Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns'

Gold Sprite ya later

After 1 year in the ground this little plant never sent roots into the soil

New Miniatures in New Bed

New mini conifer bed

Picea abies 'pendula'

Monkey puzzle tree

Pinus strobus 'Pendula'

Picea pungens cones

Three new miniature conifers

Conifer Order

From Oregon

Picea bicolor cones

This plant has been the subject of debate as to what species of spruce it is.

Acer japonicum 'woods'

Stanley Collection

Acer palmatum 'Beni hime'

Picea orientalis 'tom thumb gold'

Acer shirasawanum 'Aurea'

Conifer gardens

Conifers in the morning

Picea omorika 'Berliner's Weeper'

Picea pungens 'Lutea'

New plane from dallas to portland

Scratch that

thank you for not flying the below pictured plane, which had a leaky engine (that doesn't sound good)

new plane above, with a new flight plan

Air plane to conifer-ville

Abies koreana 'Silberlocke'

This is after 100degree temps. One of my favorite conifers and it gives me hope for future Abies.

Abies magnifica in the Summer

A little beat up but after 100 degree temps what do you expect

New garden

Trip to Portland,OR next week

The Second Age

The second truck of trees arrived fresh from the nursery and again they are outstanding. Much more information coming soon about the trees and where they came from.

The Blues

After still having no truck to ship the remainder of my plants and feeling some what "blue" about the problem, I present to you Picea pungens. These trees are commonly referred to as Colorado Blue Spruce and the species trees will develop into huge stately tree. Pictured in this slide show are some super cool blue spruce cultivars that have some really interesting habits.

Garden Diary with Maple Power

Click the video above twice and select HD option for best quality.

Red, Red....Pine?

One of the great things about conifers that continues to surprise me is the times and places you find unexpected colors. As an example the new cones developing on a Pinus cembra 'Nana' above are a vibrant violet red color.

Dear Diary,

Young Plants Find a Home

After a week or two in the ground many of my new conifers are starting to establish, thanks to some regular rain, in their new permanent homes.

The Conifers Awaken

After a long winter of suspended animation most conifers are putting out beautiful new growth.

Rocks, Conifers, and an Uncle

Some updated photos of the ongoing conifer garden expansion and one Pinus banksiana 'Uncle Fogy'

Spring Explosion of Color

The Japanese maples are really displaying their color this year.

Shots from the Field

Only 4 conifers not in the ground at his stage. Now the multiple fill the tractor with mulch deliveries begin and soon stone.

Huge Update Coming Soon

By this Sunday all of my last conifer delivery will be in the ground and then the parade of video and photos of the plants will start.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster

More pix from the conifer garden project.

Bring in the Lights

With the weather report calling for near or below freezing temperatures, I went in to a red alert to protect my larger maples. When you're dealing with trees 8ft+ wrapping them in 40 MPH winds really doesn't work.

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Many people use Christmas lights to wrap their trees or shrubs to help add maybe one or two degrees to help keep hard frost off of tender new leaves. For my Japanese maples I decided to use some Christmas lights and some halogen work lights, some might not be the right word. Twelve lights would be better description of how many lights I used to help protect my larger maples. These lights put out 500 watts and provide a good amount of heat and hopefully that will be enough to protect these maples.

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I'd also like to give a huge thanks to both 'Hogyoku' and 'Osakazuki' the only two Japanese maples I have that did not break bud. These two trees are both old and wise.

So Many Plants and So Much Ground

Here's an update on the new gardens progress.

Flowers on Conifers

Most of the time we don't think of flowers when it comes to conifers but when you click on the above photo and see the new bud opening, it's hard not to see it as a flower.

This photo is of Picea pungens 'Rick's White Tip' and that bud/flower will start to develop new growth which will have a distinct white color to it's new growth. Most spruce trees have a very similar look as their new buds start to open and beautifully contrast by the prominent needles and striking colors that are available in the spruce family.

Can You See the Tunder?

Some times you see a plant's name and go how did they come up with that?

In the case of Pinus thunbergii 'Thunderhead' it's obvious how it got it's name. In the early spring it develops these long white buds, often referred to as candles, that eventually become the new growth of the plant. The candles that form on 'Thunderhead' are exceptionally long and white and may be one of the most striking pines that can be added to your garden.

My new 'Thunderhead' is going to be finding a nice piece of ground to call home latter today.

Garden Diary Powered by Conifers

Today's Agenda

Who's ready to see a video featuring every conifer in the above photos. Well that's what's coming today.

The list of trees, minus about 20 more on that coming soon, has arrived and these are the first photos from this breaking news story.