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Genus Picea (Spruce)

Picea Picea sitchensis 'Papoose' Photo/Illustration: Jennifer Brown
py-SEE-ah Common Name: Spruce
These evergreen, coniferous trees have whorled branches and leaves that are needle-like. Female cones ripen from green or red to purple or brown. Male cones are yellow to reddish purple. Useful for screening, windbreaks, specimens.
 Noteworthy characteristics: Attractive foliage, cones, and shapes.
 Care: Moist but well-drained, deep soil, with neutral to acidic pH.
 Propagation: Start seeds in a cold frame in spring. Graft cultivars in winter. For dwarf cultivars, take ripewood cuttings in late summer.
 Problems: Gall insects, aphids, caterpillars, sawfly, spider mites, lesion nematodes, and scale insects are common. Some diseases may occur, including butt and heart rots, witches' broom, mistletoe, rust, and needle cast.

Species, varieties and cultivars for genus Picea

Picea omorika ‘Nana’ Picea omorika ‘Nana’
(Dwarf Serbian spruce) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

A compact plant with a mature height of 8 feet, this conifer is densely globe-shaped when young, becoming pyramidal as it ages. Needles are soft green on top, bluish green at the bottom.
Picea pungens ‘Glauca Pendula' Picea pungens ‘Glauca Pendula'
(Colorado blue spruce) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This spruce has blue foliage and drooping branches. It grows 3 or 4 inches a year, eventually spreading to about 8 feet wide and 4 feet tall, with silvery needles like its parent species.
no image available Picea pungens ‘Procumbens’
(Colorado blue spruce) (1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

'Procumbens' is similar to 'Pendula' in color but prostrate in habit, with cascading branches sometimes staying stiffly horizontal. Makes a spreading, undulating, mounding ground cover of silvery white needles.
Picea sitchensis 'Papoose' Picea sitchensis 'Papoose'
(Dwarf Sitka spruce, 'Papoose' spruce) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This is a dwarf conifer with a rounded form. Juvenile needles grow like miniature puffballs on the tips of stubby, round branches and age to a silvery blue on one side and green on the other.