' Everitts Golden '
' Everitts Gold' is one I like.

What's the adelgid situation in your area?

‘Lewisii’

’Dawsonii’

’Vermeulen’s Wintergold’

How do you define dwarf?

tj

It’s widespread. However, I cant seem to figure out why so many people are hung up on that. The adelgids will not immediately attack your hemlock and kill it upon you planting it. They are several insecticides that work well in keeping your hemlock adelgid free, or at least close, not to mention ample sunlight can help combat them as well- see: US forest Service sunlighting hemlocks. maybe the misconception comes from people who don’t live in areas with many Eastern hemlock, so they just think that supposedly the adelgid comes in and kills every single hemlock and that’s the end of it.

Reports of what is happening to native stands do tend to create a certain impression:

The species is currently experiencing catastrophic range reduction as a result of infestation by the hemlock wooly adelgid, Adelges tsugae (HWA). This insect pest, introduced to North America from Asia in 1924, has been responsible for widespread dieback of Tsuga canadensis forests. The adelgid was a relatively minor pest until the mid-1980s, confined to parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Recently it has begun rapid range extension and now occurs throughout much of the range of Tsuga canadensis from Georgia to Maine along and east of the Appalachian cordillera (USFS 2007); see also ENTS (2005). In recent years, significant progress has been made developing biocontrols for HWA. Although this effort has not been moving quickly enough to save many of the oldest and largest hemlocks, it does offer real hope that the hemlocks may be saved before they are extirpated from much of their range. The biocontrol efforts depend upon the introduction of predatory beetles that are highly adapted to prey solely upon species of adelgid; the most promising candidates so far are beetles native to the Pacific Northwest, which unfortunately are killed by the cold winters experienced in the northern and more continental portions of the range of Tsuga canadensis (Onken and Reardon 2011).

https://www.conifers.org/pi/Tsuga_canadensis.php

And dwarf cultivars are a whole lot easier to treat should the adelgids become an issue :-)

Yes, that Excerpt certainly paints a grim picture, which kind of speaks to my point. They have been hurt, and hurt badly, but the adelgid should not stop anyone from planting some in their yards or wherever they would like, right the opposite really. The more planted and taken care of, the better.

Tsugajunkie: are you familiar with the ‘Stranger’ cultivar?

Not personally but if I had room its one I’ve had my eye on for some time.

tj

I’ve only seen a few pictures, but I really like the look of it. Definitely considering going with it.

Have you ever seen The enormous weeping one at the Biltmore estate? I believe it’s Sargent’s. It’s magnificent.

This used to be a magnificent weeping hemlock @ Scott Arboretum, it fell victim to the wooly adelgid. Most of the hemlocks planted in the landscape in my state are sickly and dying. One of the reasons that I gave up on hybrid tea roses is I couldn't keep up with the spraying, life's too short for that. Why would I choose a plant when I know it will require spraying?

the treatments for hemlocks are very manageable, in my opinion. A soil drench that takes 45-60 seconds once every 2-4 years is easily worth it. I could understand the “why plant a tree if it’s going to require spraying” mantra if it was a weekly deal.

There are some amazing Sargent's Weeping Hemlocks located across arboreta. I haven't seen the one at Biltmore, but I have seen a few others including one at Morris Arb, which is just down the road from the purple tree at Scott Arb.

I've seen large versions of both forms (staked vs. unstaked), and both are impressive. A massive, sprawling version that has not been staked can be found at Berkshire Botanical Garden.

I've got one of these and have decided not to stake it. As it grows and consumes real estate, I'll have to do some editing since there are a few conifers planted around it. BTW, an entire book has been written about this old clone.

i prefer walgreens

hebefolia is attractive and different looking to me, although I suppose that's a miniature. My first year with it so can't really tell how good a grower it is.