Conifers.
A little like kipper ties and flares.
They were last fashionable in the 70s
But just look at these three beauties.
First to catch my eye was Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Emerald Feathers’
‘Emerald Feathers’ is a particularly fine form of the Dawn Redwood, it will grow on a range of soils, but is at its happiest in moist soils.
As a deciduous conifer there is the joy of the new leaves emerging in spring, colouring down in the summer and then showing their browny-pink autumn colour.
It will grow to around 25m and has a rather lovely unkempt, shaggy red-brown bark.
It can be propagated reasonable easily by hardwood cuttings.
Next is the glorious Pinus thunbergii ‘Ogon’
‘Ogon’ is an interesting, slow growing form of the Japanese Black Pine.
It has the most gorgeous lemon yellow tipped needles which make this a stand out, must have conifer.
The colour seems to intensify in the winter, indeed the first time I saw ‘Ogon’ there was snow on the ground and she was just stood there glowing and doing her thing.
What is there not to love?
The third in our trio of conifers is Pinus muricata ‘Wakehurst’ which is a superb cultivar of the Bishop Pine. The thing that does it for me is the needles have this lovely look, going a pale yellow colour at their base.
Now, where did I put that kipper tie?