Influenced by visits to brilliant gardens on visits to the Pacific Northwest, I once had grand visions of developing a large portion of this garden as a conifer garden. And why not? The contrasts in color, form, and texture are marvelous, and most conifers flourish in Virginia, even if some bright colors are slightly muted in our heat and humidity. (While I have read no literature to confirm this, I theorize that the higher humidity of the southeast maintains higher nighttime temperatures, stressing plants and muting colors).

Instead, my attentions have been fractured into a variety of smaller collections, from Japanese maples (another feature of Northwest gardens) to hollies, redbuds, dogwoods, and many others far too numerous to list. I have no regrets, but yellow and blue conifers remain favorites, and while I am tempted to plant many others, I realize there are no open areas of dry ground in full sun.

As much of the garden fades into dormancy in November, this is the time when conifers stand out. Through the winter, I will have momentary thoughts of bulldozing sunny areas to replant with conifers, but of course, I’m quite happy with what I have. I always want more, but eventually I drift back to reality.

In addition to blues and yellows, there are a number of green needled conifers in the garden, including handfuls of varying forms of Hinoki cypress, dwarf and tall growing Japanese cedars (Cryptomeria japonica), Alaskan cedar, and dwarf and larger growing Japanese pines. The garden doesn’t quite match my vision of a Northwest conifer garden, but it’s close enough to keep me happy.