I saw a variegated bald cypress once. Not a very attractive tree. The yellowing looked more like, well, a mineral deficiency of some sort.

From my understanding, most of the cultivar metasequoias grow slower than the species, although I'm not sure if this is an intentional trait or a side-effect.

i have been thoroughly underwhelmed by jack frost .... dawn redwood ... i have never seen a var. bald cypress ... which you didnt ask about ...

the var is there.. but you have to look close ... and frankly .. if i didnt tell you to look for it.. you probably woulndt notice ....

get the yellow one ... gold rush .. now there is a truly startling specimen plant ....

any movement away from all green.. reduces growth rate to some extent...

ken

I don't know about my 'Spring Cream' all that well yet. From the moment I got it in a one-gallon from Stanley last spring it was a creamy yellow up till right now as it's leaves are beginning to fall. I had perfect weather conditions in favor for planting all spring, summer and fall. Heavy rains.... however, this plant might have had a first year sun dilemma as it was very sunny as well. I don't know. 'Pat McCracken' is supposed to be good but the very best is supposed to be -- 'Snow Flurries'.

Good Question... .

Dax

do note.. my comments are limited to jack frost ...

be wary of catalog descriptions ... i would rely on my eyes, more than descriptions ... unless a friend here can post a pic ...

the color on JF is so subtle.. i have never been able to photo it ...

ken

Thank you, I will look up these new varieties.

Yes the golden is striking, I have several. It does look to have a fast rate as well, maybe not as fast as species but decent.

I know this is an old thread but I just bought a Snow Flurries and I cant decided where to put it. Does sun exposure become a factor in the amount of variegation?

Also, though not "variegated" has anyone seen the cultivar All Bronze? It looks interesting but again would the Bronze coloration in the leaf be brought out better in full sun?

Finally, what would the size be on the variegated cultivars? Are these massive like the species?

I have All Bronze. The new growth in full sun is a "greeny-copper" colour and changes to bronze. The fall colour has really a nice show of bronze too. Growth rate pretty much normal.

Also have white spot and other variegated cvs. For me, Silouette is the best of all. No burning and definitely showy from a distance.

Darren

Thank you Darren. I really like Silouette. I got one from Buchholz in the fall of 07 in a one gallon and its already 6 feet tall. It seems that its a good variegation. I just found a Snow Flurries this weekend and I love it too!

I found an All Bronze at a local nursery and I thought the coloration was really unique but I didn't know if too much shade would keep it green instead of brining out the bronze tones. Thank you again! :)

I have a very nice WB of White Spot this is fond by Mr Schirrmann from Germany
My plant is 6 years old

Henk.

Very cool Henk. That's going to be a great tree of intermediate growth. Full and dense. What a nice mutation...How long ago was it found??

Nikki or Darren or anyone please post a photo of your 'Silhouette'. I'd like to see some larger specimens, thank you. I heard it comes from the Netherlands so maybe Henk or coniferjoy has photos?

The only two variegate's I own:

'Spring Cream' dull yellow this time of year:

'Silhouette' (correct spelling!, needs an h),

Dax

'Goldrush'

'Jack Frost'

'Snow Flurry' (formely known as 'Pat McCracken')
{{gwi:648080}}

'White Spot'
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The 'Silhouette' is selected and introduced by Nelis Kools from Holland.
He also introduced the 'Blue-ish' and the 'All Bronze' but they were selected by another Dutchman.

As ken says..." truly startling specimen plant" ...

It suffered from mild burn for two years.

It is on its 3rd year with no burn issues...trouble free.

This one is a single leader plant.

Dave 'Gold Rush'
{{gwi:766194}}

Dax, I will post a photo later in the summer. My Silhouette is really slow this spring. We had a bad frost in the middle of May and that set back a lot of plants this year. The one in the arb is around 4 ft right now.

Darren

Nice gentlemen. I never heard of 'Blue-ish' and I didn't realize that 'Pat McCracken' was a synonym for 'Snow Flurry'. I thought 'Pat McCracken' was another fastigiate and green. Thanks for the info again, Edwin.

Dax

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for the picture and the information. The pictures are beautiful as always. Two things: After looking at the nursery again I think I got the cultivars All Bronze and Matthaei Broom confused (sorry). It was matthaei I was interested in because of the orange coloration. Any ideas on that one?

Also, is size the only difference between Gold Rush and Golden Dawn? It looked like Golden Dawn was lighter and needed some shade.

One of my Dawn Reds is what I believe to be 'Gold Rush'. This year, so far, foliage looks normal for the cultivar. But last year, it was white, not cream, white. What would cause this variation in what seems to be a perfectly normal, healthy tree--I must confess, I am sooooo confused!!!!!

I'm not that interested in cultivar here, but I now have a Gold Rush. See, my last first dawn redwood died because of the stupid, stupid winter we had, and so when I went to get a replacement, the only thing they had was a Gold Rush. Free replacement, so I mean, who am I to complain? And it has a nice form to it.

Nikkie,
'Matthaei' aka 'Matthaei Broom' doesn't have any orange colour.
It's found as a witches'broom in a species and it does have a compact growth, first it's a kind of a globose form and later on a leader will appear.

The differences between 'Goldrush' (not 'Gold Rush') and 'Golden Dawn' is that the last one grows slower and the needlecolour is a lighter yellow which will burn in full sun, it's better to avoid the afternoon sun.

Njoasis,
Do you have a picture of this white 'Goldrush' for us?
Did these white needles burn in the sun?

Amcour,
You started with one cultivar, more will follow... ;0)

Coniferjoy, no, unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the my tree when it was in its white phase. At first I thought maybe it was the soil (pH for example), or the chlorinated water from the pool next door that leaked and flooded unto my yard. Then I did a little research and was surprised to find all the wonderful yellow, to cream, to white variegation among various Metasequoia cultivars. This year, the tree looks like a normal 'Goldrush'.

njoasis,

Your tree especially if it is young is likely "bleaching" out a bit from the sun. They are more prone to this when it is hotter and drier. Keep it moist. As it gets older this "bleaching" effect will disappear.

Darren

That you 'affliction-acs'. This might explain why it looks normal this year as it has been overcast and/or raining for months now.

That was supposed to read, "thank you"--guess it's time to change my eyeglass prescription.

'Matthaei' (WB) Hi Edwin and all, Chub Harper in our garden conversations used to always call this plant 'Matthaei' only. He knew the founder very well and was one of the first persons to receive a graft of this plant. I recall our conversations of this plant, vividly.

'Matthaei'

'Miss Grace'

Dax

Hi Dax,
Chub wasn't the only one who know the founder of this broom, I also have a good e-mail contact with the manager of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens.
Here is the message he send to me a while ago:

Hello Mr. Smits!
Thank you for your question. As I remember, a few years back, someone in
Europe inquired to Matthaei Botanical Gardens as to the preferred name of
the mentioned witches broom cultivar of dawn redwood originally found in a
tree here at our botanical gardens site in the 1990's. Our director, Bob
Grese decided and pronounced it would be best to drop the word "broom" from
the name being used at the time "Matthaei Broom".
Therefore we consider the name to be simply - Metasequoia glyptostroboides
'Matthaei'.

Best regards,
Mike

Michael Palmer
Horticulture Manager
University of Michigan
Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum
Phone 734-647-8215

Scionswood were sent as 'Matthaei Broom' to Europe and later on as you can reed it was changed into 'Matthaei'.
My opinion is that the word broom must be involved so that it is very clear that this one is found as a witches'broom and not as a mutation or a seedling selection.

Hi all-

I hate to add to the confusion regarding the correct name of the Matthaei metasequoia, but Stanley and Sons is indicating that the name has been changed to 'Headhunter'. The link below gives details.

Here is a link that might be useful: Headhunter

'Headhunter' is a stupid name and make no sense at all because this is not the name which was first given to this broom, it was 'Matthaei Broom' who was first given.

Stanley also mentioned about a weeping habit which this plant will never show, It's a globose form in the first couple of years and later on it will make a leader.

This picture he shows was taken at my nursery...

Chub labled the plant in his garden 'Matthaei' (WB) to indicate in (paranthesis) that it is a witches broom. That is the proper way to label a plant says a lot of folks. The name 'Headhunter' must never be used as Edwin states . . . My photo comes from Chub's garden, summer 2006. 'Miss Grace' photo also from Chub's.

Dax

Thank you all for the information on Matthaei. I was very impressed with the coloration on Matthaei. I'm curious if the orange/bronze will be present in part shade or if it needs full sun for the best coloration? I'm also curious about the growth rate/habit. The plant looks as if it put on about 8 inches of growth already this year and looks like its a bit more spreading in habit. Regardless of the name it is a beautiful cultivar.

Hi Nikki, it's not a shade plant as you know. So 4 hours of direct sun is all you would need to see the coloration. Just don't give it full shade in other words.

It does grow at least 6" per year but I don't think 8".

Chub's plant has had a lot of scionwood removed from it but that's the form still. At one point, he cut it way back and what is seen in my photo is the after effect so...it's true to form. It's pronounced MATH I

Best I can say,

Dax

Hi all,
I have not visited this forum in ages...

I have heard that 'Miss Grace' and 'Matthaei' (WB) are the same plant. Has anyone else heard this as well?

I have 'Miss Grace' and a straight species Metasequoia planted fairly near each other and the foliage of 'Miss Grace' is so much bluer than the straight species it's not funny. 'Miss Grace' has also been a very slow grower for me.
Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

They are absolutely not the same plant!

'Matthaei Broom' (the first name given to this plant) is a witches'broom found at the Matthaei Botanical gardens and do have a globose form at first and develop a leader later.

'Miss Grace' is from Talon Buchholz and is a kind of a semi weeper when grafted on a stem or staked up.

Hi Mike,

May I see how your seedling Metasequoia looks? I still have that cutting you gave me several years ago and wow is it growing slowly. It's only 2.5 feet tall but also been in the ground going on two years. I blame the slow growth rate to being in a container, too long.

Your tree sure was/probably still is a very fine form. Very dense, very pyramidal, almost too perfect. A nice tree.

Thanks,

Dax