I love cembras

'Compacta Glauca'

Ben, I've heard of Pond Pine, but can't say I've ever seen one. It has been promoted!

I'm starting to like my Pinus strobus.

Excellent coloring.

About a foot tall when planted.

Picea mariana, I believe.

Bill, I hope you take at least annual pics of the white pine. It’s interesting how quickly they change at that young age...kind of like children. I agree, it does have interesting color, with unusual whiteness to the needles. Or am I seeing something that isn’t there?

Addison, nice picture! Conifers in winter against a brilliant blue sky. It’s good.

Thanks, maackia!

maackia,

There is a sort of a silvery tinge to the needles. More noticeable in the right lighting. The tree has always had the nice blue/green cast in coloring.

I don't have a closeup picture but it can be seen in Oct. 2016 (very small tree in center of picture) with it's trunk wrapped in aluminum foil (for rodent protection in winter). I don't remember if it was dug in 2015 or 2016. I found it growing in the shade of some rather large White pines, out on my rural property, so a product of seed in it's natural environment?

(Oct. 7 2016)

It's now (Sept. 11 2020) become part of the wind break on the south west end of the yard (bottom center)..

It's so interesting how a landscape can change in four years. BTW, Bill, did you get a freeze last night? It got down to 35F here overnight. Considering what is going on out west, I shouldn't complain about cool temps. I feel for those folks.

Here's Pinus strobus 'Vercurve', which I planted from a small container in 2012. This from the American Conifer Society description: The cultivar name is a combination of Vermont and curved needles. The Bizon tag gives the 10-year average as 2'-3' tall x 3'-4' wide. As usual, the grower is overly optimistic on its slow growth rate.

Since moving here almost 8 years ago, my yard has went from a windswept open field to a partially modified windswept open field. j/k ;-)

The view is what changes the most and the pine and spruce are getting tall enough to provide screening to the surrounding yards and houses.

And sometimes I'll find myself working under the shade of my Sugar Maple or Paper Birch. :-)

Nice Vercurve you have there!

We had 33F Wed. but there was ice in the bird bath. 34F on Thurs. and house tops were white but no ice in the bb and the only trees I see affected is the Fraxinus nigra in the front yard (north side) leaves are beginning to show yellowing. Even the flowers are still nice so not a 'hard freeze'.

Planted in 2016 from a Menards sale, this small potted (1.5 gal.?) Tsuga canadensis has grown remarkably well even though the last two winters produced some winter burn on the tops.

July 15 2016 shortly after planting (14" tall?).

eta: Today: 9-11-2020: (4-5 ft.)

maackia,

I was going to ask, is that Pinus strobus 'Vercurve', looks a little 'split'. Is it growing as a double stem?

I know nothing about them.

I planted it and have done nothing to it since. i think this is the habit, but I don’t have anything to compare it to. Somewhere I read it’s the largest version of a trifecta of twisted needle clones from Greg Williams, but I’m not absolutely certain of that. Hopefully someone better versed on P. strobus than I will help sort it out. :)

BTW, I just looked at the pic and it does look like dance partners. Which dance partner should I remove? There will be no pruning this one. It’s in a border area where the plants determine the outcome. The less I interfere the better they do.

I'd leave it be. It would take to long to recover, if it ever did.

Thanks for the info. :-)

Table Mountain pine some years ago in autumn w/sugar maple behind:

Here are a few of mine:

Picea engelmannii Jasper

Thuja Jantar

Thuja Yellow Ribbon in the back, Picea pungens Montgomery in front:

Another Montgomery:

Even in death, this red pine is magnificent--each day at sunset

Mazerholm, your garden reminds me of what I’m missing by not having Arbor Vitae. The soft yellow foliage of yours looks very nice...and enjoying the company of coneflower. Unfortunately, deer make it almost impossible to grow them here.

It’s nice to see a strong showing of pines. I think they’re as majestic and beautiful as any tree, even when they’re dead. Addison, what do you suppose it died from?

Here’s conifer eden in northern WI.

maackia, I don't know. It had perished long before we bought our home.

Edit: Thuja occidentalis from seed have not been at all bothered by the deer. I am quite surprised.

Thuja occidentalis.Door county Wisc.

Growing on almost pure limestone. :-)

Maackia, That's an outstanding cembra you've got there! I've been growing a dwarf version 'Blue Mound'...great pines!

I used to think koraiensis was my preferred garden pine, but I've been won over by cembra. Nice form, beautiful needles, and ornamental cones make for a splendid conifer. Alley Cat, are you in the Midwest?

Pinus strobus ‘Cockerton Special’

Pinus strobus ‘John’s Find’, taking off so that I will move the Autumn Joy sedum next spring.

No Maackia, Southern Md. at sea level 7b. Hot humid summers and my cembra copes really well. I'm guessing I've been growing it for 7/8 years.
Nice thread btw !

Al

Pot in a cauldron. Good idea. No harm from rabbits or rodents I'll bet.

I can’t take credit for that, I think it was TJ who suggested it. ;-) If not TJ I will owe someone a big apology.

Suggested the P. c. ‘Blue Mound’? I could have, I’ve had mine for nearly 15 years and have posted pix of it. Its about 6 or so feet now. I’ll see if I have a recent pic.

tj

Nope, I was referring to the suggestion of pot-in-pot for that big container ☺️

That's what I get for checking the forums at night on a dark porch with an iPhone. I mixed up who said what. lol

I have done pot-in-pot while waiting for a permanent home for conifers but usually just do houseplants summering outside now. Like this...

But here's the cembra giving cover for fish anyway...

Now, as for the conifer to promote, I'm going with Abies lasiocarpa 'Glauca'...

Great blue replacement for pungens in our climes. Its sister 'Glauca Compacta' doesn't seem to get as blue for me.

tj

Nice vessel, TJ! Are you a ceramist?

No, but my wife and I appreciate kiln fired pottery. After seeing this pot on an artist’s porch for 5 years during pottery tours I finally asked about it. It was made for someone who didn’t want it. He picked it up, set it on the back of my truck and took a damp sponge which wiped off years of dust and it just glowed. He offered it to me for a fraction of the cost. An offer I couldn’t refuse. Quite a crowd gathered behind my truck when he cleaned it off.

tj

As a lover of standing dead, I am blessed with these beautiful visitors, too. This is a juvenile whom I have not seen before. About an hour earlier, a nearly adult male (just a little bit of brown still on his head) landed upon the topmost broken branch of this dead Picea mariana about 200' away. (That's about as close as they will let me get.)

Tj, that's a fine Rocky Mountain Fir specimen. I fully agree that it should be planted more often in our region, and Colorado Blue Spruce less so.

Addison, nice picture of the living and the dead. In the past I've been too quick to remove dead trees, especially mature oaks that have succumbed to wilt. Snags like shown above are so useful to nature. Unfortunately, in a dense woods they can also get hung up on other healthy oaks when they topple, and in some cases open a fresh wound that attracts beetles to spread the fungus. I've got a few dead oaks in the woods surrounding the house that I'm trying to decide what to do with.

We have one dead Pinus resinosa, and 2 dead Picea mariana. They are on a property line and exposed by meadow on both sides... Small birds seem to love the pine. The spruces are adored by crows, ravens, a migrating hawk, and a rarely spotted merlin among others. The eagles only discovered our spruces last year. They came very frequently last summer, fall, and winter. This summer, I have seen them less frequently, but two stopped by today. It was wonderful!!! Maybe they'll be back for the fall...

Late to the party

Pinus strobus ' Windswept Broom '

it is getting a funky shape

ron

Juniperus communis:

Has taken a nice full form with beautiful colors for such a common shrub. 👍