Picea pungens Engelm.

Picea pungens 23.5 m tall at Kew in April 2016. Image Owen Johnson.

A particularly narrow, glaucous form of Picea pungens at Arboretum Gaston Allard, Angers, France. In this part of western France many Picea have particularly narrow crowns. October 2023. Image Tom Christian.

The typically glaucous Picea pungens standing out against dark green Picea abies at the Royal Golf Club of Belgium. October 2010. Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

A stand of Picea pungens at the Arnold Arboretum, Boston, United States. August 2014. Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Picea pungens in the wild near Pagosa Springs, San Juan Mountains. July 2003. Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

An open-grown Picea pungens at the Royal Golf Club of Belgium. September 2010. Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Typically vicious looking foliage on Picea pungens at Arboretum Wespelaar, Belgium (14993). September 2006. Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Picea pungens.

'Arcuata'

A selection with long sections of clean stem between the widely spaced whorls of branches, the branches themselves upcurving near their ends. Raised in Germany before 1919 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Argentea Group

The earliest permutation of the name ‘argentea’ with respect to Picea pungens was Rosenthal’s ‘Picea parryana argentea’ of 1887 (POWO 2025). It has since been used as a variety, forma, cultivar, and latterly as a Cultivar Group intended to corral several more or less indistinguishable (probably tree-forming) clones with silvery-white foliage (Auders & Spicer 2012) but in practice this name is seldom seen.

'Atroviridis'

A form with particularly dark green leaves, described from German cultivation by von Schwerin in 1920. Although von Schwerin’s clone was considered lost to cultivation by Auders & Spicer (2012) it is likely that similar forms could be re-discovered from wild-collected seed.

'Baby Blueyes'

A tree of dense and slow growth, to 1.8 m tall in ten years, with sky-blue foliage (Auders & Spicer 2012). An example at Bedgebury National Pinetum (Kent, UK) planted in 2004 was 7 m tall and 13 cm dbh by 2024 (erroneously labelled ‘Blue Eyes’) (Tree Register 2025). The unusual spelling ‘Baby Blueyes’ is correct, although it should be pronounced ‘blue eyes’ and not ‘blue yes’!

'Bailey's Variegated'

The young growth in spring is described as ‘snow-white’ in the RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers (Auders & Spicer 2012) but this is otherwise a fairly typical if slow-growing small tree, with unremarkable grey-green leaves. Cultivated in the United States before 1996.

'Bakeri'

A vigorous tree (to nearly 3 m tall in ten years) with unusually long, dark silvery-blue leaves. A seedling found in Massachusetts before 1930 by Ellery Baker of Hiti Nurseries, Connecticut, and commercialised shortly afterwards (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Barabits Blue'

A tree of moderate vigour (to 2 m tall in ten years) with blue foliage, raised before 1995 by Barabits Nursery, Hungary (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Białobok'

A plant in which the young growth flushes creamy-white before turning silvery-blue later in the season. Found before 1939 in Lublin, Poland by Jan Białobok but not named until 1993 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Blue Diamond'

A neat, pyramidal tree of moderate growth with leaves of a particularly intense blue. It is unusual among Picea pungens selections for being relatively easy to propagate from cuttings, which typically form leaders without staking. For these reasons it has become a popular clone among Christmas tree growers, and is widely offered by ornamental nurseries too. Selected by Nelis Kools in the Netherlands in 1990 and still popular (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Blue Horizon'

An irregularly spreading mat, to 45 cm tall and at least twice as broad in ten years. Introduced by the Wells Nursery of Washington, United States in 1978 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Blue Totem'

A narrowly conical plant with blue foliage, listed by the Oregon firm Bucholz & Bucholz in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012). Those authors suggest this clone is ‘narrower than ‘Iseli Fastigiate” but then appear to contradict themselves in the dimensions provided against each cultivar. Of ‘Blue Totem’ they suggest 2 m tall with a spread of 0.75 m in ten years, while they give 3 m × 0.75 m in ten years for ‘Iseli Fastigiate’ (Auders & Spicer 2012). ‘Blue Totem’ might have the better foliage colour of the two.

'Buffalo Bill Blue'

A narrowly conical selection with intensely blue foliage. To 2.5 m tall and 1.2 m across in ten years. Found before 2005 by Bill Caldwell in Colorado (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Byczkowski'

A plant of moderate growth (to 2 m tall in ten years) with the new growth in spring creamy-green, fading to blue through the season. Raised in Poland in 1976 by Jan Byczkowski (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Colonial Gold'

A slow-growing plant (1.2 m tall in ten years) with a sulphurous cast to the foliage. Listed by Bucholz & Bucholz of Oregon in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Columnaris'

A form with regular, shortened side branches giving a columnar profile. Described by Schelle in 1909 but never common (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Continental'

A broad-pyramidal plant with good blue foliage. Vigour moderate (to 1.8 m tall and half as much across in ten years). Listed by Bucholz & Bucholz of Oregon in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Coors'

A form with very pale silvery-blue leaves, found on the Coors Estate in Colorado (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars

Here we list a curated selection of cultivars that remain less than 1 m tall and broad ten years from planting. For further introductory remarks on cultivars see the notes at the end of the genus article. In the case of Picea pungens in particular, dwarf cultivars (as we define them) may be broadly divided into four main groups based on foliage colour: blue; green; blue-variegated; and green-variegated. In the latter two groups, ‘blue’ and ‘green’ denote the colour of the mature foliage – it is usually the young spring growth that is variegated, emerging creamy-white or yellowish before fading gradually or abruptly. The dwarf blue selections chart the same dogged pursuit of better and better blue foliage colour as the larger-growing cultivars also listed here.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Aubie's Spreader'

Spreading low bush (not prostrate); leaves vivid blue; to 45 cm tall and 90 cm broad in ten years. Recorded from Coenosium Gardens, Washington in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Barabits Martin'

Globose; leaves blue, thick; to 40 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised at the Barabits Nursery, Hungary, before 1998 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Bastion'

Globose; leaves short, radially arranged, glaucous; to 1 m tall and broad in ten years. Raised from seed by P. Bakhuyzen & Sons, the Netherlands, before 1983 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'Bastion' at Laurains Nurseries, France. 12 August 2010. Image Derek Spicer.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Beskid'

Irregular low bush; leaves blue-green; to 80 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised from seed by Maria & Janusz Szewczyk in Poland in 1990 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Blaukissen'

Subglobose, ultimately flat-topped; leaves short and a good blue; to 20 cm tall and 30 cm broad in ten years. Raised by Günther Eschrich, Germany in 1978 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Blue Moon'

Subglobose, eventually flat-topped, very dense; leaves short, blue; to 25 cm tall and 30 cm broad in ten years. Raised at the Ruslyn Nursery, United States, before 2005 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Blue Pearl'

Sub-globose, flat-topped; leaves short, blue; to 15 cm tall and 30 cm broad in ten years. Selected before 1992 at the Iseli Nursery, Oregon, as a witches’ broom found on a specimen of ‘Fat Albert’ (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Brynek'

Globose, very dense; leaves short, steely-blue; to 35 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised from seed collected by Sławomir Skórka in Brynek forest, Poland in 1984 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Buckwheat'

Globose; leaves green; 30–40 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised by Jerry Morris, United States, before 2000 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Compacta'

Globose; leaves particularly stiff, dark green; to 1 m tall and broad in ten years. Raised at Harvard Botanic Garden from seed collected by Charles Parry on Pike’s Peak, Colorado in 1863; scions were later sent to the Arnold Arboretum (Auders & Spicer 2012). The clone to which this name applies is probably rare now, but the name itself is significant for being the earliest applied to any dwarf selection.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Dietz Prostrate'

Prostrate; leaves vivid blue; to 30 cm tall and 1 m across in ten years. Recorded from American cultivation in 1985 (Auders & Spicer 2012). Cf. ‘Glauca Prostrata’ and ‘Glauca Procumbens’.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Donehey'

Broad-conical, upright; young spring growth cream-coloured, maturing blue; 50–100 cm tall and broad in ten years, though typically taller than broad. Recorded from American cultivation before 2000 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Donna's Rainbow'

Broad-conical, upright; leaves silver-blue, almost radially arranged near the shoot base and becoming increasingly forward-swept toward the shoot apex, giving a foxtail-like appearance; to 1 m tall and 60 cm broad in ten years. Raised from seed at the Iseli Nursery, Oregon in 1978 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Early Cones'

Broad-pyramidal at first, eventually flat-topped; leaves short, grey-blue; plants producing terminal cones from most branches from a very young age; to 40 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised in Australia before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Emerald Cushion'

Globose at first, later flat-topped; leaves short, radially arranged, grey-green; to 30 cm tall and 45 cm broad in ten years. First listed in the United States in 1983 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Frieda'

Globose at first, later broad-conical; leaves very short, radially arranged, dark blue; to 40 cm tall and 75 cm broad in ten years. Raised from seed by Franz Etzeldorfer, Austria in 1992 and named for his wife (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Gentry's Gem'

Globose at first, later an irregular, spreading mound; leaves short, glaucous-green; to 60 cm tall and broad in ten years though ultimately wider than tall. Listed by the Iseli Nursery of Oregon in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Glauca Nana'

Plants bearing the names ‘Glauca Nana’, ‘Globosa’, ‘Montgomery’ and ‘Thuem’ have been confused in the trade and gardens for some time (Auders & Spicer 2012). ‘Glauca Nana’ and ‘Globosa’ have been considered synonymous by some authorities but the RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers points out that they have distinct origins and gives the following description of ‘Glauca Nana’:

‘A slow-growing, flat-topped, spreading globose plant with grey rather than blue foliage. The needles are long (to 25 mm) straight, symmetrically radial with a fine point, making the plant very prickly […] Listed by Herm. A. Hesse, Germany in 1962–63’ (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Globosa'

Cf. ‘Glauca Nana’ with which this clone is often confused. Irregularly globose, often flat-topped, very dense; leaves sickle-shaped, bright blue-white; to 70 cm tall and 80 cm broad in ten years but often slower, and after several decades much larger. Raised from seed by Anth. Kluys of Boskoop, the Netherlands in 1937 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

A large, handsome, but not very globose Picea pungens 'Globosa' (Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, August 2022). Image John Grimshaw.

Picea pungens 'Globosa' (RHS Garden Wisley, UK, late April 2023). Image John Grimshaw.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Green Globe'

Globose, with age broad-pyramidal; leaves bright green; to 60 cm tall and 50 cm broad in ten years. Recorded from American cultivation before 1988 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Haley's Blue'

Low, spreading, flat-topped, rather open; leaves sickle-shaped, fairly long, bright blue in their first year, darker later. A witches’ broom found in South Park, Colorado by Jerry Morris (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Herman Naue'

Irregularly globose, later flat-topped; leaves glaucous-grey, most branches producing small, reddish terminal cones in spring; to 60 cm tall and 80 cm broad in ten years. Recorded from European cultivation before 2004 (Auders & Spicer 2012). Cf. ‘Early Cones’, which Auders & Spicer considered more refined.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Horstmann'

Narrowly columnar, later more conical; leaves blue; 50–100 cm tall after ten years. Raised at the Horstmann Nurseries, Germany; introduced in 1983 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Hunnewelliana'

Broad-pyramidal, later flat-topped, branchlets rather thin and flexible; new growth distinctly glaucous, pale glaucous-green later; to 1 m tall and broad in ten years. A seedling found on the Framingham Nursery, Massachusetts, before 1923 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Jean Iseli'

Globose, often flat-topped or with a central depression like a birds’ nest, very dense; leaves bluish-green; not as glossy as many similar cultivars; to 15 cm tall and twice as broad in ten years. Raised by Ed Wood of Oregon before 1992 and named for the famous American nurseryman Jean Iseli (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Karina'

Globose, very dense; young growth in spring golden-yellow, maturing green but with a yellow sheen; to 30 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised before 2006 by Jerry Morris in the United States (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Lucretia'

Cushion-shaped; leaves a good silver-blue; to 60 cm tall and 80 cm broad in ten years. In North American commerce before 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'Lucretia' at Plant Delights Nursery, North Carolina, USA. The Hedera in the top right of the frame gives a sense of scale. 3 November 2025. Image Tom Christian.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Lundeby's Dwarf'

Cushion-shaped; leaves bright silvery-blue; to 50 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised by the Lundeby Nursery, North Dakota (Auders & Spicer 2012). Cf. ‘Lucretia’.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Manabe Creamy Globe'

Notable for being one of very few Picea pungens cultivars selected in Japan, this forms a dwarf cushion-shaped plant with large, prominent patches of cream-yellow variegation across a matrix of blue foliage, but unfortunately it is prone to sun scorch. Raised at the Manabe Nursery in Japan from a mutation on a plant labelled ‘Glauca Globosa’ (= ‘Globosa’) (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Mecki'

Irregularly globose; leaves thin, bright blue; to 70 cm tall and 50 cm broad in ten years. A witches’ broom selected in Germany before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Mrs Cesarini'

Initially globose, soon wide-spreading, very dense; leaves short, greenish, terminal buds prominent in winter. A witches’ broom selected by Joe Cesarini before 1981 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'Mrs Cesarini' seen in a collection in Rochester, New York. 2 August 2009. Image Derek Spicer.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Mseno'

A compact globose dwarf; leaves powder-blue; to 30 cm tall and 40 cm broad in ten years. A witches’ broom selected in Czechia before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Pali'

Globose; leaves sickle-shaped, bright blue; to 50 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised in Hungary, probably in the late 20th century (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Porcupine'

Irregularly globose, very dense; leaves grey-blue; to 20 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised by Richard Bush, Oregon before 2001 (Auders & Spicer 2012). The plant illustrated in the RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers (Auders & Spicer 2012, p. 751) does not look typical of P. pungens.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Prostrate Blue Mat'

Spreading, without a leader; leaves short, brilliant blue; to 70 cm across in ten years. Found as a seedling on the Iseli Nursery, Oregon, about 1967 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Rudy Kluis'

Irregular, broad-pyramidal; leaves a good silver-blue but duller after their first year; to 60 cm tall and broad in ten years. Recorded growing in Europe before 2002 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Scottie'

Broad-conical; leaves rather short, a good silver-blue; to 80 cm tall and 40 cm broad in ten years. Raised from seed at the Schaeffer Nursery, Oregon in 1982 and named for Scott Schaeffer (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Tabuliformis'

A name probably only of historic interest, applied to a plant raised at the Ordnung Nursery in modern day Czechia around 1909, but lacking a useful description (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Tara Mae'

An unusual dwarf, of very narrow habit with weeping branches; leaves brilliant blue with a yellowish sheen when young, the sheen fading through the growing season. Growth rate unclear (the RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers says 30 cm tall and broad in ten years, but such dimensions are at odds with the narrowly upright, weeping habit). Raised from a witches’ broom found in Idaho by Jerry Morris (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Dwarf Cultivars
'Thuem'

Plants bearing the names ‘Glauca Nana’, ‘Globosa’, ‘Montgomery’ and ‘Thuem’ have been confused in the trade and gardens for some time (Auders & Spicer 2012). The RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers gives the following description of ‘Thuem’: ‘A compact, slow-growing, broadly pyramidal plant with short silver-blue needles. In ten years 1 × 0.75 m. Originated before 1972 by Mr Thuem, USA’ (Auders & Spicer 2012). According to Dirr ‘Thuem’ is most like ‘Montgomery’ but broader, bluer and faster (Dirr 2009). The alternative spelling ‘Thume’ is regularly encountered and literature seems divided as to which is correct.

Dwarf Cultivars
'Yvette'

Irregular, mounded, very dense; leaves very short and congested, glaucous-green; to 30 cm tall and 45 cm broad in ten years. Raised by Jean Iseli in Oregon in 1977 and named for his youngest daughter (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Edit'

A conical plant of dense habit and typical vigour (to c. 2.5 m tall in ten years and about half as wide at the base) which, unusually for Picea pungens selections, retains a full, well-furnished crown. The foliage is a particularly intense, pale ice-blue. Raised at the Barabits Nursery, Hungary in 1985 and named ‘Edit’, which is the typical spelling of the name there; in anglophone markets this cultivar name is almost always ‘corrected’ to ‘Edith’ (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'Edit' (here grown as 'Edith') at Bedgebury National Pinetum, UK, in summer 2024. A 2006 accession now 8 m tall. Image Owen Johnson.

'Endtz'

A tree of typical habit but with branchlets more or less assurgent in the outer-most crown. The young growth is glaucous, though not remarkably so, and more silvery through the winter. Quite vigorous, to 3 m tall in ten years. Introduced by the L.J. Endtz nursery in Boskoop, the Netherlands, in 1925 (Bean 1976; Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Erich Frahm'

A particularly regular plant with good blue foliage. To 2 m tall and 1 m across at the base in ten years. Raised at the J. Timm & Co Nursery in Germany in 1950 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Fat Albert'

A dense and compact, broad-conical to pyramidal plant, wider in proportion to its height than many similar cultivars, to 2.5 m tall and 1.5 m across at the base in ten years. Foliage glaucous. Raised in 1965 at the Iseli Nursery in Oregon and in commerce before 1978, it has become a popular plant in temperate horticulture and is still widely available (Royal Horticultural Society 2024; Auders & Spicer 2012; Jacobson 1996).

'Florence'

A tree of typical habit and vigour but with the foliage a particularly good blue. Recorded from American cultivation before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Frühlingsgold'

A rather slow-growing plant with cream-coloured young growth in spring. To 1.5 m tall in ten years. Recorded in the United States before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Fürst Bismarck'

An elegant tree with extremely pale silver-blue leaves, recorded in Germany in 1887 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Gebelle's Golden Spring'

A small tree of moderate growth (to 2 m tall and 1 m across at the base in ten years) with butter-yellow new spring growth; this rapidly fades to typical blue-green. Listed by the Oregon firm Bucholz & Bucholz in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Glauca Group

Blue-leaved trees are common in wild populations of Picea pungens (after all, several common names for the species are a variation on ‘blue spruce’!). The earliest introductions to cultivation yielded many such plants and from the very beginning the best blue seedlings were singled out for their ornamental value. Indeed, from at least as long ago as 1877 horticulturists have been applying some permutation of the epithet glauca to such plants (Bean 1976). This horticultural adjective received botanical validation in 1883 when Regel described Picea pungens var. glauca, and from then on forms with good blue foliage have usually been sold, catalogued and labelled using some take on this name. Disagreement as to how this natural variation should best be recognised followed almost immediately, with Beissner ‘demoting’ Regel’s variety to a forma (Picea pungens f. glauca (Regel) Beissn.) in 1887, and latterly it has been used as a cultivar (‘Glauca’) but it has never been applied to a single clone (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew 2025; Auders & Spicer 2012; Dirr 2009; Bean 1976; Elwes & Henry 1906–1913). All these attempts to pin down good glaucous forms with legitimate names hint at how quickly such plants became the most desired forms in horticulture – for many decades now blue-leaved plants have overwhelmingly dominated the global cultivated population – but this blurring of horticultural desirability and biological reality has left a great deal of nomenclatural confusion in its wake.

In horticulture the accepted way of dealing with such entities is to establish a Cultivar Group, whose definition encompasses a certain set of characters. We have not been able to locate the first publication of Picea pungens Glauca Group to determine its scope, but it seems probable that it was intended to cover all the glaucous-leaved entities covered by f. glauca, varying from somewhat greyish (rather than green) to the brightest ‘blue’. The first instance of the use of Glauca Group that we have located is in the sixth edition of the Hillier Manual (1991) which defines the Group as ‘A medium-sized to large tree with glaucous leaves. A variable form occuring both in the wild and in cultivation.’ (The wording remains identical in the 2019 edition.) The Glauca Group by definition therefore does not include dwarf cultivars.

We accept the concept of Picea pungens Glauca Group with reservations. It provides a name for glaucous seedlings, and for ‘lost label’ cultivars, but is otherwise not very helpful. Due to their sheer number, a new classification system for Picea pungens cultivars, organising them into logical and easily discernible groups based on a suite of characters, would be most welcome. Such a classification should surely be developed in America where this species is probably more widely cultivated than anywhere else. Glaucous cultivars are listed individually here, though other authorities such as the RHS will probably continue to place them as elements within Glauca Group.

It is worth noting here that seed merchants still occasionally use glauca (variously as a taxon at botanical rank, a group, a cultivar, or simply ‘blue form’) to denote seed batches gathered from particularly glaucous parent trees, but the progeny will typically be highly variable. Only normal-sized and shapted trees with glaucous foliage from such seed lots should be accepted as belonging within the Glauca Group.

'Glauca Pendula'

A plant with good silvery-blue foliage and pendent to pendulous first order branches, curving to the horizontal or slightly upward near their ends. Introduced by the Koster & Co nursery of the Netherlands in 1895 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula' (labelled 'Kosteriana Glauca') at Arboretum Wespelaar, Belgium (65004). October 2005. Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Glauca Procumbens'

The two clones ‘Glauca Procumbens’ and ‘Glauca Prostrata’ have been confused in the past (Bean 1976) but they have distinct origins and unique characters. ‘Glauca Procumbens’ was selected in 1910 as a mutation found on a specimen of ‘Koster’ in a nursery in Boskoop, the Netherlands. It forms a widely spreading procumbent plant, in time with a few hummocks, but is quite stable and does not often produce proper leaders; it is quite vigorous, up to 2.5 m across in ten years. ‘Glauca Prostrata’ was raised from seed at the Ansorge Nurseries in Germany and described in 1906, it is described as mound forming, with a greater tendency to reversion, and is not so vigorous, typically to 1.5 m across in ten years (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Unfortunately, besides the confusion between these two clones, of which ‘Glauca Procumbens’ is superior, a host of superficial lookalikes have been sold under both names, but in fact have just been vegetatively propagated from the side branches of good blue trees (a practice inexplicably condoned by Krüssmann 1985). These forms revert easily and are not so regular, and often not as vigorous, as genuine ‘Glauca Procumbens’.

'Glauca Prostrata'

For ease of comparison ‘Glauca Prostrata’ is described above under ‘Glauca Procumbens’, but they are distinct clones.

'Gold Find'

Young spring growth bright yellow, turning golden-green later in the season. An upright plant of moderate vigour, to 2 m tall in ten years. In commerce in North America before 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Gold Mine'

A pyramidal plant of moderate growth (2 m tall in ten years) with blue foliage, with patches of gold scattered through it thanks by virtue of some young branchlets bearing golden-yellow leaves only. Listed by Bucholz & Bucholz in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Gotelli Prostrate'

A selection forming an entirely flat mat with blue leaves, only rarely throwing up an occasional leader which should be removed. It does not form hummocks like ‘Glauca Procumbens’, although they are otherwise very similar, and it is much more vigorous and less likely to form leaders than ‘Glauca Prostrata’. This is a vigorous plant, spreading up to 3 m in ten years and ultimately much more. It was selected before 1982 from the Gotelli collection in New Jersey (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Green Goose'

A semi-weeping selection with grey-green leaves. In its early years this is a rather squat, broadly pyramidal plant, to 1.5 m tall in ten years and nearly as wide at the base. Recorded from cultivation in the United States before 2004 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Green Spire'

A very narrow, fastigiate clone with green leaves. Rather vigorous, to 2.5 m tall and 0.75 m across in ten years. It is essentially a green-leaved answer to the blue-leaved ‘Iseli Fastigiate’. Recorded from the United States before 1985 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Hoopsii'

A strong-growing, upright tree eventually forming a dense cone of horizontal branches with very densely set leaves of a brilliant ice-blue colour, almost blue-white when the young growth breaks bud in spring and for a while thereafter. Vigour moderate, to 2 m tall and 1.2 m across in ten years (Auders & Spicer 2012) but ultimately larger; an example in the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens (Hampshire, UK) reached 6.5 m in about 25 years (Tree Register 2025). For American dendrologists Dirr (2009) and Jacobson (1996) ‘Hoopsii’ is still one of the best Picea pungens selections for general planting.

This horticulturally significant plant arose as a seedling at the Hoops Nursery in Germany, probably in the early 1950s (Jacobson 1996 – Auders & Spicer (2012) erroneously place this nursery in Washington, United States). Several sources, e.g. Bean (1976), Jacobson (1996), credit the Grootendorst Nursery, the Netherlands, with commercialising it. Apparently it is difficult to propagate and shape as a young tree (Dirr 2009); nevertheless, it has become one of the most enduringly popular cultivars and is still widely offered.

Picea pungens 'Hoopsii' in Belgium, August 2010. Image Derek Spicer.

'Hoto'

Described in the RHS Encylopaedia of Conifers as a fast-growing, densely-branched, conical plant with glaucous foliage (Auders & Spicer 2012), a description that could be applied to so many Picea pungens selections. Origin unknown, but available in European commerce from at least 1972. Fairly slow-growing; an example planted at Bedgebury National Pinetum (Kent, UK) in 2005 was 5 m tall in 2024 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Iseli Fastigiate'

A justifiably popular selection with a striking, narrow habit and equally striking, metallic-blue leaves. It arose as a seedling in the famous Iseli Nursery in Oregon in about 1963 and that firm put it into commerce about 1978 (Jacobson 1996). It is a vigorous grower, reaching 3 m tall (but only 0.75 m across) in ten years Auders & Spicer (2012); two examples planted about 1999 in the Valley Gardens of Windsor Great Park, UK, were 10 and 11 m tall in 2021 (The Tree Register 2025).

Picea pungens 'Iseli Fastigiate' in Belgium, August 2010. Image Derek Spicer.

'Iseli Foxtail'

An unusual selection, the overall aspect is of quite a compact, conical plant, but the crown is relatively open. The branches bend and twist in an irregular way, and the leaves vary in length along the shoots, being longer near the base and shorter near the apex. It is a particularly vigorous clone, to 4.5 m tall in ten years. It arose as a chance seedling selected on the Iseli Nursery, Oregon, about 1965 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'Iseli Foxtail' in the Netherlands. 7 June 2014. Image Derek Spicer.

Koster Group

One of the older Picea pungens selections, Koster’s Blue Spruce is a stalwart among garden conifers. With a reputation for being attractive, tough and reliable, it enjoys enduring popularity and remains widely available in the trade wherever this species may be successfully cultivated. This is the myth; the reality is quite different.

The RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers offers a deceptively simplified history of ‘Koster’, stating that it was raised in 1885 by Arie Koster of Boskoop, the Netherlands (Auders & Spicer 2012). These authors make no reference whatever to the assertions of earlier authorites that plants marketed as ‘Koster’ actually represent multiple clones. Den Ouden & Boom (1965) state that the plants distributed under this name by the Koster nursery in the late 19th century were grafted from a number of selected seedlings, all with the desirable attribute of glaucous foliage. In the early 20th century another nursery, C. B. van Nes & Son, made a re-selection of ten plants, uniform in habit and in their silvery-glaucous foliage, and by the mid-20th century almost all plants being commercially offered as ‘Koster’ were derived from these ten clones (Den Ouden & Boom 1965).

Still, marketing even ten clones under a single, clonal name is bound to result in significant variation over time, and as others have observed ‘Book and catalog [sic.] descriptions of ‘Koster’ vary; the only common denominator is the [glaucous] foliage’ (Jacobson 1996). Dirr states that ‘at its best’ this is a regular conical plant with good blue foliage, but laments the variability and notes that ‘plants I have observed never matched the quality of ‘Thompsen’ and ‘Hoopsii” (Dirr 2009). ‘Thomsen’ and ‘Hoopsii’ have been in commerce for some time (since about 1928 and 1958 respectively) and even these are now being superseded, in quality if not in consciousness, by the better modern blue selections.

In light of all of this, it seems more logical and more accurate not to treat ‘Koster’ as a unique clonal cultivar, but to refer to all plants so-labelled to a Cultivar Group, which we do here. All these plants are potentially large trees; the largest in the UK is a tree at Kew, of unknown planting date but 17 m tall × 35 cm dbh in 2022 (The Tree Register 2025).

Plants labelled Picea pungens 'Koster' are notoriously variable. In reality, multiple clones are sold under this name, the only commonality being the glaucous foliage. This dwarf example is at the Arnold Arboretum, Boston, Massachusetts (1409–67*A). 28 October 2025. Image Tom Christian.

'Linda's Mad Dancer'

A plant with a distinct leading shoot and the first order branches semi-weeping. The leaves are bright green, a most unusual colour among Picea pungens cultivars. Low to moderate vigour, 1.5–2 m tall after ten years. Arose as a seedling, selected in the United States before 2000 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Maigold'

A plant with the young spring growth a striking golden-yellow, maturing through the growing season to a rather typical grey-green. Habit otherwise typical and vigour moderate, to 2 m tall in ten years. Raised from seed around 1960 by Karl Pristaff, Germany, and commercialised by the Hachmann Nursery, also of Germany (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Mesa Verde'

A low, spreading, prostrate mat, notable for its green rather than glaucous foliage, raised in 1977 at the Iseli Nursery, Oregon. To 2 m across in ten years (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Mission Blue'

A broadly pyramidal plant to about 12 m tall, with leaves of an excellent blue. Compact and symmetrical. Raised at Mission Gardens, Illinois (Dirr 2009).

'Moerheim'

An old cultivar, raised by B. Ruys at the Moerheim Nursery in the Netherlands and put into commerce in 1912 (Bean 1976). Still popular, ‘Moerheim’ forms a conical tree with rather long, good pale blue-white leaves which are evenly coloured year-round (Auders & Spicer 2012). Many literature sources refer to this plant as ‘slender’ (e.g. Auders & Spicer 2012) but others have observed that some plants grown under this name are rather broad (e.g. Jacobson 1996). Among the largest known in the UK is a tree at Hodnet Hall, Shropshire, planted in 1962 and 11.4 m tall × 34 cm dbh in 2022 (The Tree Register 2025).

Bright silvery new growth on Picea pungens 'Moerheim' at Villa Taranto, Lake Maggiore, Italy. 20 June 2021. Image Tom Christian.

Picea pungens 'Moerheim' at Christchurch Botanic Garden, New Zealand. 15 November 2023. Image Tom Christian.

Picea pungens 'Moerheim' at Christchurch Botanic Garden, New Zealand. 15 November 2023. Image Tom Christian.

'Montgomery'

A particularly compact broad-conical tree with glaucous foliage and of moderate growth (to 2 m tall in ten years, but sometimes slower). Raised before 1934 at the Eastern Nursery, Massachusetts, originally named ‘R.H. Montgomery’ but the shorter ‘Montgomery’ has become the given name (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Niemitz'

A slow-growing plant of fairly typical habit, forming a miniature tree with softly glaucous foliage and the new spring growth cream-coloured at first, maturing to blue over the summer. Recorded from cultivation in Germany before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'Nimetz' in a private garden in the Netherlands. In spring the young growth is cream coloured, gradually fading to glaucous over the summer. The plant depicted here retains a good flush of cream throughout on 7 June 2014. Image Derek Spicer.

'Oldenburg'

A narrowly conical plant with good blue foliage, to about 1.5 m tall after ten years. A seedling selected about 1955 at the zu Jeddeloh Nursery, Germany (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Otto von Bismark'

An upright plant of very dense growth, bearing good silvery-blue leaves. Moderately vigorous, to 2 m tall in ten years. Listed by the Oregon firm Bucholz & Bucholz in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Rick's White Tip'

A compact, pyramidal plant of slow and dense growth, the young shoots in spring creamy-white, maturing to green over the course of the growing season, retaining just a shimmering of white by summer and fully green by winter. Moderate vigour, to 2 m tall in ten years. Listed by Bucholz & Bucholz in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Rovelli's Monument'

A particularly good, neat, narrowly columnar tree. The UK nurseryman Humphrey Welch found this on the former nursery of the Rovelli Brothers, Italy, in 1981. There was some speculation that the parent tree’s habit was merely the result of pruning, but scions in UK cultivation retained the shape without intervention (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Royal Knight'

Selected by J.C. Bakker & Sons, Canada, for its compact pyramidal shape and dark blue foliage, and put into commerce by John Vermeulen & Son of New Jersey, United States in 1983 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Schovenhorst'

A broad-conical small tree of dense growth with good blue leaves, selected on the Schovenhorst Estate in the Netherlands in 1951. Relatively vigorous, to 2.5 m tall in ten years. The cultivar name has also been used under Picea orientalis but cultivar names may not be repeated in a genus and one of these clones should be renamed (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Shigemori Variegated'

An upright plant of fairly typical habit and with glaucous foliage, but with large striking patches of creamy-yellow variegation throughout the crown. Relatively slow, to 1.5 m tall in ten years. Raised in the Shigemori Gyoutoku nursery, Japan, before 2005 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'Shigemori Variegated'. Image Derek Spicer.

'Shiloh Weeping'

A selection that must be staked to form a leader, otherwise it sprawls around as a perfectly prostrate mat. When staked it will, with time, develop a leading shoot bearing strongly pendulous branches that hang limply almost parallel with the main stem. Foliage glaucous. Moderately vigorous, to 2 m tall in ten years (if staked) but possibly more vigorous when allowed to grow horizontally. Listed by the Iseli Nursery of Oregon in 2009, but origin uncertain (Auders & Spicer 2012 – nb the illustration in that work (p. 753) shows a different cultivar).

'Silver Falls'

A weeping plant of similar character to ‘Shiloh Weeping’ (above) but the foliage a paler, more silvery blue. Recorded from American cultivation before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Smith'

A plant of fairly typical habit and vigour with glaucous foliage, but the new growth in the spring cream-coloured. To 1.5 m tall in ten years. Raised by Greg Williams in Vermont before 1990 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Spring Blast'

A form of fairly typical habit but with the young spring growth a brilliant cream-white. This fades relatively slowly (the colour lasts about six weeks) to a good pale blue which the plant retains untl the following spring. Rather vigorous, to 2.5 m tall in ten years. Raised by Bucholz & Bucholz of Oregon in 1990 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Spring Yellow'

A slow-growing pyramidal plant with new growth in the spring a soft yellow, turning to typical glaucous green within a few weeks. To 1.2 m tall in ten years. Recorded from American cultivation before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Stanley Gold'

A relatively slow-growing plant, 1.5–2 m tall in ten years. The new spring growth is green, turning grey-green through the growing season and then turning a rich golden colour in the winter, brighter than ‘Aurea’. Selected as a seedling in 1978 at the Stanley & Sons Nursery of Oregon (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Sunshine'

A pyramidal plant of modest vigour, the new spring growth bright lemon-yellow, gradually turning glaucous but retaining a golden cast across the canopy. To about 1.5 m tall in ten years. Recorded from American cultivation before 1990 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'Sunshine' in a private garden in New York. August 2009. Image Derek Spicer.

'Super Blue'

A problematic name in that it has been used as a cultivar name (i.e. implying a single clone) but ‘super blue’ has also been used informally to denote particularly good glaucous plants raised from seed, sometimes written ‘super blue seedling’ or similar.

A plant labelled Picea pungens 'Super Blue' in a private garden in the Netherlands. 2 October 2022. Image Tom Christian.

'The Blues'

‘The Blues’ can be considered an improvement on ‘Glauca Pendula’, being more strictly pendulous and bearing leaves of a better blue than that cultivar. It is slightly less vigorous, to 2 m tall in ten years rather than 2.5 m (Auders & Spicer 2012). It was selected as a mutation on a plant of ‘Glauca Pendula’ by the Stanley & Sons Nursery in Oregon in 1982 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

Picea pungens 'The Blues' benefits from staking in its formative years. Plant Delights Nursery, North Carolina, USA. 3 November 2025. Image Tom Christian.

'Thomsen'

Very similar to ‘Hoopsii’ in habit and growth rate, but with the leaves (arguably) an even better colour, more strikingly silvery-blue, and much thicker. Selected by Martin Thomsen from a park or private garden (accounts differ) in Lancaster, Philadelphia around 1928 (Jacobson 1996; Auders & Spicer 2012). For Dirr this selection remains ‘one of the best’ (Dirr 2009).

Powder blue foliage on Picea pungens 'Thomsen' in a private collection in western Hungary, September 2019. Image Tom Christian.

Picea pungens 'Thomsen' in a private collection in western Hungary, September 2019. Image Tom Christian.

'Tiffin'

Selected by Kenneth V. Tiffin of Midhurst, Ontario and introduced by him in 1976, ‘Tiffin’ forms a very uniform compact pyramid with particularly rich blue leaves. Sold by several Ontario nurseries through the 1980s and 90s, including Sheridan and L.L. Solly & Sons, but never becoming common (Jacobson 1996; Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Tomek'

A pyramidal plant with powder-blue foliage. Rather vigorous, up to 3 m tall in ten years. Raised from seed in 1991 by Andrzej Marczewski in Poland (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Walnut Glen'

A rather slow-growing tree with young spring growth golden-yellow, gradually fading as the growing season progresses to leave glaucous-grey leaves appearing dusted with gold by summer. To 1.5 m tall in ten years. Discovered by Greg Williams of Vermont about 1965 growing in a private garden in Pennsylvania (Auders & Spicer 2012). Susceptible to sun scorch until well established (Jacobson 1996).

'Waterfall'

A low, spreading plant ultimately perhaps a metre or so tall, spreading to 1.5 m after ten years. The branches droop near their ends, sometimes exaggeratedly, giving an overall impression of a weeping plant. Young growth brilliant powder blue, darkening rapidly over the growing season. Recorded from American cultivation before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Wendy'

Like so many others, a compact pyramidal plant with good blue foliage. To 2 m tall and 1 m across at the base in ten years. Sold by Edwin Smits in the Netherlands from 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).

'Wisconsin Cream'

A plant of typical habit, although particularly squat at first, with the new spring growth cream-coloured, later turning glaucous-grey. To 1.3 m tall in ten years. Listed by the Oregon firm Stanley & Sons in 2009, but its origin is unknown (Auders & Spicer 2012).