CONIFERS

Here in the Northwest we have a tendency to take conifers for granted--mighty Douglas Firs and Western Red Cedars have loomed over us as long as we've been here--so it is little wonder we do not often stop to think about the diversity among them.  Of course, a lot of the really intriguing ones are from other parts of the world, and we are not aware of their existance.  But indeed there are an awful lot of interesting conifers out there, just waiting to be brought into cultivation.  Only in the last few years have a few of them finally been showing up in mail-order nurseries.  But there are still many more out there just waiting for someone to grow them - quite a few that even I have never heard of, I'm certain.

So I am just going to tell a little bit about some of my favorite ones.  We are growing many of these in the gardens, but the majority are either unavailable in the nursery trade, or else prohibitively expensive.  They are roughly sorted out by plant family.  Not all are guaranteed to prove hardy for us in the Pacific Northwest, but most will.

ARAUCARIACEAE: This family contains three genera: Agathis, Araucaria, and the recently ditcovered monotypic Wollemia.  The Northwest's best-known Araucariaceae is the Monkey Puzzle Tree, Araucaria araucana, which is native to Chile.  This tree is such an oddity that it is often easily recognized by people who know little else about trees.  It is fully hardy throughout western Washington, young trees requiring protection only in the very coldest locales.  The tree has a straight trunk and usually grows slowly, especially in youth, eventually reaching 60 - 80' around here.  Its open, round crown is composed of thick, evenly spaced branches covered with spiny, radially arranged needles.  The other well-known species of Araucaria is A. heterophylla, the Norfolk Island Pine, which is often grown as an indoor plant since it is only hardy to around 21°F (-6°C).

Araucaria does contain a couple other promising species, however. A. angustifolia should be hardy enough for use near the water and in sheltered places if the seed is collected from Argentina rather than Brazil.  (Indeed it survived 12°F/-11°C here at the gardens unscathed as a small plant.)  It is even more intriguing than A. araucana, characterized by more widely-spaced, horizontal branches covered with longer, softer needles.  Not only that, but it also grows about 3 times as fast.  Eventually it sheds its lower branches to form a high, umbrella-shaped crown. A. bidwillii, originally thought to be tender, is not out of the question in very sheltered places.  One in Seattle has reportedly reached 20' (6.5 m) tall, and their hardiness increases with age.  It is also very ornamental and relatively fast-growing, and its edible nuts are choice.  Also possibly worth trying is A. cunninghammii from Queensland.

CUPRESSACEAE: A number of trees in this family warrant mention.  First, the true cypresses (Cupressus) contain a few species that ought to be more widely grown here.  C. arizonica var. glabra makes a very nice blue specimen, as does C. cashmeriana, considered "the most beautiful of all weeping trees," though its hardiness is not certain--for now it should be tried with shelter.  C. macrocarpa and C. macrocarpa 'Aurea' (which I have yet to run across) make fabulous plants for areas with a southern or western exposure to the water, preferably in a granitic soil; and C. sempervirens 'fastigiata' and its golden cultivars make a striking, if not critical addition to a Meditteranean landscape, or any sunny landscape for that matter.

The incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), which is grown around here somewhat, is in itself a fabulous tree, but it has some even more ornamental relatives that remain largely unknown.  C. macrolepis and C. formosana come from China and Taiwan, and they are said to be even more fragrant.  Libocedrus bidwillii and L. plumosa from New Zealand are more attractive and compact in form than our native incense cedar, while Austrocedrus chilensis of Chile is known for its beautiful "moss-like" sprays of bright-green foliage.  The tropical Papuacedrus make spectacular greenhouse plants.  Another Chilean tree, Fitzroya cupressoides, is called the Patagonian redwood for its great height, though is is not closely related to the true redwoods.  For that matter, it is not really related to the incense cedars either, but it does produce a very valuable fragrant wood and is attractive as an ornamental.

Quite a few interesting Cupressaceae come from the Southern Hemisphere.  Among the most notable are Widdringtonia from South Africa and Callitris from Australia.  Unfortunately, most of these species are of marginal hardiness in our region, and they should not be planted in cold locales until they have been tested more thoroughly.  Widdringtonia contains several species, most of which have attractive foliage and fast growth, and all of them have a striking habit in age.  W. schwartzii and W. whytei make excellent pot plants, while W. cedarbergensis and W. nodiflora (probably no hardier than the former two) are ornamental in the landscape for their wispy foliage.  Callitris also serve the same purpose, though the growth habit is more variable between each species.  Some of the nicest ones are C. collumelaris, C. glaucophylla, C. macleyana, C. rhomboidea, and C. oblonga.

PINACEAE: This is probably the best-known family of conifers, containing firs, pines, hemlocks and the like.  I only have space to mention a few of the best ones.

• The Larches-- These deciduous conifers turn bright-yellow before shedding their needles in the fall.  All are extremely hardy--L. sibirica has, in fact, withstood -103°F (-76°C)!  Probably the most ornamental species is Pseudolarix kaempferi, the golden larch from China.  It grows slowly, but eventually reaches 80' tall and 60' broad!  Faster growing and narrower is Larix kaempferi (don't confuse the two!), probably the best Larix species.
• The Pines-- Most everyone is familiar with pines, yet some of the best ones remain largely unknown. Pinus bungeana, the lacebark pine from Asia is one example.  It has cream colored bark with patches of purple, pink, and bronze.  Many pine species from Mexico and the Southeast, such as P. montezumae and P. patula are very interesting and attractive; while P. wallichiana from the Himalayas is the only 5-needled pine known to resist white-pine blister rust.  My favorite is P. pinea, whose umbrella-like crown adds a Mediterranean touch to any Northwest landscape.  Small trees need protection from cold, but they can reach a great size in all but the coldest locales.  I am also partial to California's native P. sabiniana, which performs well here.  Scadiopitys verticillata is also very beautiful and much more exotic looking than most of the pines, though unfortunately its beauty is often reflected in its high price.
• The True Cedars-- Though by no means rare, they still warrant more widespread cultivation.  Old trees of Cedrus atlantica 'glauca pendula' are among the most magnificent plants I have ever seen, and anyone who has seen a mature C. libani will not soon forget it. C. deodara is also very handsome in its golden and weeping forms. C. brevifolia is slow-growing and smaller, but still as stately as the others.

• P. dacrydioides, now reclassified under Dacrycarpus, which is a very tall stately tree that does well in waterlogged soil,
• P. ferruginea, now reclassified under Prumnopitys, a tree from New Zealand with sickle-shaped leaves,
• P. hallii, a tree with strikingly attractive bark that peels to reveal green strips,
• P. henkellii, which makes an excellent container plant outside of western Washington's mildest locales,
• P. lawrencii 'Purple King', which has steely purple-green needles,
• P. totara, which can be used as an attractive deep-green hedge, or allowed to grow into a magnificent tree, and
• P. totara 'Aurea,' a beautiful yet very rare yellow-foliaged version of the former.

The genus Dacrydium contains a few very beautiful and interesting trees.  My favorite is D. (Lagarostrobus) franklinii from Tasmania, which is very slow-growing and needs a cool moist place with shelter from cold winter winds to survive.  But it is worth the effort--Hugh Johnson describes it as looking like a "weeping-willow-pine," a name which, in my opinion, comes as close to describing it as any other but still doesn't do it justice.  The cultivar 'pendulum' is even more fantastic.  D. cupressinum from New Zealand is a very strongly weeping tree with a look of its own.  Perhaps both of these species is so attractive because their wood is completely covered by the cypress-like foliage.  D. fonkii is noteworthy as the smallest of all coniferous species, and D. (Halocarpus) bidwillii is another hardy species with triangular leaves.

Also worthy of note is Saxegothaea conspicua, a handsome yew-like tree from Chile.  A truly bizarre genus is Phyllocladus, which has representatives in Australia and New Zealand.  They look like plants from outer space if you ask me.  Of the three (out of 7) I have seen pictures of, P. trichomanoides is the weirdest, called "celery-topped pine" because the flattened sprays of otherwise cypress-like foliage bear a slight resemblance to a celery leaf.  P. alpinus is probably the hardiest.  Some species bear very attractive bright-red strobillii.  Many taxonomists give this genus a family of its own.

TAXODIACEAE: Some of the finest deciduous conifers are included in this group, as well as some evergreens.  Taxodium distichum, the bald-cypress of the Southeast, comes to mind, but its close relative Taxodium mucronatum, the Montezuma cypress, remains largely unknown outside of Texas and southern California.  It is, however, hardy and adaptable enough to grow into a very beautiful, large weeping tree in the Pacific Northwest.  It too likes wet soil or standing water, but does not demand it.  A stand of trees was recently found in the wild in New Mexico, and these have been shown to have superior cold-hardiness and would probably thrive in eastern Washington.  Glyptostrobus pensilis, its closest Asian counterpart, is less hardy (but still hardy enough for most of western Washington) and has more cypress-like foliage as opposed to the needles of Taxodium.

Another close relative, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, has become well-known for its interesting history--it was discovered in China in the 1940s after having been thought to be extinct.  It also happens to be a very beautiful, adaptable, and fast-growing tree which, like its relatives, is rather fond of water; and will in maturity develop a rugged, fluted trunk.  Some in Seattle have reached 100' tall.  The best way to tell Metasequoia from Taxodium is to remember that the former has leaves that are arranged opppositely rather than alternately as in the latter.

A few Asian Taxodiaceae are very ornamental.  The best known is Cryptomeria japonica, a beautiful tree in itself and the parent of innumerable attractive cultivars.  My favorites are 'Araucarioides' and 'Sekkan-Sugi'.  The closely-related Cunninghamia, whose foliage bears superficial resemblance to monkey puzzle, is usually represented by C. lanceolata, which often looks rather shabby, though I have seen a few nice ones around. C. konishii, which has radially arranged needles, and C. unicanaliculata, which has greyish needles, are more attractive; the latter being hardiest, probably surpassing C. lanceolata 'glauca' (the blue form) in hardiness. Taiwania cryptomeroides looks like a norfolk island pine when young, but is much hardier and will grow just fine in Seattle, eventually forming an attractive, conical, dark tree.  T. cryptomeroides var. flousiana from Taiwan is the tallest Asian tree (250') and therefore known as the Formosan redwood.