Pines, Cedars, Junipers and other Conifer Tree Seeds from around the World

Pines, Cedars, Junipers and other Conifer Tree Seeds from around the World Seeds

Pine Trees ( Pinus Species )

Note: These seeds need to be cold statified before sowing. We recommend using the Seedman's Cold Stratification Kits for cold stratification, these simple kits make cold stratification very easy and greatly enhances the germination of pines, cedars, junipers and other conifers.

Image: Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

TRZ145 Chinese Pinenut ( Pinus koraiensis )

Introducing the Pinus koraiensis, also known as the Korean Pine or Chinese Pinenut. This tree species is native to eastern Asia, including Manchuria, far eastern Russia, Korea, and central Japan. It can grow up to over 100 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 4 to 6 feet. The seeds are extensively harvested and sold as pine nuts, particularly in northeastern China. The nut oil contains 11.5% of the unusual fatty acid pinolenic acid.
The Korean Pine is a popular ornamental tree in cold climates and is tolerant of severe winter cold, hardy down zone 4, possibly 3. It is also used for construction, furniture, and wood pulp. The seeds have medicinal properties and are used to promote milk flow in nursing mothers and as an analgesic and antibacterial in Korea. Invest in the versatile and unique Pinus koraiensis for your garden or for its many beneficial uses. Best for zones 4-8.

5 pinenut seeds $5.95

Image: By Alpsdake [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

PINE16 Dwarf Siberian Pine ( Pinus Pumila )

Good for Zones 4-7. Spreading, low growing pine shrub. Dark green leaves and 2" long female cones that are violet-purple when young, turning to red or yellow-brown. Male cones are bright red in Spring. Grows only 6-12 ft. tall and spreads to equal distance. Native to Siberian Russian, Japan and China.

5 seeds per pack $3.95

Image: By Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons

PINE26 Afgan Christmas Pine ( Pinus Elderica )

This is a wonderful pine to grow for Christmas trees. Although it will grow to 70 feet tall, it is very well developed at a young age. It grows fast, has a very pleasant fragrance and keeps well as a cut tree. Good for zones 4-8.

10 seeds per pack $3.95

Image: By Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

PINE14 Ponderosa Pine ( Pinus Ponderosa )

Good for Zones 5-8. Conical tree, becoming columnar, with deeply fissured brown bark. Grey-green leaves 5-10 inches long and purple female cones to 6 inches long. Grows over 100 ft. tall. Native to Rocky Mountains from British Columbia to California.

10 seeds per pack $3.95

Cedars ( Cedrus Species )

Photo: Liné1 / CC BY-SA

JM219 Cedar of Lebanon ( Cedrus libani )

Back in stock! A mature cedar of Lebanon is a stately and picturesque evergreen conifer. It has a massive (sometimes forked) trunk, very wide-spreading horizontal branches (the lower ones often kissing the ground), and a crown of flat tiers, like table tops.
Although it can get more than 100' tall with an equal spread from its strong limbs, most specimens in cultivation can be expected to top out around 50-70'. In youth the tree is conical and symmetrical. The leaves, about an inch long, are stiff and 4-angled, and arranged in dense clusters on short shoots. The cones are barrel shaped, 3-5" long and held erect, a characteristic of the true cedars (genus Cedrus).
Cedar of Lebanon is very similar to (and very closely related to) Atlas cedar (C. atlantica), and some authorities consider them to be just subspecies in the same species. Michael Dirr, the famous authority on landscape trees from the University of Georgia, says Atlas cedar has a taller, less flattened crown, less densely arranged branchlets, and smaller cones (2-3" long) than cedar of Lebanon.
Location: Cedar of Lebanon is named for the famous forests that grow in Lebanon. The species also occurs in Turkey and Syria. Var. stenocoma is native to southern Turkey.
Culture: The cedars grow well in acidic sands and in thin soils over limestone; pH doesn't matter. Good drainage is essential, however. Cedar of Lebanon has a tendency to produce multiple leaders and the grower may wish to prune out the weaker shoots; do this in autumn. These are slow growing trees.
Light: Young trees can grow in partial shade but will eventually need full sun to realize their potential.
Moisture: Cedar of Lebanon occurs naturally where there is very little summer rainfall, and is quite tolerant of drought. It can thrive where annual precipitation is no more than 15", but it also does well where 80" of annual precipitation is the norm.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 6 - 9.
Usage: The cedars make majestic specimen trees for parks, estates and larger lawns. A mature cedar of Lebanon, especially one with multiple leaders, will be as wide as it is tall, and a truly picturesque specimen.
Features: The taxonomy of the genus Cedrus is debated by the botanists. Depending on who you believe, you can recognize one, two or four species. The splitters recognize Cyprus cedar (Cedrus brevifolia), cedar of Lebanon, deodar cedar (C. deodar), and Atlas cedar. Germination: 30-50%.

Package of 25 seeds $7.95

Package of 100 seeds $18.95

Image: By noebse [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

3528 Incense Cedar ( Cedrus deodara )

Also known as Deodar Cedar, it is a large stately conifer with horizontal spreading branches and a conical shape. It can grow to 150 ft (45.7 m) tall with a 40 ft (12.2 m) spread at ground level. More typically, though, they stay less than 50 ft (15.2 m) tall but specimens in their native range have been found more than 200 ft (61 m) tall! Lower branches bend gracefully downward and then up again. Branchlets are densely pubescent and droop downward at the tips. The stiff, needle-like leaves are about 2 in (5.1 cm) long and borne in dense whorls of 20-30 per cluster.
The bluish green female cones are 3-5 in (7.6-12.7 cm) long and egg shaped. After two years they shatter and release little seeds with papery wings. The bark is dark brown to nearly black, smooth on young trees and becoming fissured with age.
Deodar is native to the Himalayas, where it grows at elevations of 3,500 to 12,000 ft (1,067-3,658 m) above sea level.
Deodar is fairly fast growing for the first decade or two, growing as high as 30 ft (9.1 m) in its first 10 years. It is a long-lived and troublefree tree in most areas. Deodar needs neutral to alkaline soil.
Light: Full sun. (In whose shade is a 200 ft (61 m) tree going to grow?)
Moisture: Once established, deodar is drought tolerant.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 7 - 9.
Most cultivars of deodar will grow into large and handsome specimen trees that need plenty of room. Use these in the back of a large landscape so they can be seen in their entirety. From a distance, deodar is dense and plumose, with a fine texture, and the tip of the tree seems to wave in the breeze. Some cultivars are smaller and more shrublike. With proper pruning most deodars can be maintained as bushy shrubs.

Package of 5 seeds $2.95

Image: By Photo by David J. Stang [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

B1708 Incense Cedar ( Calocedrus decurrens )

A small pyramidal shaped cedar that is prized for its very fragrant leaves and wood. Easy to start from seeds. A very beautiful bonsai specimen. Incense cedar is an evergreen tree with a skinny, columnar shape in youth, becoming only a little more rounded at maturity. In its native habitat it can get as large as 150 ft (45.7 m) tall with a trunk diameter of 6 ft (1.8 m). In these very large trees, the long straight trunk is swollen and buttressed at the base and usually free of branches for half its length.
Incense cedar does best on well-drained, slightly acidic sandy loams in cool, mountainous areas. Outside its natural range it tends to stay smaller and bushier. Even under ideal conditions, incense cedar is a slow growing tree. But, it can live 1000 years or more. Grows in full sun or part shade. Incense cedar needs lots of moisture to realize its full potential as a large tree. If it gets less water than ideal it will survive, but remain as a smaller, bushy, but still attractive specimen. Hardiness: USDA Zones 6 - 8. Incense cedar does quite well in zones 7 and 8, but usually doesn't get as large as it does up north. Propagation: Incense cedar is difficult, but not impossible, to propagate from cuttings.
The generic name means "beautiful cedar", and that it is. The tall, columnar incense cedar is a handsome specimen for framing a formal landscape. A line of them, like soldiers at attention, adds a formal dimension to driveways and makes a great windbreak or tall screen.

Junipers ( Juniperus Species )

Image: By Pescov [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

TRZ126 Chinese Juniper ( Juniperus chinensis )

Chinese Juniper has an upright conical form and a spread of only 20 ft (6 m) or so. The bark is brown and shreds off in thin strips. As with other junipers, there are two kinds of leaves. Juvenile leaves on young growth are wedge shaped needles with sharp points and borne in sets of two or three. Adult leaves are diamond shaped and arranged in four ranks overlapping flat on the twigs like fish scales.
Chinese juniper can be grown in acidic or alkaline soils. These useful evergreens are very easy to grow. Can be grown in zones 3-9. The seed requires a period of cold stratification.

Image: Photo by David J. Stang [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

TRZ065 Eastern Red Cedar ( Juniperus chinensis )

Eastern Red Cedar is an evergreen, aromatic tree with trunk often angled and buttressed at base and narrow, compact, columnar crown; sometimes becoming broad and irregular. Pyramidal when young, Eastern red-cedar mature form is quite variable. This evergreen usually grows 30-40 ft. but can reach 90 ft. Fragrant, scale-like foliage can be coarse or fine-cut, and varies in color from gray-green to blue-green to light- or dark-green. All colors tend to brown in winter. Pale blue fruits occur on female plants. Soft, silvery bark covers the single trunk.

Considered the most widely distributed eastern conifer, native in 37 states, Eastern Red Cedar is resistant to extremes of drought, heat, and cold. Red Cedar can be injurious to apple orchards because it is an alternate host for cedar-apple rust, a fungal disease. First observed at Roanoke Island, Virginia, in 1564, it was prized by the colonists for building furniture, rail fences, and log cabins.Zones 2-9.

D7880 Rocky Mountain Junifer ( Juniperus scopulorun )

Rocky Mountain juniper is an evergreen large shrub or small tree to 50' tall, but usually much smaller. Specimens are variable in habit, sometimes squat and shrubby, but usually narrowly cone shaped. The trunk is short and stout, often dividing near the ground. The branches are rather thick and spreading to partly erect. Rocky Mountain juniper has reddish bark that is stringy in narrow strips but does not exfoliate. Most of the leaves are like overlapping scales, closely pressed to the twigs. Juvenile leaves, usually only found on young seedlings, are more like needles, and they spread away from the twigs. The foliage is dense and pleasantly aromatic.

Trees may have male or female cones, but not both. The fruits are fleshy berrylike spherical cones, about one-third inch in diameter. They are bright blue with a whitish bloom and sweet tasting, with thin skins. Rocky Mountain juniper is closely related and quite similar to eastern redcedar, and was once believed to be the same species. But eastern redcedar has fruits that mature in a single season, whereas those of Rocky Mountain juniper take two year to ripen. Also, eastern redcedar had exfoliating bark. The two species hybridize where their ranges overlap.

Location: Rocky Mountain juniper occurs in isolated and scattered localities within a wide band from British Columbia to North Dakota, and south to Arizona and New Mexico. It grows from near sea level in the northern part of its range to more than 8000' above sea level in the south. Rocky Mountain juniper grows in alkaline soils on ridges, cliffs and rocky slopes, sometimes in pure stands, but more often in association with other mountain loving evergreens such as ponderosa pine, pinyon pine and Douglas-fir.

Culture: Rocky Mountain juniper is a slow growing tree (6-12" per year), but one that can live more than 300 years. In cultivation it tolerates acidic to alkaline soils, and does best in those that are loose and well drained. It is best adapted to culture in western and northern North America.
Light: Seedlings and saplings can tolerate rather dense shade, but Rocky Mountain junipers, even the smaller cultivars, need full sun to grow to their full potentials.
Moisture: Rocky Mountain juniper is tolerant of drought, but perhaps less so than the other junipers. It should be watered before the soil becomes completely dry. This juniper does poorly in humid climates, but does fine in hot, dry climates.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 4 - 7.
Usage: Use any of the cultivars of Rocky Mountain juniper for attractive foliage effects in all seasons. This evergreen is useful as a screen, hedge or foundation plant. They make great anchors or focal points for the ends of hedges or mixed borders. Rocky Mountain juniper is a tidy, formal accent shrub alone or in small groups.
Features: Although most cultivars are probably too formal for naturalistic gardens, Rocky Mountain juniper is ideal for neat, well-organized landscapes. Most cultivars require little or no pruning and are relatively free of cultural problems, insects and diseases. They tolerate heat and drought well.

Other Conifer Types

TRZ105 Norway Spruce ( Picea mariana )

Evergreen tree for large lawns, parks or woodland areas. Effective screen or windbreak in cold northern climates. It can grow to over 100 feet tall in it's native habitat, but usually grows to about 50 feet or so in the USA.
It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 3 to 7 inches long. The Norway spruce has a wide distribution for it being planted for its wood, and is the species used as the main Christmas tree in several countries around the world.
Norway Spruce Tree can grow to a large height in as little as three years. It will continue to grow rapidly to a mature height of 50 feet. And since it's a dense tree that easily blocks out wind and neighbors, it's ideal for use as a privacy barrier, windscreen, or even a traditional showpiece.
For zones 2-7.

Image:Prenn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

TRZ132 Oriental Thuga ( Thuja orientalis )

This is an excellent hedge plant grown almost worldwide. Also known as Platycladus orientalis, commonly called Oriental thuja or Oriental arborvitae, typically grows as a dense, conical to columnar tree to 18-25’ tall. Also grows as a large shrub.
This slow-growing arborvitae is used in landscapes around the world where it is associated with long life and vitality. Some large specimens growing around Buddhist temples in China are 1000 years old or older. A very beautiful Arborvitae perfect for planting below power lines because of their slow growth.
For zones 6-9.

TRZ090 Northern White Cedar ( Thuja occidentalis )

A medium to fairly large, very long-lived conifer widely distributed in temperate forests in northeastern North America with much-branched shoots that are covered in tiny, scalelike, fragrant evergreen leaves.
The relatively slender trunk rarely reaches more than 3 feet in diameter and has flaking, reddish-brown bark. Its is one of the most popular conifers in the temperate garden in USDA Zones 2 to 8 and much used for hedges and screens.
It has many medicinal applications and the wood is very rot resistant.

Image:Tangopaso, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

TRZ147 Bhutan Cypress ( Cupressus torulosa )

Cupressus torulosa, also known as the Himalayan cypress, is a species of cypress found in the Himalayas from 300 to 1800 meters, as well as on limestone in Sichuan, China and Vietnam. This plant boasts bright green or bluish-green drooping branchlets and is native to the Himalayas. What makes Cupressus torulosa so interesting is that it is the only species of Cupressus indigenous to India, forming a link between the true cypresses of the extreme east and those native to Europe. It is moderately hard and very durable, making it a great choice for general construction. Burn the plant as an incense or make use of its leaves. With its intriguing history and unique characteristics, Cupressus torulosa makes a stunning addition to any garden or landscape. For zones 8-10b.

TRZ034 Maki Yew Pine ( Podocarpus macrophyllus Maki )

Perfect for framing an entryway, for large patio containers, or anywhere a tall, narrow-growing specimen is required.
This tough plant thrives in the most adverse conditions, tolerating a wide range of light exposures and soils.
A moderately slow-growing, large evergreen shrub with a strongly-columnar growth habit to 8-12' tall x 4-5' wide. Can be pruned into a small tree. This popular and useful variety features dense-growing medium to deep-green foliage that takes very well to shearing, making it an ideal selection for use as a hedge, screen, background, column or topiary.
Perfect for framing an entryway, for large patio containers, or anywhere a tall, narrow-growing specimen is required. Prefers a neutral to slightly-acidic loamy soil, as clay soils will tend to produce a weaker, less aesthetically-pleasing specimen. Thrives in a partial to full sun exposure.
Zones 7b-11.