Pinus strobus 'Tiny Kurls'

Greg Williams, an avid plant collector and nurseryman from Vermont has done much experimentation with seeds collected from conifer cultivars. Pinus strobus 'Horsham' is a cultivar found as a witches' broom, propagated, and named by Greg. It is a nice, dwarf, globose selection that produces viable seed. The seedlings produced often develop into dwarf plants themselves, such as Pinus strobus 'Greg'.

One batch of seeds produced three seedlings with twisted needles. Evidently a Pinus strobus 'Torulosa' was the pollinator. These three seedlings grew at different rates.The medium grower is pictured here. In discussion with Greg, we decided to name it Pinus strobus 'Tiny Kurls' and have been offering it for sale under that name for the past three years.

In Vermont it grows about 3" (8 cm) per year and is globose in shape. In the Northwest the growth is greatly accelerated (6" per year) but the globose shape and dense habit are still maintained. (The male parent, 'Torulosa' grows as much as 3' (1 m) in one year here in the Northwest.)

 The slowest grower we will be introducing within the next two years. It has been named Pinus strobus 'Mini Twists' and it grows about 1" (2.5 cm) per year in Vermont. The shape is also globose and it would look similar to the plant pictured here.

The fastest of the three is not in the Coenosium collection and we have no plans of obtaining it and offering it for sale.

 This is one of several plants of Pinus strobus 'Tiny Kurls' growing in our gardens. It is about eight years old.

 A close up of the foliage.