Picea, Oriental Spruce 'Skylands'

In a park in downtown Santa Rosa, ca. Is an old columnar specimen of oriental spruce possibly dating to Luther Burbank days. My own youn...Read Moreg trees of the regular form were easily started from cuttings from someone's tree. They are doing o.k. in my drier area of poor soil, but slow growing. Not very drought Hardy when young. The tree doesn't take up much space. Great for small gardens. I've not seen this tree growing anywhere else, except perhaps in botanic gardens. The tiny dark green needles are arranged so perfectly as to look artificial , and in the Spring the contrast with the new chartreuse growth is very beautiful. If you've heard the expression " spruce things up " I imagine it would refer to beautifying with boughs of this tree.

This tree was presented to me by a landscaper as a substitute for another tree that I had requested, and I've become very attached to it!...Read More The shape and color seemed unappealing at first, but in the landscape it provides just enough of a glow to catch the eye in all four seasons. Additionally, the shape of the tree is narrow and open, which is an interesting contrast to the typical conifer.

I saw a few of these in an arboretum and they were suffering due to intense heat and light; mine is in a woodland garden that is partially shaded, the soil is high in humus and never dries out entirely, and it is sheltered from wind. For a conifer, it's growing rapidly, and I rarely fertilize.

I have been nursing mine along for 2 years now. I did raise it up this past fall thinking that it was too wet in my clay soil. Also prote...Read Morected it from the winter wind (it's 4' tall). This spring it looks great! I love this pine as a specimen plant.

Another interesting conifer for the dreary, rainy winter Oregon landscape. I can see this from my living room window and it practically ...Read Moreglows with it's yellow accents. Planted on a slope in clay soil, it seems to be doing well in zone 8.