In looking at mine I can see that it is striving to leave its bowling ball infancy behind already, although I only planted it last summer. It was perhaps 18" around then.

I sprayed mine with Wilt-Pruf last winter and it came through very nicely. Its only damage so far was from a recent severe hail storm.

Good luck with yours.

I bought a one gallon that isnt bowling ball at all, it looks like a smaller version of the picture above. I think the foliage should always stay juvenille.

thx for the feedback. THat's interesting that plants77 didn't start out bowling ball. But I'm still hopeful it won't be too long.

I was trying to decide if I should put it in the center of a grouping as the vertical element. I think I will.

Oh, and I took a 2nd look at mine and it is a 2-gal pot not 3. It is a bit smaller than bowling ball, not bigger. Amazing how memory "adjusts" reality!

winter? wilt pruf? where do you live? It said it was a zone 5 plant. Is that "with protection" z5? (which really means Z6!)

I was told to be sure the snowplow or me doesn't put excess snow on it

hey wendy ...

i REALLY LOVE THE OBTUSA ... and have seen about half of them perish in my garden .....

no rhyme or reason beyond the fact that.. IMHO .. they are borderline z5 ....

I THINK.... it depends on your microclimate ...

and one where they were grown ...

the larger the plant ... and the longer it was grown in a warm climate... the more shocking that first winter seems to be ...

i went through maybe 8 C. o. Aurea ... absolutely stunning plants .... all sizes ... half lived ... all i could figure.. many came from producers in TN .... and they dont know what a winter really is ... some from OR .... same ... and some from the local tree farm ... and the local ones didnt do all that much better ...

i seems like smaller is better when starting in z5 ... but not tiny ...

i would protect it the first winter or two ... if it gets buried in snow for the whole winter... super ... i think it is the snowless winter with repeated freeze/thaw cycles that will kill a young plant ...

if you can get a rose cone.. or anything.. and then .... just after ground freeze ... cover it .. with ventilation until march ... you will have better odds ...

after a few years... and having a sufficient root mass ... you will be all set ...

good luck

ken

THanks Ken I think... sorta... yuck...

I think I'll not make it the vertical centerpiece element after all. LOL

The bed is front and center in a new walkway garden. Hate the thought of rose cones, etc. But I will give it a shot. Burlap and tee-pee stakes are slightly less hideous.

Also got C. o. 'nana gracilis' for elsewhere in the foundation plantings. same deal I assume.

Mine shot right up and made an open specimen here in USDA 8, must have taken it out as I don't have it anymore. It was against a west-facing wall with part of house extending out to the south, so direct sun did not hit it until afternoon.

Re: Wilt-Pruf question

Mine is growing in RI. Purchased it in Massachusetts, and its a Blue Sterling plant, meaning it was grown in New Jersey. Its now planted in a small bed in full sun, only semi-protected as its south facing but quite out in the open although with a 5 ft. cedar fence about 20 feet behind it. Winter sun is tough on it. I think the Wilt-Pruf helped immensely to protect the juvenile foliage from dessication, and its essentially invisible.

I seem to remember this plant being the same as 'ivan's column' Does anyone know what the legit name is?

I introduced it to the trade as 'Blue Feathers' when I owned a wholesale propagation nursery in Oregon. Another nursery called it 'Ivan's Column' a year or two later.
It was a juvenile sport on Chamacyparis obtusa in the garden of Ivan Arneson in Canby, Oregon.

Bob

Thanks for the background info.

Some more googling for Ivans Column led me to a reference that the soft juvenile foliage stays like that into adulthood. That is a nice feature. Newbie for C. o.... I didn't even know there was juvenile foliage and adult foliage!! I hope it makes it!

That same reference says Ivans Column was a sport of Blue Feathers or was it vice versa...? Obviously, they got it wrong! link below. All the other hits said IC a/k/a BF.

Ken, did you add any protection on yours that you lost? Is this a case of "do as I say, not as I do" ha ha

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/horticulture/connoisseur_plants/connoisseur_plants_by_year.php?year=2002

It got registered as 'Ivan's Column' so there will probably be a lingering problem with that name being given preference by some sources.

what i do and dont remember on 5 acres.. with transplants, historically, near 50 per fall ... remains an issue of debate... lol ..

sometimes i remember.. other times i dont .... it helps to have a bunch of rose cones in the barn from the olden rosen days ... i cant say i kept records as to which failed.. and which didnt in regard to specific protection offered ...

in z5 .... winter sun.. and winter winds.... can be very hard on new transplants... winter is the driest season of the year.. since all available moisture is locked up in ice and snow and ground freeze ...

winter sun ... can be enormously hot.. relative to the ambient air... and what happens after dark .... easily taking the tissue from 50 degrees during the day ... to zero at night.. with blistering winds ... i never measured obviously ... just an example ...

ANY protection from direct sun ... and from wind .. and insuring it goes into ground freeze full of water.. but not frozen into an rootsickle .... a ball of ice around the roots ... will help ...

once it gets some good roots down after a year or two ... it should NOT need the protection .... and should be home free ...

other than what i call sudden death syndrome ... which seems to happen a week or two after bud extension in spring... after a heavy or hard frost ... you should be all set ...

all i can do.. is give you..w hat i think are the variables .... for all i know... it may be a carefree plant for you [high odds in favor of that] ... so you can consider what action you must take ... i really dont know.. with any certitude... what will happen in your yard ...

good luck

ken