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Silver blue Douglas Fir - named varieties?

Smivies (Ontario - 5b)

12 years ago

I have access to a ~45 year old Douglas Fir that was planted (presumably from seed) by a long gone tree collecting neighbour. It is a fairly slow growing Douglas Fir (~40' tall) with short (~3/4") blue/silver needles. Growth habit is fairly narrow with upward growing branches. Secondary branches DO NOT droop. The overall colour is consistent with a decent blue spruce.

I've known about it for 25 years but have yet to get a photo....will do on my next visit.

I have seen a lot of P. menziesii var. glauca and all I have seen (regardless of age) have a very consistent growth habit and green colour that make identification easy from a distance whether I'm in Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, or Banff. This one however is very different....I needed to see the cones to confirm.

Does anyone have knowledge (& photos) of named varieties or regional populations of Douglas Fir with very blue needles and a narrow growth habit? Might it be worth grafting (or rooting?) and is it worth doing it with an easily accessible branch (ie. absolutely no apical dominance)?

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Comments (7)

gardener365
12 years ago
Post a photo.

They'd be grafted and tip-shoots would be necessary.

Dax
Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
Original Author
12 years ago
Photos will be several weeks away (involves a hometown visit).
Tip-shoots may be a problem :-(

Can anyone provide cultivar names or photos of the bluest Douglas Firs they are aware of? I want to get an idea of how blue 'var. glauca' can actually get.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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there is a discussion at the link of pseudotsuga ...

your long lived z5 one is very interesting ... hop to it on those pix

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Ken....'Brooks' is a similar colour.

On reading the rest of the thread, I can only assume you're growing the wrong P. menziesii. You need to get your hands on var. glauca. It's easily zone 3 (from the right seed source) with old trees in both Edmonton and Banff, Alberta.
In Ontario, it is fairly widely planted and grows at a rate just a little slower than Picea abies (but faster than P. glauca). Oldest specimen I know of is a ~120 year old at the Dominion arboretum in Ottawa (zone 5a).
sluice
12 years ago
Here is another bluish doug fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Bila Lhota' (a dwarf)
{{gwi:632443}}

Not sure of the origins on this plant.

There are cold hardy doug firs in the mountains here, this one is in harsh conditions at zone 4a.
{{gwi:632445}}
sluice
12 years ago
Here's a nice blue one, although I don't know if it's a cultivar.
Growing at the Betty Ford Alpine Garden in Vail.
{{gwi:632446}}

And another bluish one, growing in the mountains outside of Boulder.
{{gwi:632447}}
wisconsitom
12 years ago
That one near Boulder has a good look to it. I'm as surprised about the tolerance exhibited by this species towards dry conditions as I am about some strain's cold tolerance. Those shots from Colorady look like very dry country for the most part.

+oM

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