My Favourite 5 Medium Sized Conifers

	Serbian Spruce Picea omorika Picea omorika or Serbian spruce; this stiffly upright form of spruce with it’s proudly upswept branches reminds me of a soldier standing stiffly at attention. Many conifers take up a rather large footprint at the base and often for this reason people either choose the dwarf conifers or find something else to give them some height in the garden. This one gives you substantial height with very little width generally getting 20-25 feet in height and only about 6 feet wide at the bottom. The lovely dark green short needles contrast nicely with the silvery undersides which you see quite nicely with the upturned branches. This conifer can get on quite nicely with good drainage, humic, slightly acidic soil in full sun to partial shade. There is also a very popular blue form called Picea omorika 'Bruns'.
	Weeping Alaskan Cypress Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Pendula' I like this artistic West Coast looking conifer in groupings. We’ll call the form upright drooping. It has pea green branchlets with a slightly silvery blue underside. It holds out its branches in broad swoops while the branchlets dangle down like the tasseled ends of a shawl. - I like this artistic West Coast looking conifer in groupings. We’ll call the form upright drooping. It has pea green branchlets with a slightly silvery blue underside. It holds out its branches in broad swoops while the branchlets dangle down like the tasseled ends of a shawl. Like picea abies it can give you height in a garden without a lot of spread. It can grow to about 20-25 feet with about 8 feet of artistic like spread. This conifer prefers full sun to partial shade in well draining humic and slightly acidic soil. There are also more blue hued versions available.
	Fernspray Gold Hinoki Cypress Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Fernspray Gold' This is a lovely slow growing artistic conifer which grows to about 8feet in height by about 6 feet. It has bright gold outer branches and branch tips while the interior of the plant is a lovely fresh green. Its branches have a lovely fine fernlike texture. This plant prefers a bit of dappled shade in the heat of the afternoon to avoid burning the gold branches. Provide ample moisture in a well drained site with a nice humic, slightly acidic soil and you will have a specimen that will have your plant loving neighbors talking! This plant also makes a lovely bonsai specimen.
	Iseli’s Columnar Blue Spruce Picea pungens Islies Fastigiata I couldn’t go without a blue could I! This variety of true blue spruce has a very slender growth habit. It grows very slowly to about 15-20 feet in height (still not there after 20 years) and about 7 feet wide. A stunning specimen at the back of the border, place this tree where you want to draw the eye. The lovely icy blue colour contrasts so nicely with my dark greens and golds. This tree prefers full sun to get the best blue colour in well drained average slightly acidic soil.
Photo Credit: Monrovia, Horticultural Printers	Silver Whispers Swiss Stone Pine Pinus cembra 'Klein' This compact soft looking mini-Christmas tree shaped conifer is another lovely variety for the smaller garden. It is slow growing to about 12 feet high by about 6 feet wide. The rich green needles in bundles of 5 are striped with white giving the tree an overall silvery green effect. It is very densely branched and full looking. This specimen is best in full sun in well drained average to humic, slightly acidic soil. This little guy is on my must get for my garden list!

These and many other great conifers are always available at Arts Nursery. If you would like more information about which ones are right for you, call 604.882.1201 or come visit and we would be happy to assist!

Kids and Pets Photos With Santa Dec 4th & 11th

Kids & Pets Photos with Santa

Santa is making a special appearance at Art's Nursery between 1pm and 4pm on December 4th and December 11th for photos with your kids or pets.

As this is a special, last-minute trip, Santa is not bringing the elves or reindeer so you'll have to bring your own camera to get great shots. As Santa is so generous, there is no fee for this special occasion. Hope to see you there!

Sunday December 4th, 1-4 pm
Sunday December 11th, 1-4pm

FREE Event - Please bring your own camera.
Donations accepted for the SPCA or  Foodbank

Cool Plant: Wolong Ghost Silver Veined Wintercreeper

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Euonymus fortunei 'Wolong Ghost'
Silver Veined Wintercreeper

Prominent white veins stand out on the narrow, deep green leaves for an unusual appearance on this strong-growing groundcover. Fills in large or small spaces in sunny borders or shady woodland gardens. Evergren. Full to part sun. Grows 8-10 inches in height, 18-24 inches wide. Hardy to zone 5.

This plant and many others are available at Art's Nursery Ltd. Please call 604.882.1201 to confirm availability.

Cool Plant: Morgan Chinese Arborvitae

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Thuja orientalis 'Morgan'
Morgan Chinese Arborvitae

This woody chameleon, native to Australia, is known for its gorgeous changing year-round foliage colour. Its summer lime-green foliage turns deep purple in fall, followed by fantastic rich orange colour during the winter months. A favourite plant among dwarf conifer enthusiasts. Grows 2-4 inches a year to a maximum height of 3ft in 10 years. Needs full sun.

This plant is generally available at Art's Nursery.
Please call 604.882.1201 to confirm availability.

Your Garden in December

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Looks like we’re starting December off rather nicely on the Wet Coast, sunny and cool. After dipping my shopping toes into the danger filled waters of mall Christmas shopping I think I do the rest online, in my pjs and gorilla slippers…while listening to Dave Cooks the Turkey by Stuart McLean. There is not a ton to do in the garden at this time, but a whole lot of daydreaming.
Ok, ok, there are a few things you can still do for those keeners out there.

Here’s the list:

Garden Beds:
You can still plant shrubs and trees so long as the ground is not frozen or mucky and waterlogged. Don’t panic if you haven’t plunked those bulbs in yet, wait until the soil has dried out a bit and then toss them in. Weed if needed, mulch around plants with chopped up leaves or bark mulch (avoid using fruit tree or rose leaves). If you have acid lovers such as blueberries or lingonberries or rhodo’s you can drag fallen pine and fir branches to the garden beds and leave them until the needles fall off and then drag away the branches sans needles.

Plant for Winter Interest
Thisis a great time to look for plants that most spring-only gardeners would miss. The list is actually quite large, for example: camellias, mahonia, hellebores, wintergreen, holly and more

Pots:
Mother Nature has so handily provided many fallen boughs for me to fill my front planters with. Go for a walk and collect some boughs for swags or garlands. We also have some artfully arranged at the store too. Don’t forget to water those plants under cover outside. While not requiring water every day or even once a week, you’ll still need to water say once every two weeks. Feel the top of the soil and make sure it feels moist. When it dries out, add water.

House Plants:
With the cooler weather, most of us have our furnaces on blowing warm and dry air. Keep an eye on your houseplants, misting and providing pebble trays as needed.

Bulbs for Forcing
you can still start paper whites, Hyacinth and Amaryllis now for late winter blooms.

Lawns:
Those past few winter storms should have taken care of most of the rest of the leaves. Make sure to rake or blow large leaves off of the lawn or you’ll be making extra work for yourself next spring with overseeding all those bare patches.

Seeds:
The seed catalogues should be starting to come in around now and you can settle down with a nice peppermint hot chocolate and a pen and put your feet up and start your wish list. Now is a great time to plan for next year and just think… you don’t have to put up with a pesky garden to-do list until 2012!
Cheers,
Laurelle