American Elm
Ulmus americana Large tree Zones 2–9 60–80 ft
Shares stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
A native we do not grow
Blue Spruce
Picea pungens. Large tree, 30 to 70 feet where planted, zones 2 to 8; full sun or part shade; dry, average or wet ground.
We do not grow blue spruce, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.
At a glance
| Other names | Colorado blue spruce, Colorado spruce, Rocky Mountain spruce, water spruce, blue Colorado spruce |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 30 to 70 where planted; up to 181 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 20 |
| Zones | 2 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Pollen | April to June |
| Fruit | Cones, August to September |
| First crop | About 20 years (most seed from 50 to 150) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen, but in spruces the share of filled seed falls as self-pollination rises, so a lone tree tends to set less good seed. |
| Lifespan | Can live 600 years or more, and the oldest dated one was at least 456. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on blue spruce marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Stream banks, floodplain forests and rich moist slopes |
| Native in | 6 states |
Blue spruce is native in 6 states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America, the NRCS plant guide and the Fire Effects Information System. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania, where it is naturalized, not native.
What our tools say
How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil How far from a house, wires and a septic field What grows with it in the wild and in a yard When to plant it where you live When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month How to sow its seed, with dates for your place How many to plant for a crop of seed Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes How old one is, from its trunk How a big one scores against the champion trees
For the same ground, we grow
These trees we grow share the most of blue spruce's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.
Common Hackberry
Celtis occidentalis Large tree Zones 2–9 40–60 ft
Shares stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
Balsam Poplar
Populus balsamifera Large tree Zones 2–5 30–100 ft
Shares stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
Peachleaf Willow
Salix amygdaloides Medium tree Zones 2–8 35–60 ft
Shares stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
Western Soapberry
Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii Medium tree Zones 5–9 20–50 ft
Shares stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
Read from
Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, the Gymnosperm Database and the International Tree-Ring Data Bank.