Golden Dawn Redwood
Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Goldrush'
(met-uh-see-KWOY-uh) (glip-toh-stroh-BOY-deez)
Taxodiaceae
Trashy Tree or Trendy Treasure?
I ask this question because some people might not like the vivid color of the foliage but I do like growing a few trendy things once in a while.
Well I went to the local wholesale nursery to buy some Rhododendrons yesterday and also ended up buying a Golden Dawn Redwood. It is about 7 feet tall. I need a tree for a moist area and thought I would try it. I have two other Dawn Redwoods in the garden, the regular species and a ‘Sheridan’s Spire’. The species tree was planted about 22 years ago and it has grown to enormous size. It is probably 75 feet tall and has a spread of about 25-30 feet on the bottom. It really has turned into a tree! The ‘Sheridan’s Spire’ has been in the ground for about 10 years and has grown to about 30 feet tall, it is much more narrow than the species. ‘Gold Rush’ is said to get not quite as tall and only grows at about two-thirds the speed of the species.
The Dawn Redwood is from China and was first described in fossil records during the early 1940’s. Some live trees were then discovered in China the same year. It is a deciduous conifer and the opposite buds on persistent stems separate it from Common Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum). The needles are also shorter and come out much earlier in the spring on the Dawn Redwood. I hope that ‘Gold Rush’ develops the nice looking cinnamon colored bark and has the same open airy feeling that my other Dawn Redwoods have. The fall color is kind of a rusty pink, which although it doesn’t sound it is attractive. My ‘Gold Rush’, which is also known as, ‘Ogon’ is about 7 feet tall and was 75 bucks. The salseman was telling me it was conifer of the year a couple of years ago and sure enough he was right, except is was last year.
The American Conifer Society selected it in 2006 as one of their Collector’s Conifer of the Year.
Since this is Digital Flower Pictures and not Digital Foliage pictures I thought I would post a picture of the yellow Rhododendron. I got some other nice rhododendrons while I was at the nursery. I picked up a yellow David Leach hybrid called ‘Capistrano'. It should look nice with the other yellow hybrid I have called ‘Hong Kong’.
I have two appointments to look at work today. One is an old customer that I am really looking forward to seeing. They live in Manhattan and come out to their house in Connecticut on weekends. The other is a potential new client.
3 comments:
Chris, "Goldrush" is a treasure. It glows in the yard even when it is overcast. You got it for a very good price for a 7 feet tall tree. Just don't give it too much fertilizer. I killed one doing just that.
I would rate it as the conifer of the decade or century. Only our Arizona Cypress comes close to being the most favored. The Arizona cypress has a better form balanced with a great gold color, though not a bright as the 'Ogon'.
The yellow Rhododendron is lovely. I have only a small container garden but do have a pink one as their flowers are so attractive. A few weeks ago I bought a palm tree and look forward to it touching my fifteen foot ceiling someday? Good luck with your tree, too.
Ki,
That was the wholesale price. I am looking forward to seeing it grow. I will consider your comments as a strong endorsement.
Princess,
Palms are some of favorite trees. They add elegance to any room IMHO.
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