You don't have to speak Polish to enjoy the photos at this site!

Wonderful conifer pictures, many of cultivars likely not available here:
http://tomszak.pl/galeria/galeria_iglaste.php

 

Thanks for posting the link Karin.
Wonderful conifer pictures indeed !
I notice a few cultivars from Jan Sláma -- such as these two:
http://www.tomszak.pl/galeria/iglaste/Pinus mugo Prerov.jpg
http://www.tomszak.pl/galeria/iglaste/Pinus rhotundata Hvozdiany 3.jpg

Also, that photo of the Pinus aristata nearly had me fooled once again -- the resemblance to an Araucaria araucana is amazing !

 

Yes interesting, thanks Karin. Thought the Microbiota decussata 'Sylwek' interesting. Would be nice to see some different cultivars of that species available locally. Maybe Dax or others will have some cultivar pics, when time allows. And nice pic of the Abies procera 'Argentea' and, and, and, ..... thinking a ''conifer addiction" might be harder to resist than other plant addictions.

 

Yes, tell us about it. GWorks Lougheed just got in a new bunch from some Northwest Garden Show - lots of goodies .....and we didn't buy them all !!!

 

LOL. Thanks for that, maybe will get a chance to get or look at some dwarf firs or...., just need one more.... and thanks for leaving a couple. Have fun planting, good weather now.

 

I just got a Microbiota 'Gold Spot' in a Tiny Treasures pot - will post a photo one of these days, not that there's much to it yet. But those Tiny Treasures seem to turn up everywhere - keep your eyes open!

Jaro, I'm glad you caught a few of Jan's plants in there - not surprised to hear the two are in contact. Some of the best shots in the list are of the garden behind the plant in question - unbelievable, manna. Chimera, addicted, yes!

 

I'm just keeping an eye out for progress, in terms of how Jan's plants spread across Europe -- hopefully they'll make the jump across the big pond, to N. America, in not too many years....

With the existing import paperwork, it doesn't look practical for non-commercial individuals to import plants from European countries....

 

Couldn't find much info on that one, sounds like growth habit normal. The more common one can get quite wide in fertile soil though, see it over 20' W in 12-15 years if not pruned. Your plant sounds interesting and we'll look forward to and appreciate a pic, maybe a closeup. Thanks there Karin, and will keep an eye open.

 

A good thing in my opinion (and to be applied to commercial companies, too) - there's already far too many blister rusts, sudden oak deaths, emerald ash borers, chestnut blights, elm diseases, . . . don't want yet more globetrotting nasties! I'm all in favour of restricting plant transfer to just seeds.

 

Wishful thinking Michael ;-)).
It is true that Custom agents at airports in Europe seem to pretty much at the lookout, but if you have time to go to Algeciras or to the Turkish/EU border you will understand that anything can be brought into the EU from Africa and Asia respectively.

Gomero

 

Hi Gomero,

Point taken, though fortunately, it isn't too much of a problem - few tropical African pests will do much trouble in temperate Europe (and there's not many importers willing to drive across the Sahara!); and beyond Turkey . . . how many people are going to try crossing Iraq?!?

 

Michael,

I agree on the tropical pests but think about the flora of Morocco/Algeria and Turkey. They are not so different from European flora. And now think again about phytosanitary controls and safeguards in those countries. I think there is enough to be worried.
I find incoherent the huge problems and complexities the EU places when importing plants from North America and Japan, areas with much more trustable controls, as compared with the regions above mentioned. Must probably be a bit of ‘political correctedness’ which rules all decisions taken in Brussels.

Gomero

 

Morocco, Algeria and Turkey are within the Euro-Mediterranean phytosanitary area: basically it is assumed that any pest present in those countries is also likely to occur naturally in the EU too already, or if it doesn't, could arrive without human assistance. Obviously there are exceptions, and EPPO are presumably aware of them and on the lookout for them.
http://www.eppo.org/
http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/Alert_List/alert_list.htm
http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/listA1.htm

 

Having Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and others as EPPO members is not that reassuring. They have Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, China nearby and any pests present in those countries could easily arrive to them without human assistance, and, from there, to the EU.

Gomero

 

This would seem to support Gomero's argument:

Also, prior to the last ice age, the Siberian-Alaskan land bridge would have afforded easy transfer of pathogens, just as it did early American Indians and other mammals.

PS. there have been suggestions of building a man-made bridge from Siberia to Alaska, to boost Asian-American trade -- similar to the Chunnel Tunnel in Europe....