Success with Fraser Fir?

Has anyone had success growing Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri) in areas of lower elevations? It's such a beautiful evergreen that I would like to try to grow it here in central Indiana. Our summers can be hot, but humid. Is temperature or humidity the limiting factor in trying to grow them outside of mountainous areas?

It is mainly the combination of heat and humidity that does for them; dry heat is also bad. Cool humid summers are fine, it grows well at close to sea level in Britain.

Resin

There is a nurseryman who grows Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri) in Lexington/Fayette County, KY (area code 40508). Elevation there is about 900 feet on the Bluegrass plain. He sells these trees B&B and as cut Christmas trees.

He tries to site their growing locations in his nursery on any north to east slope, no matter how slight, to limit the direct sun aspect on the rooting zone. Where I have planted the very few I've ever installed, that is the strategy I've taken.

Since most of where you garden in central IN has zero slope, you might best work with the north side of structures or taller vegetation that will shade the rooting zone of this species. Acid reaction soils probably will help, too.

In NW Ohio, near Toledo, Zone 5, at elevation 635 ft and very, very flat, Abies fraseri is widely used. It does very well in the sandy, slighty acid soils and moderately well in some clays, but not heavy clay. Every pro landscaper I know uses it for residential and commercial jobs, except in heavy clay. They are usually sighted in full sun, often with a mix of spruces. Other than the usual caveat to water the first year no special care is taken.

I have a pair in my backyard which were planted in 1982 and 1983. Homeowners plant quite a few as they buy them as a live Christmas tree and then out in the yard they go. Mine actually were Christmas presents from my Dad. They were never in the house though. Just delivered two days before Christmas, by surprise, and I had to scramble to get them planted when the ground was frozen and snow was flying. That involved a pickaxe, buckets of water from the house, straw bales from a nearby farm, burlap and stakes. They survived and thrived.

All in all, a nice conifer commonly seen in these environs.

BTW - HoosierGreen. I'll post a picture soon of the Little Bluestems. What a great show they made, and are still making, in the sustainable garden project. It's a substantial patch which garners a lot of complements. Thanks again.

Thanks for the info, Resin and snapple45. Around here, the nurseries say they just won't grow well, but I know of one location where a Fraser Fir is thriving, so it got my interest. We do have heavier clay soils here, but with amendments and "planting high", many clay-intolerant plants do very well.

I'm encouraged to special order some for clients and myself. We'll see what happens next summer.

snapple45: Good to hear the little bluestems did well, as I figured they would. They sure make a nice winter display. Remember to never fertilize them or they'll get lanky and floppy, and keep the mulch light or they'll rot. In early spring, I like to take a small propane torch and (after cutting them back about 2/3s) burn them to the roots.

I've had so much trouble trying to get any fir to survive here.
I have an abies koreana Piccolo which has survived a few years - not yet certain of success.
An abies balsamea nana tantalized me for a decade, then ultimately succumbed.
Multiple others have failed miserably.
The only ones to survive even a few years seem to require at least partial shade around here.

I have a very happy a. koreana silberlocke in a pot which is 10+ years old -
I've always meant to plant him out, but I'm afraid...

I did a little investigation and see that both a. recurvata and chensiensis are available at ForestFarm.
I'm not familiar with either of these species - thanks for the info!
I had heard a. pinsapo, firma and nordmannii were the best heat-tolerant firs.
Any reason to think recurvata or chensiensis would fare better than these?
I don't have room to try them all!

I suggested them because central China has a better climatic match to MO; in both cases, distant from oceans, so potentially prone to drought, but also climates with (usually) a high summer heat / humidity combination. Abies nordmanniana is less likely to cope with severe drought well. Abies firma and A. pinsapo would probably be OK, but may be marginal if you get a really severe winter; A. pinsapo is also adapted to low summer humidity, so could suffer fungal disease problems in MO's high summer humidity (A. firma won't have that problem). Having said that, you may well be able to grow all of them well, at least in the short to medium term (they might not make it to 100, but 20-30 years should be OK).

Resin

Thanks, Resin.
I'll go with the chinese.
I've been to Beijing in summer - it was horribly hot & humid... I felt right at home.
I really appreciate your practical advise.

hoosier i have a frasier here that is doing great - it planted in full sun and clay soil that was amended - elevation here is about 1100 - has kept it at 7-8' tall - it also has survived a drastic deer pruning one tough winter and came back fine.

Thanks, all, for the feedback. I found out recently that a local wholesale nursery used to raise hundreds of Fraser Firs for the local trade. The soil here is heavy clay. Unfortunately, this nursery sold off almost a thousand acres and now sell only container-grown stock... and no Fraser Firs. So, I guess they will grow here though. Now, if I can only find one for sale! I'll probably have to special order one.