

Canaan Fir on left side of photo. This one collected as a small wild seedling at "Blister Run", Randolph County, WV. Far as I know this particular provenance is not in commerce?

Awesome.

What's the conifer to the right of the Canaan in the background? Looks like Taiwania or Cryptomeria or even Deodara or Juniperus, lol.

Dax

Dax: Actually it's a scraggly Picea abies that needs removed!

Just upslope of the Canaan is a Cunninghamia lanceolata of "Biltmore" origin and a small Abies numidica to the left which I ran over with the mower several years ago. Currently it has 5 established leaders(5 buds on each) , 4 to be removed next grafting season!

A better view of the Abies numidica

Super! It's great to see your success with these.

Beautiful trees! Is there a fir that would grow well in southeast Kansas?

I think the best fir for places as close to the high plains as SE KS are going to be the hardier Mediterranean ones, mostly. A. firma might be OK but I think it has more of a tolerance for hot, wet soil than drought, per se. I think Resin said Abies cephalonica was probably the most heat resistant, or was it Abies cilicica? Abies holophylla might be the best Asian fir to try, which is probably like a cold hardier, more drought tolerant Abies firma. If I could try only one there it would be Abies cephalonica or maybe Abies cilicica because A. firma and A. holophylla are not fragrant.

This article is good:

Microsoft Word - Exotic Update July 2006.doc - mediterranean_firs.pdf

A. cilicica apparently has problems with late spring frosts, could also be an issue in SE KS. A. cephalonica sounds like a winner, doing well in Idaho and SE PA!

I'd wonder if the dry winters in KS would be problematic for a mediterranian fir, which "expects" winter rainfall.

Good thought hairmetal but I suspect that many of the places those firs occur can have droughts where the winter rains are very scarce. In any case, it sorta seems a lack of water during a period of dormancy is inherently less likely to cause problems that during the growing season. I think in most of SE Asia, though they might have what they call droughts, the overall pattern of monsoon always comes at some point. Always has for millions of years. Japan, Yunnan China, Taiwan, etc. just isn't going to have a rainless summer as Kansas can. Especially after seeing *some* firmas at the National Arboretum looking a bit haggard whilst southern European (or even Northern Chinese firs!) looking healthier, some directly adjacent, I'm inclined to only recommend A. firma only for the wetter parts of the SE & East coast, and/or on better soils, and/or in gardens with high water tables. (I have at least 2 out of 3, and many years all 3 LOL. I did some digging last weekend and discovered that even in this dry weather, in a lower part of my garden, 2 ft down in the soil there was perched water. Yet maples and ashes grow fine in that area. It isn't a swamp by any means.)

David, interesting thoughts of yours regarding A.firma. I hadn't read or previous thought to actually see normal precipitation for this species. conifers.org says it is rarely on dry sites but in mixed forests where rainfall averages greater than 1000mm/40" annually. I do believe you hit the nail spot on!

Dax

"I think in most of SE Asia, though they might have what they call
droughts, the overall pattern of monsoon always comes at some point.
Always has for millions of years. Japan, Yunnan China, Taiwan, etc. just
isn't going to have a rainless summer as Kansas can"

Toward the northwest of this area, the monsoon gets weaker and less reliable - firs like Abies recurvata and Abies chensiensis from places like Gansu have a good chance of being more drought tolerant.

Resin

Yep Resin, that's why I qualified it as "Yunnan, China" to point out I was mainly talking about the southern part of that (rather large) country. As you go north from there, the summer rainfall totals drop off and furthermore the pattern remains summer-wet, winter-dry, which means you start to have overall yearly figures that seem quite low. Like 550mm/21 inches a year in Xi'an.