A little sunshine on a rainy day!
Pinus contorta var. latifolia
'Taylors Sunburst'

Beautiful pine! What’s that narrow conifer behind the pine??? Thanks

liono, That narrow conifer is Picea Omorika 'Pendula Bruns'.

Yep, 'Pendula Bruns' on the right and 'Joe Kozy' on the left.

As always very pretty alley_cat. If you have time it would be great if you could start your own thread and show photos of your garden.

Thanks for the help Stu. The op asked about spring experience with a question mark. Just saw it as an invitation to contribute. This is the slowest spring I've ever seen on this forum in well over a decade.

@alley_cat- I don't think Stu was saying you shouldn't post what you did here but that you always have such nice shots that a separate post with much more would be great.

I must admit I have been lax in posting this year. It was such a short turn around from my last snow shoveling to my first mowing that things have been quite busy catching up. And many conifers are only starting to pop.

tj

tsugajunkie, thanks for clarifying, you hit the nail on the head.

I pulled my P. Contorta ‘Taylor’s Sunburst’ this spring, so I’ll have to appreciate yor specimen from afar. It looks splendid!

Super nice Garen!

Just had to say that all of the photos here look awesome! Exciting to see everyones gardens coming alive. Spring hit fast this year! I’ve been meaning to post a pic or two, just busy with work. I’ll go through my photos later and see what I can come up with. In the meantime, keep the pictures coming...I’ve been waiting all winter for this!

Picea abies 'Nidiformis' on the right. Lawn chair in the middle for scale.

Remember now, this is zone 3 and are just starting our above 70's weather with only a few 80's so far. And these will pale in comparison to what others have posted that have more climactic diversity.

But here goes: :)

Above: Small Picea glauca was planted too deep for several years and raised a year ago, putting out male cones and new branch sprouts.

Below: Abies balsamea brought in from the woods a few years ago and was only a stick bc the deer had kept it severely pruned. Now showing vigorous growth after 2 years of recovering (buds broke only a week ago & still protecting it from deer).

The little Jeffery pine below laughed at a hard z3 winter and is eager to send new shoots skyward. :-)

Let's not forget Juniper commonus, Yup, that's it. Recovering well from rabbit damage to the trunk bark over a year ago. Just gave it a 'haircut'.
Quercus macrocarpa (species) leafing out nicely:
And the Betula papyrifera is finally sporting it's white bark:

Tsuga Canadensis is just beginning to show signs of bud break.

Oh yeah, let's not forget lilacs blooming along the hedge.

Very little to share right now with this odd spring, but here's a couple:

Larix kaempferi 'Blue Dwarf'

and Picea abies 'Little Gem'

I'll try and contribute more as they push.

Gold flushers are fun. Here is Picea pungens 'Gebelle's Golden Spring'

Not a conifer, but I have it surrounded! I visit this one many times throughout the spring to watch it's various stages.

Paeonia tenuifolia

^My favorite stage just before bloom

^Get's a little leggy.

I recently planted this more compact version

Table mountain pine candles. Sugar maples behind:

Pics taken yesterday in Columbus, Ohio. P. Pungens (5), P. Omorika ‘Gotelli Weeping’, and P. Omorika Pendula. Just to left of back most P. Pungens is P. Pungens ‘Baby Blue’. Between the left two P. Pungens is Mr. Bowling Ball and behind that Arborvitae “Forever Goldy” (which is more green that gold due to shade).

?? in front (black hills spruce? serbian spruce?), just planted P. Pungens ‘blue totem’ (little guy), P. Pungens ‘baby blue eyes’. In back, to right of river birch is the top of P. Pungens ‘fat albert’ (barely visible)

Horstmanns Silberlocke Korean Fir

Concolor Fir

P. Pungens ‘Montgomery’

P. Orientalis Aureospicata and my cardboard weeding system. Behind the fence are dawn redwoods my neighbor started as bare root cuttings 14 years ago. Land is real wet, they are thriving. On the right is an Austrian pine that is being eaten by something as there are small holes in the bark. The Aureospicata was planted to eventually replace it. It is turning out nice, it was the last one left and rather pinner when I bought it 3.5 or so years ago. And of course the conifer that gets no love here, Emerald Green Arborvitae.

My vernal pool is the lowest it has been this time of year since I bought this property 6 years ago(good thing as Im finally building). Ive got “island conifers” planted in here.

P. Strobus ‘island’ and 2 P. Pungens ‘island’ :)

P. Abies ‘skylands’ in the shade, behind is Little Green arborvitae. This thing came with an ‘angled top’, looks like I have to wait another year or three for it to sort itself out.

P. Pungens globosa (big box store variety), Japanese thunderhead pine, p. strobus ‘blue shag’ p. pungens ‘fat albert’. I hate to cut down oak, but conifers get priority :)

A few more. :)

4 Emerald green arborvitae, p. strobus pendula, p. abies pendula, p. pungens bakeri, wichita juniper, p. pungens on right. Down low in back are p. pungens thuja, and p. strobus (I think) ‘slowmound’.

P. Pungens ‘baby blue eyes’ in front, p. pungens (from North Carolina) in back. Not sure what kind of pine is behind it on left. This front area does not get a lot of sun, mostly because of 2 large silver maples, a large American basswood(note volunteer basswood on right), and a large p. strobus.

Thats my largest conifer, a P. Strobus. Im guessing 80-90’ tall. In the front of pic is a pom-pom topiary Scotch pine. I didnt prune last year and will just let it grow wild. Future stream with koi pond to run down right side.

My conifern area. It is about 10’x15’. I need to weed but there are ferns. Mostly in shade except for late afternoon sun. Arborvitae ‘forever goldy’ and p. pungens globosa on standard.

conifernaple

P. Abies Clanbrassiliana (and sunflowers)

P. Strobus, P. Abies, P. Stobus ‘vanderwolfs pyramidal’, Green Giant Arborvitae, P. Pungens

Natural setting lol. I must plant on mounds or my trees die. Ive got hundreds, maybe thousands of cottonwoods coming up everywhere. Ever since I cut one down two years ago. Conifers starting on left, globe blue spruce, formanek spruce, weeping larch, iseli fastigiate blue spruce (was thrashed when I bought it). To the left of the Iseli, behind it, and angling out is a Bizon Blue columnar blue spruce(looks weird in pic).

My ‘on standards’ garden (3/5, majority). The papoose spruce in front was surrounded by 3’ tall prickly weeds until 2 days ago. Ive also got those “mini lily pad” groundcover/weeds (purple flowers, see below forever goldy above)that choke out everything. The juniper standard on the right had a ton a bark (well more than half way around) rubbed off by deer a couple years back but showed no signs of injury. It reminds me of the hat in the original fat albert show.

Thanks for sharing pete! All very nice. How many acres we talking about? Not enough I suppose.. :-)

Not enough is right lol. Im slowly taking up hostas now since I have to room for anything big. It is 2 acres, approximately 90’x950’. The back 40% is wooded but there is an “island of sun” in the middle that is about 25’x65’. Ive got conifers (and a boardwalk since its wettest back there) planted throughout the wooded area. Any place with reasonable sun is planted back there. Ive also planted a bunch of conifers (mostly p. abies) on my neighbors property since she is also a nature lover and said I could. Im going to start clearing out (honeysuckle, anything thorny, invasive trees, etc) to make room for 8 conifers I have in pots now and will plant this fall.

P. Abies on neighbors property (2, one on right)

3 more p. abies on neighbors property. (3rd is to left of middle one, there is a fourth that cant be seen behind it). I love p. abies as this area is in the shade all day and they still grow.

P. Pungens on neighbors property. :)

Picea abies 'Gold Drift' and Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Glauca Compacta'

Tsuga diversifolia 'Loowit'

Pinus strobus ‘Mason’s Comet’ - Broom I found in 2014

Pinus sylvestris 'Bonna' - Impressive pollen cone show

Beautiful conifers! Super cool you have one you found and grafted.

Those pollen cones reminded me of.

Pinus Contorta ‘Spaan’s Dwarf’ (and more cottonwoods I need to remove)

Picea glauca 'Montrose Charm'

Picea abies 'Little Gem' on standard

Picea abies 'Cupressina' (more in the background)

Picea glauca 'Big Berta'

Picea Obovata 'Arctos'

Great photos everyone. Keep them coming.

Pete, I feel your pain with those cottonwoods. Those and the black locusts love spreading through roots everywhere in my yard.

A tiny toad taking in the view from way atop Picea abies 'Little Gem'.

Picea omorika 'Peve Tijn'. One of my top favorites. I had to take three photos. I've had it for seven years now. Great gold with a blue underside. Most are globose when young and become more conical. Mine has stayed a lumpy little cloud and I like it.

Picea glauca 'Burning Well'. This one is around 11-12 years old. I've had it for two years.

The Larix Kaempferi 'Pendula' has lost a lot of lower branches the past two years. The pole staking it up used to be covered by limbs that have died back but it's still cool. The Pinus thunbergii 'Thunderhead' to the right suffered quite a bit a winter burn this year but it's still happy as can be.

P. Pungens ‘Fat Albert’

Here are a few.

Frank

Frank, very nice Gold Drift. What variety are the yews? Love the groupings.

Garen, the toad picture is cool! And I like the lumpy look on the peve tijn.

Taxus (x) media 'Dark Knight'

Frank, Beautiful tree's! What's the 2 tree's in the second photo. One looks like Aurea Jacobsen?

Some photo's from my garden:

Mostly dwarf conifers and Japanese Maples in containers but I have a few faster growing plants.

John Paul the 2nd, Gold Drift

Picea Abies Suncrest, Omorika Pimoko, Angel Falls Pine, Maigold

Vermont Gold

Ruby Teardrops

Acro yellow

Bicolor Howell's Dwarf

Big Wave, Silver Mist, Daisy White

Mostly Dwarf Conifers but there's a few faster growing ones

Luteo Variegata, one of my favorite Beech Tree's, Franky Boy

Fukai Pine

Oriental Spruce 'Pendula'

Mariana Doumettii

Perry's Gold

Unknown slow growing Engelmannii Spruce

Maigold or similar

Filips Golden Tears, Ogon Pine in container

Picea abies ‘Gold Strike’ behind Picea abies ‘Aurea Jakobsen’ in the second photo.

Frank

Pusch

Tom Thumb, Ice Breaker, Aurea Magnifica, Sunglow Maple

Aurea Jacobsen?

Medusa

Mostly Dwarf conifers (a few faster growing) and Japanese Maples in pots.

Engelmannii Glauca Compacta

Goldilocks Pine

Prepare to be amazed!

Not sure what it is but it self seeded beside our patio. Going to have to be removed eventually but it was cool to see it survived the winter. Any ideas what it is?

Something Larix?

But it could be it's the juvenile appearance that makes it look that way. I think larix wouldn't have old needles that over winter.

Looks like a little Picea abies. Best way to guess would be to look a the surrounding trees. Most likely the parent will be pretty close by.

Not great lighting for pics, but a couple spruces are doing their thing:

Picea pungens 'Procumbens'

It used to be very stiffly horizontal, but the left side started upturning last year or so. Usually even more intense blue.

Picea abies 'Pendula'

Picea glauca 'Rainbow's End'

Picea pungens 'Thume'

A few more photo's,

Perry's Gold

Koreana Aurea

Oriental Spruce Spring Frost

Oriental Spruce Lemon Spreader

Dwarf Beech Tree

Picea Pungens Spring Blast?

Fagus Aurea Pendula

Picea Abies Aureospicata

Pungens Procumbens

Engelmannii Pendula

Koreana Pancake

Oriental Spruce Silver Seedling

Parviflora Goldilocks

Pungens Maigold, Oriental Spruce Aureospicata has outgrown it's space and is going to be moved.

Oriental Spruce Compacta

Abies Pendula

Feelin Sunny (getting too big?)

Some pics of new spring growth this overcast morning: