Blue Conifers for the Midwest

These trees offer stunning contrast and year-round texture

As our Midwest gardens changeover to those long winter months , we begin to focalise on any continue element that offer color and grain . Ornamental barque , colourful stems , showy yield , and textural grass will sure as shooting add impact to the wintertime scene . We rely on those steer of interest as the browns , grays , and whites of winter arrive . However , blue conifers in the wintertime landscape can offer a soothe touch . These dramatic conifers also recreate a role during the growing season as compositional ingredient , focal points , and nonsocial specimens . The winter blues provided by some of these conifers will offer up lengthy exhilaration during even the cold of months .

‘Candicans’ white fir

Abies concolor , Zones 4–9

This survival of the fittest of snowy fir is regard by many to be the bluest of any coniferous tree . The 2 - inch - long acerate leaf are a bright gunpowder - blue . The tree is conelike and tardily - growing and will brighten any landscape painting . It grows 30 feet tall in clock time and takes full sunlight . For a nanus selection that offer a standardised share of blue for a tighter space , try the survival ‘ La Veta ’ , or explore the myriad other thick forms that are available .

‘Bush’s Lace’ Engelmann spruce

Picea engelmannii , Zones 3–8

‘ Bush ’s Lace ’ has a strong , central leader with weeping ramification down the full trunk . It grows 25 feet tall and can take either full sun or fond refinement . The babe blue acerate leaf keep their color all twelvemonth , and the weeping , subdued - textured ramification kick in sensational computer architecture .

‘Bizon Blue’ Colorado spruce

Picea pungens‘Bizon Blue ’ , partition 3–7

This spruce come from Bizon Nursery in Oregon and maintain an intense patrician colouration on both unexampled and older growth . The schematic , cone-shaped shape is wizard . ‘ Bizon Blue ’ is gaining more popularity for its reliably significant blasphemous coloration . In full Dominicus it will reach 50 feet tall at maturity . If you are look for a very blue , narrow strain of Colorado spruce , try ‘ Fürst Bismarck ’ . For a weeping version of Colorado spruce , reckon for ‘ Glauca Slenderina Pendula ’ . These are just three of many cultivars out there for this species , but they have all been recognized for their big shades of blue .

‘Forest Sky’ pine

Pinus‘Forest Sky ’ , Zones 4–7

This pine is considered by some to be preferable to the aboriginal Eastern white pine ( P. strobus , Zones 3–8 ) for garden site . Notably denser in separate social structure and with a tighter form , this hybrid , while slower growing , parade less browning of acerate leaf . ‘ Forest Sky ’ is finding more and more use as an effective accent or specimen tree . It grow 40 feet tall and prefers full Lord’s Day .

‘Morris Blue’ Korean pine

Pinus koraiensis , Zones 3–9

The colour amobarbital sodium is frequently assort with a calming , soothing , and unwind feeling . Blue also seems to drop off in a garden composition , offering a mother wit of openness and expansion . I conceive that blue is underutilized in the garden and do n’t feel that it can be easily overdone . While risque can be provided by efflorescence and other elements such as containers and garden furniture , the contribution of a blue conifer can create a console spot . As these plant gather size and prominence , they will continue to be significant source of wintertime color and truly put up 365 days of interest . The specimens described above are just some of the many beautiful options that we can find at our local greenhouse and garden eye .

— Mark Dwyer , former theater director of horticulture at Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville , Wisconsin , operates Landscape Prescriptions by MD .

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blue conifer tree

Plant a blue conifer like ‘La Veta’ dwarf white fir next to a plant with yellow foliage like ‘Goldspire’ ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba‘Goldspire’, Zones 4–9) for sharp contrast that will make both plants pop.Photo: Mark Dwyer

Candicans white fir