Blue Spruce

Hi All,

What's your experience with mature specimens? I have a 60 - ish foot Colorado that is starting to look pretty ratty. Lots of gaps, limp branches, etc. There are no obvious signs of disease, pests, etc. Still 'blues up' nicely each Spring but the form leaves a lot to be desired. Is this typical? Does it also apply to other dwarf forms like globosa?

Separately, what other conifers give reliable blue color? I know there a few cupressus that are supposed to. Any personal experience, picks? I love combining that great silvery blue with reds, purples and dark greens. Blue (and gold) conifers pair so nicely with so many Japanese Maples. Thanks!

Victor

In my opinion, once a blue spruce opens up and loses that "Christmas tree" form, it's appeal rapidly runs out.

Blue evergreens? Lots of them. Abies concolor cultivars abound. A ton of Chamaecypris and juniper cultivars too. My favorite is Chamaecypris thyoides "Van Pelts." Pure baby blue. But it is hard to find. Juniperus scopulorum "Wichita Blue" is amazing as well, but hard to grow in damp, humid places.

Scott

I saw a Colorado Blue Spruce that was tall, it was quite striking to see such a tall, blue Spruce. Thats probably the exception though, especially for the Midwest, here.

For some reason people tend to limb them up way too much, that ruins their appearance. Then they tend to have branches that hang all over. Maybe a little limbing one row on the bottom is enuff. I probably wouldn't limb at all. I like the look of a Spruce's branches laying on the ground. Not every tree has to be mowed under.

I planted a little blue spruce two years ago, and it wasn't all that blue when I first got it, but I thought it would live up to its name in time. Wrong so far... Anything I can do to make it turn from green to blue? It's healthy and growing, but it just isn't blue enough for me.

No, blue is genetic.

Scott

They're beautiful trees but they are taken from a very dry environment (both air and rainfall) and often planted elsewhere. That's the reason they become ratty.

Some good blue cultivars:
Larix kaempferi 'Blue Rabbit'
Picea engelmannii 'Lace' (better species for humid climates and rainfall)
Abies koreana 'Silver Show' (East Coast -check with local extention)
Abies koreana 'Silberlocke'
Abies lasiocarpa 'Arizonica Compacta'
Cupressus glabra 'Blue Ice' - A lot of people like this plant.
Picea pungens 'Iseli Foxtail'
Pinus koraiensis 'Silveray'
Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns' (Undersides of needles) Form!!!!
MIcrobiota decussata
Juniperus communis 'Berkshire'
Larix kaempferi 'Blue Sparkler'
Picea bicolor 'Howell's Dwarf' (Cones!!!)
Picea omorika 'Berliners Weeper'
Picea pungens 'Gotelli Prostrate' - The very best Blue Spruce groundcover.
Picea glauca 'Sanders Blue'
Picea glauca 'Arneson's Blue Variegated'
Larix kaempferi 'Blue Dwarf'
Picea pungens 'Jack Corbet'
Picea pungens 'St. Mary's Broom'
Picea engelmannii 'Blue Teardrop'
Pinus cembra 'Silver Sheen'
Thuja occidentalis 'Warenea Lutescens'
Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Pendula Glauca' (not much blue - form great)
Tsuga canadensis 'Silver Bridge'
Picea pungens 'Rifle Blue' (This is a bad plant man!)
Tsuga canadensis 'Stewart's Gem'
Picea pungens 'Egyptian Pyramid'
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Dwarf Blue'
JUniperus conferta 'Silver Mist'
Pinus pumilla 'Nana'
Taxus baccata 'Watnong'
Taxus baccata 'STandishi'
Taxus x media 'Lutea'
Tsuga canadensis 'Hornbeck'


Golden:
Picea pungens 'Walnut Glen' (Unusual color)
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Compacta Variegata'
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Golden Pincushion'
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Juniperoides Aurea'
Picea orientalis 'Skylands' (Needs shade/shade cloth protection for many years until established if planted in full sun)
Pinus 'Jane Kluis' (Hybrid Pine)
Pinus densiflora 'Pendula' - Staked or great groundcover
Pinus nigra 'Hornibrookiana' and nigra 'Helga' - both fantastic.
Pinus strobus 'Bennett' and strobus 'Golden Candles' Both great, exception..
Pinus strobus 'Uncantena' yellow/blue/green - exceptional coloration.
JUniperus (x phitzeriana)-(x media) 'Daub's Frosted'
Taxus baccata 'Repandens Aurea'
Thuja occidentalis 'Sherwood Frost'
Tsuga canadensis 'Everett Golden'
Thuja occidentalis 'Emerald Variegated'
Picea orientalis 'Tom Thumb Gold'
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Gold Spangle' and 'Filifera Aurea'
JUniperus squamata 'Prostrata' (lime green - very nice, flat as pancake)
Metasequoia glyptostoboides 'Gold Rush'
Picea glauca 'Rainbow's End'
Abies koreana 'Aurea' (East Coast???)
Picea pungens 'Mrs. Cessarini'
Pinus contorta 'Chief Joseph' (Winter Color - WOW, Yippie, hi, yay!)
Pinus sylvestris 'Nisbet's Aurea'/'Gold Coin' - Winter color
Pinus mugo 'Winter Sonne' - Winter color
Pinus mugo 'Big Tuna'
Pinus strobus 'Merrimack' and 'Coney Island' take the show.
Pinus sylvestris 'Hillside Creeper' winter golden hues, beautiful.
Taxus cuspidata 'Aurescens'
Pinus strobus 'Green Twist' (mostly green)
Thuja occidentalis 'Gold Drop'
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Crippsii' - maybe one of the best ever.
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Elmwood Gold'
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Verdon'
Juniperus chinensis 'Expansa Variegata'
Juniperus davurica 'Expansa Variegata'
JUniperus 'Plumosa Aurea' (x phitzeriana/ x media)
Juniperus x phitzeriana (x media) 'Saybrook Gold'
Pinus cembra 'Chalet' (blue/green/gold)
Pinus parviflora 'Goldylocks'


That outta get you planting!

If you ever want to view my photos - here you go.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Cultivar/

Dax

One of my most favorite photos: Abies koreana 'Silberlocke'; Bickelhaupt Arboretum, Clinton IA.

The other day dh and I were going shopping and drove by a house that had there front yard full of ever green trees (not sure what kind) but the way they had them displayed was beautiful, I would say they did this b4 planting them. They had laid hugh circles (I want to say at least 20' round) with edging and had it filled in with either mulch or small stones, The trees were about 8' tall or taller not sure...
But they all looked great. I just love to see beautiful yards when out and about....
Get lots of ideas :o)
cg

Why oh why conifers, do you have to remind us all of those wonderful photos and conifers? The unsatisfied lust and longing for all those specimins is hard to bear. It drives me crazy.

Thanks all. Conifers - wow, what a list! Do some of the dwarf blue spruce trees keep the nice tight form with stiff branches? I'll be going through the extensive list. Thanks again.

Regards,
Victor

Great list, conifers!

Blue spruce hasn't done well here in Alabama. I had a big one when I moved to my current home but it browned out; I think mites got it. I planted a young one that went down pretty fast too. I am going to check your list out for something that will do better in my area.

Dax, holy moly what a list! Do you have all these growing there?
Can you take them with you to your new place?

Quoth Decrepit:

OK, calling all coniferites, now I gotta ask. I was given one last year labeled C. lawsoniana 'Van Pelt's Blue' with foliage (at least on this very small plant) that looks to me more like that of C. thyoides. It seems very narrowly erect also. Whada y'all think it really is? Is there a C. lawsoniana with the Van Pelt name also? Was the name derived from Bob Van Pelt out in Washington, which would be much easier to believe it it was Lawson's cypress than the eastern C. thyoides? What's the scoop on this?

Guy S.

Welch's list mentions a Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Van Pelt's Blue', synonym 'Pelt's Blue', named by H J van de Laar from the Kordes nursery in Germany. I'd guess there's more people in the van Pelt family than just Bob Van Pelt in Washington.

Not seen the cultivar, so can't say what species it is derived from.

Resin

Van Pelts is what has been argued to death about other hardier than other cultivars of a species. The story behind C.law 'Van Pelt's Blue' (source my mind and remembering Arrowhead Alpines sells it) is that it survived -25F or -30F or something of similar temps for an extended period of time and in Ohio or somewhere in the midwest.

Dax

OK, both of you gurus, thanks for the quick help and the encouragement about its winter tolerance!
Guy S.

It could of course have been named after Linus Van Pelt

For another blue conifer that I didn't see listed above, I have Pinus flexilis 'Extra Blue'. I think there are other blue cultivars of this species.

Thanks to all for input.

Victor