They are reputable, pack their plants well, and provide the ability to control your shipping dates. I’ve never had any bad experiences ordering plants from them. If I were in a colder zone (such as yours) I’d aim for a shipping date closer to spring, so you won’t have to worry about maintaining your little ones through unpredictable cold.

I can’t speak on your selections but I’m sure some of our Midwest members can provide some locale specific insights.

i am a blue freak .. so i collected a lot of the blue flexilus ... at about 10 years.. they all started dying ... i never asked nor figured out why ... during that time.. they were some of my faves ...

INSURE the JM is fully zone appropriate ... some are.. some arent.. especially if you run across some 10 year z4 winter ...

they are all trees ... so take the 10 year size info... and presume they will be twice as big at 20 years if left to their own devices ...

with weeping conifers.. you need to train them to the height you want.. and then allow them to weep down .. or just let them grow on the ground ... but if you are intent on some height.. ask CK to send you one that is already pointing upward .. rather than trying to force it up ...

since they are so much warmer zone than our z5 ... you need to insure.. that they are sent DORMANT ... so they can acclimate .. and preferably come out of dormancy when your spring is ready to do the same ... no use getting an active plant from a warmer place.. and then watching it get frost or freeze ... a dormant plant wont care ...

good luck with skylands ... i tried and lost about 6 times with it .. it is highly micro climate specific ... imo .. skip it ... and if firefly is just a variation on the theme.. ditto ... i tried fresh grafts... young grafts... 3 year old grafts.. and larger ones .. pshaw ...

if you have any questions just call sam at CK and talk to him ... but ill tell you.... its hard with the time zones ... might have to play some good old fashioned phone tag ... i call him when i have time in the morning.. he calls me back in his morning.. by which time its my afternoon.. and i dont have time.. blah... blah.. blah .. lol .. but in tree time.. that is of little significance.. lol ...

oh.. and the umbrella pine .. well ... im not sure i have seen many.. if any at all .. in z5 ... im sure its possible.. but long term.. its not probable ...

right now is a great time to visit any arbs ... within a few hours of you ... i highly recommend such ... to see what grows relatively locally ..

i would highly recommend you to richs foxwillow but i think they are closed??? ... make AN APPOINTMENT if possible.. and spend a few hours there.. if they are still in business ...

http://www.richsfoxwillowpines.com/

order from both.. so you can learn from both ...

ken

ps: i am basically due east of you .. and our weather is basically the same ... my ground thaws in mid march or so.. and tree planting time is basically april .. presuming your plants are dormant.. and hardened off ... this gives them 2 to 3 months.. to settle in.. before the midwest heat starts to rise in mid july .... if properly watered in .. and mulched.. they probably wnt need water until july or august ... dont forget.. a dormant zone appropriate plant.. should not really care about winter .. but for you shipping it cross country from a warmer zone ...

Rich and Susan retired and moved to NM: http://www.richsfoxwillowpines.com/calendar/

The Morton Arboretum has both species and garden conifers and would be worth a visit.

tj

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I have a list of other plants as well (I know I can procure locally). These are my "specimen picks". Ken always appreciate the thorough response.

There is a conifer wacko a few miles from me and my wife wont let me knock on the door since she thinks he'll freak out. Him an I will be friends. He has a P. o. Skyland's about 15' tall in his partly shaded backyard and it is magnificent. Cantigny Gardens also has a few Japanese Umbrella Pine (Joey, I think) doing quite well. I posted a story last year of my trip to Rich's Foxwillow. I loaded up the minivan with kids and conifers and took them to a theme park up there (Santa's Village) so I can bribe them for a road trip. All are doing great, but one P. leucodermis may have needle cast. I cannot bring myself to shovel prune (dispose) it. I am going to try fungicides in the spring since its only 3' tall.

brad , I found a conifer wacko too...here is what I did ; i wrote a letter introducing myself

I included my address & phone # and just stuck it in his mail box and left it up to him to respond .

any wacko worth his salt will jump at the chance to talk to another wacko

FOUND A FRIEND

Foxwillow had umbrella pines in the ground , so they are hardy

ron

Conifer Kingdom has wackball pricing - not recommended for that reason.

Try Crowfoot Nursery, Western Evergreen or Topairy Gardens.

Stanley and Sons is good too but there are minimums and you need to be an ACS member. You might enjoy doing so eitherway.

In defense of Conifer Kingdom, while their list prices are high, they will give you free shipping if you order $150 worth of plants. So the prices reflect the built-in shipping costs. For that reason, I do not advise spending less than $150 there, as you will effectively being paying twice for shipping. But they do have a great selection.

I just had an incredible shopping experience with Crowfoot, and can‘t sing their praises enough. The trees came on time, looked fantastic, and were arguably the best packaged trees I’ve ever received.

That being said, I do agree with Dean; I appreciate conifer kingdom including shipping costs in their pricing. I know whenever I break the 150.00 dollar barrier that‘s all I’ll pay, and I‘ll receive a free gift. This last order included a great looking Cryptomeria ’Sekkan’, as a gift. That’s hard to argue with,

Order placed through Conifer Kingdom, also downloaded inventory list from Crowfoot, which is awesome since they have a decent selection of Tsuga cultivars...maybe another order pending. Thanks all for enabling my disease

Try Monrovia. They’ll ship free if you're close enough to a nursery they supply. Stanley and Sons we’re bought out and stopped taking ACS member orders last I heard

re: stanley .. go figure on that

http://www.stanleyandsons.com/

My order came in. Packaged well and looking pretty good

At plantkiller - I stopped at the conifer wacko's house a few weeks ago and he gave me tour and he's coming over for a tour next month with drinks. thanks for the suggestion.

I stopped at the conifer wacko's house a few weeks ago and he gave me tour and he's coming over for a tour next month with drinks.

==>> and you still cant come up with a better name for him ...

is he bringing the drinks.. or are you providing??

lol

ken

ps: if conifer kingdom is too pricey.. maybe you are buying the wrong plants from them ... sure.. who pays a premium for a common blue spruce and has it mailed cross country ... but crikey.. why are you ordering that from them.. when they have some of the rarest plants on the planet ... and if you want to pay less for a 2 or 3 year younger plant.. good for you ... that said.. price rules in my book.. so if you can get it cheaper... go for it ...

oh.. come to think of it.. if wacko is his choice of name... all the power to him ... lol ..

mbrad , get your new friend to join gardebweb & make tour post

we can all be friends

ron

we need more tours

MY TOUR