Picea pungens - Colorado Spruce (Pinaceae) ------Picea pungens is a common pyramidal evergreen accent Texture tree or large shrub that serves as a bold focal point in -bold texture the landscape, especially among the silver or blue -thick density foliage types. Assets -evergreen tree with a formal symmetrical pyramidal FEATURES shape, especially in youth Form -branches to the ground -large evergreen specimen tree -foliage variants are common and range from bluish to -maturing at 50' tall x 20' wide as a silvery foliage general rule, but cultivars are often -bold texture smaller Liabilities -upright pyramidal growth habit in -spruce spider mites will lead to a decline in both vigor youth and often maintaining this and stress resistance of infested trees form through maturity, but -when a recent transplant is not regularly watered for at sometimes with age becoming least the first year of root reestablishment, it can result conical with the lower branches in the death of the terminal leader, dieback of side drooping branch tips, or death of the entire tree, even though -slow growth rate established Blue Spruce are quite drought tolerant Culture Habitat -full sun to partial sun -Zones 2 to 7 -tolerates many adverse conditions, -Native to Western U.S. including dry soils, soils of various pH, and winter salt spray SELECTIONS -susceptible to several pests, of which spider mites are Alternates the worst, that cause an overall decline in the new -narrowleaf evergreen trees with growth during mid-summer, and to several diseases, of a formal appearance and some which needle cast and trunk canker are the most serious blue shade of color (Abies -abundantly available, primarily in B&B form but concolor 'Candicans', Picea increasingly in container form omorika, Pinus flexilis var. -Blue Spruce is somewhat tolerant of winter salt spray, glauca 'Vanderwolf's Pyramid', with green-foliaged forms being less tolerant (since they Pinus sylvestris 'Watereri', etc.) have less coating of needle wax) than blue or blue-silver -pyramidal evergreen trees of forms green foliage (Picea abies, Pinus Foliage strobus, Pseudotsuga menziesii, etc.) -evergreen Cultivars - Variants - Related species needles to 1" -many exist, selected for a combination of foliage color long (green, green-blue, sky blue, silver-blue, etc.) and -often uniformly growth habit (normal pyramidal, wide pyramidal, distributed columnar, weeping, prostrate, globed dwarf, open around the stem branching vs. layered branching vs. dense branching, and radiating etc.); a few of the most common are listed below: straight outward -Picea pungens - in the nursery trade (when everything from the stem is correctly and fully labeled), this would be Green for a stiff, Colorado Spruce, which has a medium-green, green- prickly effect and gray, or green-blue shading of the foliage, being a therefore painful mixture of seed-grown trees that display the genetic to grasp diversity of the species in terms of foliage color (so -variants have always look before you buy, and compare); to 50' x 20' bluish or silvery -Picea pungens f. glauca - Colorado Blue Spruce - foliage that is vibrant when newly emerged a large, catchall grouping of foliage variants that are Flowers blue, bluish-green, or silvery-blue in color, prized for -inconspicuous; monoecious their alternative evergreen color in the landscape. Some Fruits cultivars: -cones to 3" long, light green when immature, -'Bakeri' - the best upright pyramidal cultivar for use at becoming brown with maturity the foundation of a house, to 12' x 6', with blue foliage Twigs -'Glauca Globosa' ('Globosa') - a true dwarf specimen -light brown with an orange cast shrub, commonly sold as a "low-graft" when 1' x 2', -needle scars raised on the stem and slowly maturing to 3' x 5' while maintaining its Trunk flattop shape, but also sold as a grafted "standard" on a -thick gray scales with age 1-4' "trunk"; very nice as a focal point accent -'Hoopsii' - perhaps the standard cultivar by which all USAGE other Blue Spruce are judged, maturing at about 40' x Function 15', having blue-white foliage, slightly irregular and -specimen tree open in growth habit in youth, but assuming the -row or group plantings normal tight pyramidal growth habit by about 15 yrs. -evergreen pyramidal focal point, especially in youth of age and especially with foliage color variants