Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Conifers Too!, 1 by malusman

malusman wrote:
Hi Scott,

My gut feeling about the non-planting of Oriental Spruce is mainly due to our 'microwave' society. To the average consumer, it looks similar to Norway Spruce when young and doesn't grow as fast. Probably the most commonly asked screening/blocking question is: "How fast does it grow?" When given the choice, they snap up the inferior Norway and the store is left talking to the wind about the superior traits of the Oriental. I went to the ACS database to see what they list as cultivars and most are small, witches broom types of plants. There are a couple of them at Spring Grove (on the bluff overlooking the lake, not far from the huge Calocedrus) that are pretty upright in shape, perhaps not fastigiate, but upright that might make nice plants for a smaller yard. The ACS database lists to P. orientalis witches brooms from Spring Grove, one of which I saw. I wonder where the other one is. While I'm chattering on about witches brooms, does anyone know how frequently witches brooms occur, especially on White Pine? I don't recall seeing more than one or two in the first 29 years of my life and in the past 2 years I've come across 6 within 1/2 hour drive of my house. To be fair, I wasn't looking for the first 23 years but still..........

Regards,
Ernie