Picea orientalis 'Aebel Skylands Seedling' is a dense, round, miniature selection of Caucasian spruce with rich, lemon-yellow foliage. As is true with many golden cultivars of this species, morning sun is needed to bring out the gold color. Too much sun and the plant will burn; too little and it will be green. After 10 years of growth, a plant will be considered mature at only 12 inches tall and wide, suggesting a rate of growth of, at best, an inch per year. After 10 years, plants will begin forming a terminal leader, abandoning their globose structure, assuming more of an upright conical form.
This cultivar was one of many 'Skylands' seedlings selected by Iseli nursery, Boring, Oregon. This one, named for Robert Aebel was obtained by Talon Buchholz and introduced by his nursery to the trade around 2009.
