Woody > Picea > Picea pungens > Picea pungens 'Baby Blue Eyes'
Picea pungens
'Baby Blue Eyes'
Baby Blue Eyes Colorado Spruce
Mike's
Opinion
"
A stunning, attractive and uniquely coloured semi-dwarf evergreen with sharp blue-silver needles.
Michael Pascoe, NDP., ODH., CLT., MSc. (Plant Conservation)
"
| Family |
| Pinaceae |
| Genus |
| Picea |
| Species |
| pungens |
| Cultivar |
| 'Baby Blue Eyes' |
| Category |
| Woody |
| Type |
| Tree (evergreen) |
| Pronunciation |
| USDA Hardiness Zone |
| 3 - 7 |
| Canadian Hardiness Zone |
| 1a - 7a |
| RHS Hardiness Zone |
| H5 - H7 |
| Temperature (°C) |
| -40 -(-12) |
| Temperature (°F) |
| -40 -(12) |
| Height |
| 4.5 - 6 m |
| Spread |
| 2 - 3 m |
Photographs
Description and Growing Information
Flowering Period
| General Description |
| A semi-dwarf cultivar that is almost sky-blue in colour with a broadly pyramidal form. |
| Landscape |
| A versatile tree for many landscapes; as an accent, in groups or for screening. Its intense blue colour makes for an attractive appearance in the landscape, especially during the winter months. |
| Cultivation |
| Easily grown in acidic, medium moisture, well drained soils with full sun. Will tolerate some light shade. It prefers rich moist soils, although established plantings have some drought tolerance. |
| Shape |
| A broadly pyramidal tree. |
| Growth |
| Slow |
| ID Characteristic |
| A semi-dwarf broadly pyramidal evergreen with intense blue foliage, stiff 4-sided prickly needles arranged radially on orange-brown shoots. |
| Pests |
| Susceptible to needle cast, canker and rust. Watch for aphids (particularly spruce gall aphids), scale, budworms and bagworms. Spider mite can cause significant problems with new growth and overall health of the tree. |
| Habitat |
| Horticultural origin. |
| Bark/Stem Description |
| Light grey to orange-brown bark with a very crude surface, giving it a unique coarse texture. |
| Flower/Leaf Bud Description |
| Buds are small orangey-brown in colour, overlying or layered, and overlapped. |
| Leaf Description |
| Leaves feature stiff dense 4-sided intense blue, prickly needles arranged radially on orange-brown shoots. |
| Fruit Description |
| Oval cylindrical cones that hang down and are a pale shining brown at maturity reaching 10-15 cm in length. |
| Colour Description |
| The foliage usually maintains a lovely intense blue-green to blue-silver colour year round. |
| Texture Description |
| A broadly pyramidal semi-dwarf spruce with prickly coarse needles. |
| Notable Specimens |
| Whistling Gardens, Wilsonville, Ontario, Canada. |
| Propagation |
| The cultivar ‘Baby Blue Eyes’ is generally grafted on to Picea abies the Norway Spruce because of its ability to establish a larger root mass quicker. |
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