Jim Putnam loved conifers, He'd hug them every day, He'd whisper secrets in their leaves, And watch the branches sway. The trees would nod in agreement, To all that Jim would say, And in their company he found, A peaceful, calming way
We’re currently significantly upping our conifer and ground cover game. Thank you for including the technical names and habits of these wonderful varieties.
That Frankie Boy is a standout! I keep a photo album on my iPad of plants I’ve love to have and that one has been on my wish list for a while. Such a cool looking plant!
A word of warning - this shrubs gets to be at least 4 ft tall and wide. If you are looking for something smaller that could be used an ornamental grass alternative, I would go with whipcord…
I have a contact allergy to most conifers so watching Jim run his hands over all of these made me very itchy! 😅 Despite that, my favorite I have in my garden is my black dragon cryptomeria. Love its unique form and how no two look quite the same. I ripped out a very boring green arborvitae that was struggling and the black dragon has been much happier there.
Don't plant SPRUCE OF ANY KIND, DEER ATE OURS UP and killed them, including Colorado Spruce and it was 3 ft tall. We were sick about it. We also live in North Carolina, 30 yo 40 minutes South of Raleigh.
Cryptomeria Dragon Prince is my favorite! Finally got around to adding one in my garden front entryway area this past December. Still a round ball, about the size of a basketball, but so soft to the touch and has bright green new growth on it. Zone 8B San Antonio area. Absolutely love it!
My favorite Conifer I have is Picea Abies Dandylion. Striking new gold growth each spring. Grows around two inches a year. Very happy in my woodland garden
Thanks Jim! Love all your conifers. We have a 20’ Deodar cedar that was planted where an Ash tree once lived. The Ash tree succumbed to the emerald ash borer. We have 8 more ash trees on our property that we have saved by injections done by an arborist. My husband and I plan to plant more conifers as they are so beautiful especially in a winter garden. Landscaping with Conifers and Ginkgo for the Southeast by Tom Cox and John M. Ruter is a great reference book.
My favorite in my garden is Chamaecyparis pisifera 'White Pygmy.’ You have definitely sold me on the night light and I have loved that Green penguin since you showed it at Mr Maple.
I have a Picea pungens ‘the blues’ that is turning out to be one of my favorite plants. Very interesting, weeping growth habit with the striking blue spruce color. A specimen plant in deed.
My current favorite conifer is a Jade Waves Fernspray False Cypress. I love its dark green irregular growth pattern. It reminds me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book!
Added dragon prince this spring per your suggestion. Night light is great too! Taxus baccata reminds me of lemon coral sedam a nice contrast. I like your green penguin pine too.
Would love to have them all, but I'm especially fond of the last one - the Cedrus (I'm hoping to add 'Feelin' Blue' this year), and the Dragon Prince Cryptomeria (I'm upstate SC zone 8a). Interested to see how that 'Limeade' develops over time.
I do love a gold conifer. I am so intimidated by conifers though. I have a very small garden and other gardeners in zone 7 here tell me they get small conifers that outgrow the space quickly or they can’t handle the humidity. One day, I’m gonna try it though.
Great Conifer video Jim. I have sort of a conifer trial going on down in Sanford,NC. I so far have had success with various Cryptomerias, Serbian Spruce, Oriental Spruce, Mexican Spruce, Korean Ice breaker, Sequoia Semperverins, Blue Spruce and of course for the South Momi Fir. Love Conifers more than anything else.
I've seen eastern arborvitae growing well into zone 2. Very cold hardy. An famous example is the Witch Tree growing in (nearly) solid rock overhanging Lake Superior, It's centuries old. I really appreciate the Chamaecyparis and Cryptomeria cultivars in zone 8a Virginia. Thriving for me are 'Red Star,' 'Crippsii, ' 'Sekkan' and 'Gracilis Nana.' I just got a 'Southern Lace' chamaecyparis from Wilson's mail order nursery.
Thank you for this great tour! Appreciate your tips. It’s reassuring to hear about shedding and good to know about shading their roots. Our favorites so far are Blue Rug juniper, Pacific Blue juniper, Dwarf Mugo Pine and Blue Arrow Juniper. Zone 7a, Tx Panhandle.
🌱I would love to have a Chirimen. I was at my favorite nursery and the owner showed one to me and kind of "planted a seed" so to speak. I have never stopped thinking about it since. I've been looking for a Japanese white pine, black pine or weeping white pine. I'm in the Pacific Northwest coast of Washington state zone 9A. Great video! Love your channel. 👩🌾
Blue star juniper, Anna's magic ball arborvitae, dwarf mugo pine, gold cone juniper. Philly PA z7. A cool looking conifer that I thought about adding is a whipcord arborvitae on a standard.
Thank you for the conifer tour! They are such interesting plants. I had planted a Dragon Prince and Night Light this past mid-September, but the December deep freeze got them. Replacing them with inkberry, yaupon, and helleri hollies. Will plant some more conifers in the future, though. The retailers push the arborvitaes which promptly die in our hot humid summers...NW Miss 7b.
I love Chirimen for it's architectural qualities. Unfortunately I killed the one I planted a few years ago when I knew much less about conifers, so it's time to try it again.
My newest conifer was purchased yesterday. It is Cryptomeria japonica 'Spiralis'. A very interesting looking Japanese Cedar. It has curled needles in a cork screw fastion and has been called “granny’s ringlets.” Also a very soft touch conifer.
I have my eye on the Night Light Chamaecyparis for quite some time due to its sun tolerance and brigth color. Already have a Nana Gracilis that I bought on clearance last year.
I'm really getting more and more into small conifers. It really started when I had a group of Japanese plum yews (Cephalotaxus?) planted as an understory to my azalea, rhododendrons and nandina nearly six years ago. For some reason, I seem to recall you had planted a small Mugo pine (?) on your property. Maybe it's in your backyard?
I love conifers so much. I'm in zone 9b and feel very limited in the ones I can grow well. I know there a couple varieties that are ok in zone 9, but seems like many of the ones that I love most thrive in lower zones. I wonder if you could do a video on how to grow outside of your zone, or is that just a no no? In this case, I'm guessing if it's even possible, I would have to keep them in containers and move them to the shade in the summer?
Question: Getting ready to plant some evergreens as anchor plants. Are there dwarf varieties that will not damage the foundation of one’s home? Luv the channel. Thanks.
The trick to growing spruces in our area Is watering during dry.s? You can never treat them as established plants. You always have to water in the heat of summer and the dry of fall. I am in zone 8 and have yard full of them. More than JayS
Hi Jim. I have a Gold Coast Juniper. When I first planted it, had beautiful gold tips. Now 3 years later it’s always been full green. Is this normal? Otherwise it’s a healthy conifer. Grew twice big.
I’m in Plano, TX. I have two False Cypress Gold Mop that are doing well in a Part Sun/Part Shade(morning sun afternoon shade) location. I have a friend who planted the same but in a full sun(west) location and these burned this past summer.
Might check out Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't on Texas natives. He's grown different stuff from seed, is entirely self taught but a bit of a potty mouth.
Hi Jim and Steph my favorite dwarf conifer is Ruby Teardrops Colorado Spruce, I actually transplanted it to a container yesterday, we are moving in the near future and don’t want to leave it behind. So I wanted an evergreen for a container and I found a Steeds Holly in my local garden center the tag says it is a zone 4! But I’m pretty sure they are hardy to zone 6? Can you clarify this for me? Thank you 😊 I am in zone 6b Pennsylvania!
I'm thinking about adding conifers to my yard too. I find that a lot of my garden just dies as soon as the heat. It's only about 80 deg now but in a month it will be 90 and summer will hit triple digits. I plant and things about half of the stuff dies immediately. The heat is deadly. My watering system goes on every other day. What should I do?
What zone are you? Maybe try planting as early as possible to give time to establish their roots before heat sets in and tip pruning the new growth upon planting. Jim’s technique of planting thick & shading roots would probably help you a lot if you get that hot!
