can you tell what type of spruce this might be?

[smjmsy00]

purchased this over the weekend from Hidden Gardens, mystery spruce, maybe ezo or orientalis or ?

 

[0soyoung]

Engleman, maybe.

 

[Walter Pall]

Colorado Blue Spruce, Picea pungens. A nice one. Could also be a hybrid between C. Blue Spruce and Egelman spruce.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Oriental spruce is not native to North America. If this was wild collected, it is not Oriental spruce. If it is collected, Walter Pall's guess is on the money.

 

[smjmsy00]

Here's some more pictures. I think the story is that it was collected from a nursery, a cast off of sorts. I thought engelmann could only be grown in the NW? The needles are so short and plump, almost succulent like.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

If it is old nursery stock it is possible to be a Oriental spruce. The have the darkest green needles of all the spruce. Never blue, just dark green to almost black. Very short needles too. But if it is a nursery plant englemann and blue spruce or their hybrid are possible.

It doesn't really matter, all spruces are more or less treated the same.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Englemann spruce are popular landscape trees in the Midwest. I've got one in my front yard.

Landscape nurseries tend to only propagate the more blue colored of the englemann spruce. The more common in the wild green form is not as popular, same with blue spruce, most in the wild are more green than blue, but nurseries propagate the very bluest forms.

 

[River's Edge]

The short fat needles are nothing like any engleman that i have seen locally either as native or bonsai. Engleman needles are invariably thinner!
Guess variation is possible, but i expect it would have to be a hybrid for that reason or some other species.

 

[PiñonJ]

The short fat needles are nothing like any engleman that i have seen locally either as native or bonsai. Engleman needles are invariably thinner!
Guess variation is possible, but i expect it would have to be a hybrid for that reason or some other species.

The needles and look strange to me, as well, but they look just like those I saw recently on some newly collected Engelmanns at Randy Knight’s place.

 

[River's Edge]

The needles and look strange to me, as well, but they look just like those I saw recently on some newly collected Engelmanns at Randy Knight’s place.

The engleman in my nursery and the mountains nearby have needles like an Ezo just a bit different color, bluer. Here is a picture of the two types from my nursery. The engleman species comes from a company called Streamside Native plants that specializes in propogation of native species for restoration projects.

 

[wireme]

The engleman in my nursery and the mountains nearby have needles like an Ezo just a bit different color, bluer. Here is a picture of the two types from my nursery. The engleman species comes from a company called Streamside Native plants that specializes in propogation of native species for restoration projects. View attachment 247855View attachment 247856

Those are very fine needles, and nice. I only see that here on englemann that are very shaded. Most of the ones I’ve collected are likely white/englemann hybrid and have fatter needles, quite similar to the posted tree but I’m sure Walter knows the source and it is what he says. Even the ones I have that I consider probably pure are not quite as fine as yours . I will take a closer look in the forest. Actually around my house here in the forest there are now a bunch of young hybrids of Colorado blue spruce and englemann. Pollen from all the imported blue spruce landscape trees doing its thing. They can be quite distinctive, easy to spot.

 

[smjmsy00]

here's a closeup of the needles... just because I like this tree so much and am enjoying show and tell. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[Walter Pall]

Definitely a Colorado Blue Spruce. It was collected last summer in Colorado. The color at the moment is a dull blueish green. If you want more blue and darker green you should feed with iron and magnesium. Not any iron! Take an iron plant fertilizer as it is used for azaleas and also for lawns. Do not overfeed with iron though! Magnesium is available in any garden center.

 

[Tycoss]

Depending on the conditions, I’ve seen englemann/white spruce with very similar needles. I’ll take a picture of one of mine when I get home from work. Very nice material.

 

[Walter Pall]

Well I do not think that there are white Spruce in Colorado. This tree is definitely from Colorado.

 

[Tycoss]

Well I do not think that there are white Spruce in Colorado. This tree is definitely from Colorado.

I don’t doubt that it’s a blue spruce Walter. I do find it remarkable how different spruce species from similar environments can look so much alike. Here are the needles of one of my collected Alberta white/englemann spruce. I think they look a lot like those of the OP’s tree
And here is one that looked the same two years ago, but has been getting lots of water and fertilizer in my yard:
I’m often explaining why my “white” spruce is blue.