Ain't she pretty

Ain't she pretty

a better shot.

Yes, she is! What is that? The leaves look sort of like the ginko tree I saw at Balvenie's yesterday. I wasn't familiar with that tree before.

Gwen

It's Gingko biloba variagata.

It's way too beautiful to leave it where the bird poop will fall. Move it to a better spot!

Hers sure a beauty. Her reflection in the placid waters of an elegant cement sphere would be gorgeous.

Very nice. I've never seen a varigated variety - love those stripes!

Yeah ! What growin said

You are sooo right about the bird poop (free organic fertilizer) I just got home with a beautiful blue pot and some potting soil & she'll be repotted & moved in short order.

scooterbug - VERY funny indeed lol.

That gingko is really lovely! I want one....I wonder how they do on this side of the mountains. I need to do some research. Herpst, do you what their hardiness is? Your zone is a little milder than mine and I am wondering if it is too hot, too cold, and/or too dry over in this neck of the "woods" (if there were trees here maybe there would be woods, lol). I just love the unique shape of the leaves. It looks like they are in a shady spot right now, is that correct? Inquiring minds want to know....LOL.
-Stacey

My parents had a gingko tree in their yard in Chicago, and it loved the climate and the soil there. They can take the cold and pretty hot, but I think they like more moisture in the summer. I have a seedling from that tree here in Western WA, but it is not doing nearly as well as the seedlings that the mother tree sprouted all over beneath her. I'm thinking that the soil is just not good enough (I have hard clay/glacial till) or it doesn't get enough humidity in the summer. My folks' tree was in full sun. It was a regular gingko, not variegated, however. Ginko trees in one of the parks in Chicago are over 100 feet tall, have huge trunks, and drop smelly fruit in the fall. Therefore, you probably want to get a male tree, unless you are interested in the medicinal qualities of the fruit. The seedling tree my parents brought me is of unidentified gender, and I didn't know about the fruit problem when I planted it. My father checks the tree's growth every time he comes to visit me, so I'm keeping it for the long term even if it is female. My dad doesn't have a lot of years left, and even when he is no longer with me, I'll have to keep that tree to remember him.

The scoop on the variegated gingko: According to Dave from Dave's Nursery in New Jersey, who sells variegated gingkos, the cold hardiness is the same but the tree should be kept out of direct sunlight as the lighter leaves easily burn. Also, the whole tree can revert to green or be green some years and have only a branch or two that is variegated. So, I guess that the variegation variable.

She's a beauty!

Stacey, I don't know how Gingko would do on the Eastern side, it is something you should try in any event. They are beautiful trees. Ours seems to be quite happy in the Marysville sandy soil. But then we have a pretty high water-table too.

where did you find that beautiful specimen? I have 8-900 seedling ginkgos and would love to find a nice varigated specimen for scion wood to graft on to my babies. ginkgos do very well in most climates and should do fine in eastern washington. if you want to try dmail me and ill send you a baby. Caleb

Hi cgarvin,

A friend took me to the fund-raiser, preview (fancy-schmantzy dress up thing) of the Tacoma Garden Show. We bought plants from a lot of the vendors. One of them had this among quite a few other really uncommon plants. However, the vendor with the great plants wasn't there for the preview. So, the next day the aforementioned friend left work as early as possible, raced to the show, paid for parking, and paid AGAIN to get into the show. (Mind you, the preview was a pricey thing) She ran to the vendor who informed her that the gingko had been sold first thing that morning. She had me on her cell phone as she was bragging that she had beat me there. the vendor said that he got it from Bucholz & Bucholz (sp?) who had only 50 of them. In searching on the internet, I could find no sources. (the vendor, by the way had a sign that said gardenworld.com but I don't find anything at that site resembling a nursery)

A few weeks later, I was at one of the many nurseries that I regularly haunt & saw, in an area that is usually where the owner has stuff that's not for sale, this plant. I looked, and sure enough, there was a tag with a price. I put it on my cart & checked out. After I had loaded it in my car, I came back for the second load of plants & saw the owner & told her how very excited I was to see this plant again. I told ther the Garden Show story and she said, "I know, I'm the one who bought it." Gadzooks it was the same specimen! She offered to put my name on a waiting list as she was going to try to get more. I told her that I thought I just bought it but offered to bring it back as I do understand plant lust. She decided that if I promised to give it a good home, she'd let me keep it.

As I was on my way home with this beauty in my car, I had to call my friend and do a little gloating.

Dave's Nursery in New Jersey has them in 4" pots & I ordered two (one to give to the aforementioned friend). Dave is a very nice man, the plants arrived in great shape and were lovely. They were Gingko biloba varieagata. Although the plant in the picture is labeled Gingko biloba varieagata, I think it must be aureovarieagata (sp?) because the leaves are really gold/chartreuse vs. the varieagatas that Dave's sent which are lovely but have a creamier varieagation.

So, if you can order from Bucholz, they might still have them. If you find it, please let me know as I'd like to get one for my friend and one for the lady who sold it to me.

I looked on their website but no var. ginkgo's are listed.. too bad. forest farm has the regular var. but I didnt see the autovar. when yours gets big you can send me cuttings to graft on to my seedlings haha Caleb

Caleb,

I'd love to share cuttings when this gets bigger. Lots of people seem to want this. How does tissue culture work?Who does it? Is it really expensive?

I know a little about tissue culture but not for ginkgo. im sure it could be done if someone could find the proper protocals and chemicals to use for ginkgo. but it would probably be simpler to graft onto seedlings. Ive been toying with ordering the kitchen culture kit to do TC for my bananas and alocasia. but my other projects have kept me too busy of late, maybe this winter. ill post onto the TC group I subscribe to and see if it can be done. Caleb

Here's a pic of a nice leaf on mine....

Gardenworld is close to Salem, Oregon and is a huge place representing many of the local growers. They generally have a large selection of stock and very reasonable prices as they pride themselves on cutting out the 'middle man' Caleb, is it close to Cottage Grove? I've bought several things there. I'll be going down there in the middle of this month and I'm likely to stop by. I think Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm also sells these, but they are very pricey. I don't see them on their website, but I have their catalog and thought I'd seen it there. I'll check.

That leaf is to die for!

Here is Gardenworld's website:
http://www.gardenworldonline.com/

They have several ginkos, but the variegated one isn't listed. However, when you google 'ginko variegated' gardenworld's site comes up as having it listed. Guess I'll wait and see.

This message was edited Aug 7, 2006 10:40 PM

im going up that way in two weeks and will check it out thanks for the tip....
Caleb