"I wouldn't think the store would sell something that isn't for this zone, but I could be wrong."

I am afraid that I know nothing about Black Hills Spruce, (Picea glauca densata) but, in my experience, I would never expect a big box home improvement store to care whether or not the plants/trees they sell are meant for the zone where they are selling them!

I am sure someone here will be able to give you advice about the heat tolerance of this tree, but you might want to check with a "real" nursery in your area to find out what the locals think about the tree's likelhood of surviving - and hopefully thriving - in your area.

Holly

Should do well, even in difficult clay-soils.

Dax

Black Hills Spruce has made it on to CSU's recommended tree list for Colorado and they are selling seedlings. Arbor Day lists it as zone 2-6. Their map show southeastern Colorado and the Oklahoma panhandle as zone 6. Black Hills is not as drought tolerant as Colorado Blue Spruce.
Off topic, a bit, I was at HD this week and they were selling body bag roses. One of their selections was Oklahoma. I checked and it's a zone 7 rose, being sold in a zone 5 climate. I asked the guy at the customer service desk about it and he was surprised. He said they are careful about selling zone appropriate plants.
It sounds like there's zone pushing going on at HD.
If you like the tree it might be worth a shot.
Barb

hmmm ...

arent we enabling you enough to become a collector????

do you really think a hardcore collector collects at the bigboxstore???? ... NOT!!!!

yes.. you found a name that is unique to you ...

and what you found.. IMHO ... is a forest tree ...

check out the link to see the MINIMAL potential of this tree ... find its annual growth rate in the dB at ACS ...

short of 5 acres... i cant remember how much you have ... are you the 20 acre???

anyway.. IMHO.. this is not a suburban tree ... it is plain old green tree ... and it MAY NOT be worthwhile for many peeps ...

that said.. if it makes you happy.. knock yourself out..

ken

ps: on the other hand.. if you have the 5+ acres.. and you need to fill space... there is nothing wrong with the plant ... it would make a nice xmas tree someday ... lol ..

Believe me, I am not a hard core collector at all. I'm just tying to get the large specimen trees in my landscape. From those with experience with the tree, will it perform as well as 'conica' in full sun? It would be guaranteed, but I don't want to waste time with something that has no chance.

Believe me, I am not a hard core collector at all. ====>>>

i know!!! .. i am enabling you ... lol ...

ken

ps: sorry.. dont know about the zone issue ...

It'll take heat better than dwarf Alberta Spruce.

Resin

Pine: how well does it compared to Alberta spruce in alkaline clay soils. Very locally we have these soils over here (well pH 6 to 6,5) and Alberta spruce has no problems in them...Just wondered.

Just for the record: pH 6 to 6.5 is called mildly acidic.
Alkaline starts from 7.001 and upwards. T.

I know....so I just corrected myself a little. I am quite sure it gets to pH 7 locally BTW. I just can't measure everywhere. Anyway: found out Picea glauca will tolerate pH 8 and variety densate 4.0 to 7.5... Glauca can tolerate clay and to top it of: they are happy in Sunshine zone 1 to 6, I live in 4.

Just a final question: what I have very very rarely seen is any spruce actually reproducing in clay. They can grow there, but I have seen no reproduction. Over here they do so in moss and sandyloams. Does Glauca reproduce on clay??

And my question remains: how well does this variety do comapared to Alberta spruce??? Thanks!

My Black Hills Spruce were seriously damaged by snow this winter....unfortunately the broken limbs face North so the trees will not recover their form. Dont know whether the weakness comes from the genus or the fact that they were purchased from H*me D*pot. In my experience from buying other plants such as rhododenda H*me Dep*t sells substandard material. I suspect that growers get rid of what they cant sell to good nurseries to H*me D*pot.

I don't think you are totally wrong. But to say all plants are sub par is too broad. You just have to know what you are looking for. The hoopsi's at my local HD I would not buy.

Back on topic, I went ahead with the purchase. The tree is only 2-3'. How fast can I expect this to grow? Also I have read that they like water, is this true? Any more experience on it's heat tolerance is also appreciated.

I had one in my back yard in Dallas for two years before digging it up and throwing it out. I needed the space for something "blue-er". lol It did well for the two years I gave it before deciding something else deserved the premium space it occupied. I drug mine in from NW Arkansas where I buy a lot of plant material. It was happy till I forced it out! Good luck. OKC should be fine.

My Black Hills Spruce is doing great, did suffer the first spring but its thriving since and put on good growth the last couple years. It does grow a lot slower than blue spruce or the common pines. Got it at Home Depot, which used to over supply them, but not doesn't sell them at all.

BTW, Home Depot here is supplied by Tagawa Gardens and if you watch closely, you can actually find some good stuff from time to time. They might be the rejects, but the prices are very good.

Don't expect much growth until after 4-5 years after you've planted a 2-3' tree. Then, probably 9-12" per year with a Picea glauca var. densata, speeeding up a bit more after that and reaching 18" per year.

Dax

bunkers: "BTW, Home Depot here is supplied by Tagawa Gardens..." I had no idea that this was so...I've been to Tagawa Gardens, which has some nice stock for sale, but have never seen any interesting conifers at my local Home Depot. Guess I need to go there more often and look more closely!

Holly