ACS Launches 2025 Collectors' Conifer of the Year

The ACS is excited to announce the launch of the 20th year of the Collectors' Conifer of the Year program! The program offers an opportunity for members to add creative enjoyment and visual excitement to their gardens by acquiring distinctly unusual and interesting conifers. Besides being a benefit for members, the program sales help support the Society’s efforts to promote conifer utilization and appreciation.

Plant Details

• Purchases are limited to one of each selection per member except for Thuja occidentalis ‘Enlightened’. Because we are promoting the attainability of this unique arborvitae and have built a large inventory, members may at this time order an unlimited number.

• Each offer comes with a one year/one-time replacement guarantee should the plants fail to grow during the first year in their appropriate USDA zone.

• Accompanying each plant or a multiple order of ‘Enlightened’ will be a black botanic garden grade metal sign and stake that identifies the plant as a winner of the American Conifer Society’s annual award of “Collectors’ Conifer of the Year”.
  

Ordering and Shipping Details

• Orders will be filled in the order received.
• Please be advised that our inventory of ‘KG’ and ‘Sparkling Arrow’ is not as large as we had wanted, so ordering early could be advantageous.
• All orders must be received by February 1, 2025. Shipping is included in the cost and we can only ship within the continental United States. Plants will be shipped in early April 2025.

SHOP CCOY PLANTS NOW

CCOY 2025

Thuja occidentalis ‘Enlightened’: This amazing, chameleon acting cultivar of eastern arborvitae is a great, garden candidate for adding appealing, seasonal color changes on a graceful conical form. It is noticeably different from other yellow-colored arborvitae by having mint green foliage highlighted with a bright, frosting of platinum-cream that is most pronounced in a sunny location. As it goes into winter dormancy, it then transforms to a cream and caramel state with olive-green undertones. A typical growth rate is 8 to 12 inches per year. In 10 years, this attention demanding specimen may reach 12 feet high by 8 feet wide. It is very tolerant of heat and humidity and also very durable under the harshness of winter. It was just a 2 yr. old plant when planted in 2007 and was not damaged in the Polar Vortex winters of 2013 and 2014 in full sun. It also sustained no burn in the droughty, hottest summer of 2012. It performs well in USDA zones 3 through 7.

Pinus koraiensis ‘K G’: This very compact and dense witch’s broom of Korean pine has soft but firm, bluish-green needles that strike out from around the stem. Interestingly, there are often shorter tufts of needles tucked in around the end of the stem where the buds are held. Gary Gee of Gee Farms in Stockbridge, Michigan found it as a mutation on a Korean pine selection named ‘Winton’. At a slow growth rate of 1 to 3 inches a year, this charming tough garden gem may only be 1.5 ft. high and 2 feet wide. A sunny, well drained site will provide for peak performance. Because of its very tight structure, dead needles will eventually accumulate in the interior of this diminutive specimen. Consequently, for better ornamental appearance and for healthier air circulation, a gentle grooming of such debris is an important responsibility for appreciating this garden treasure. It is rated for USDA zones 3 through 8.

Cupressus nootkatensis ‘Sparkling Arrow’: This very narrow, upright, variegated selection of Nootka cypress has extremely pendulous, secondary branchlets that makes it a most interesting, gracefully weeping, dramatic plant. As for sparkle in a setting, the medium green foliage is generously covered with random splashes of creamy white to yellowish arrays of bright color that range from localized blotches to that of long sprays. The strong upward growth can be 12 inches a year. After 10 years, a happy ‘Sparkling Arrow’ can easily measure 15 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It is rated for USDA zones 4 through 8. A sunny well drained site that is not subject to prolonged dry periods is optimum for a vigorous looking specimen in a more northerly climate. In hotter more southern climates, some shade will aid in preventing the variegation from burning at times, especially until the tree becomes well established. This cultivar was found in 2001 by Talon Buchholz of Buchholz Nursery in Gaston, Oregon as a sport on ‘Green Arrow’ Nootka cypress. 

Abies koreana ‘Kouhout’s Ice Breaker’: This dwarf, stand out of a silvery-white witch’s broom of Korean fir was originally offered for CCOY 2014. Jorg Kohout of Elstra, Germany is noted for discovering it on a ‘Horstman’s Silberlocke’ Korean fir. It has intensely recurved needles that consequently expose their bright, shimmering undersides. As young plants, they are generally globose with their stubby, radial branches. Over time and without some judicial pruning, they tend to develop a leader and evolve into flashy, handsome, dense, squat pyramidal shapes. In most areas, typical growth rates are 1 to 3 inches a year. In 10 years, a specimen is often around 2 feet high and wide if a central leader is not involved. It is rated for USDA zones 4 through 7. In cooler zones, a sunny well-drained site brings out the best show for this extraordinary garden accent. In warmer zones, partial shade can enhance better performance, especially with a site susceptible to an unrelenting sun and hot, humid nights.  For such southerly climates, it is recognized that Korean fir performs much better if it is grafted onto Japanese fir (Abies firma) which we have as an option, Otherwise, our plants are grafted onto either Turkish fir (Abies bornmuelleriana) or Nordman fir (Abies nordmanniana).

May your conifer passion be assuaged with these garden treasures that flaunt their stuff with seasonal change, entertain with fascinating form and structure, and draw you in with appealing texture and color. Life is short, indulge and savor!