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Picea glauca pendula or Picea engelmannii bush's lace

11 years ago

I have an opportunity to buy an eight to nine foot picea glauca pendula, and I need a tight blue weeper so am trying to decide whether to go for it or hold out for bush's lace. Is there much of a difference in the look between these two, should I just go for the glauca pendula now?

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Comments (9)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
i would buy a 3 footer of each ... and still save a hundred bucks..

and kill something else.. just to make room for the second ...

are you really asking us hardcore.. if Picea glauca .. looks just like Picea engelmannii .. thats like asking me.. if my kids look alike.. or do they look different ... lol ...

unless it come with a two year warranty.. do you KNOW the odds of success .... doing it yourself .. with an 8 footer???????

BTW.. take off the pot height.. or you might find its only 6 foot on planting ....

ken
ricksample
11 years ago
I'd like to know the price of one of those... it has to be very expensive. I'd plant small and save the extra cash. Whenever I purchase plants... I make sure they are no larger than 1 gallon. Mainly because they take a lot less time to plant and it doesn't require the amount of maintenance/water as an 8' tree.

They both are one of my favorites, but if I had to choose between the two I pick Bush's Lace because of the blue color. See the link below, Brent posted this picture in my thread earlier this year of one

Here is a link that might be useful: Picture
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I have a couple of problems with this plant. First of all the name is illegitimate and second, it is indistinguishable from 'The Blues'. When it was first shown at the Farwest Show in 2005, Larry Stanley was beside himself. There was another nursery that tried the same thing at the same time but they have dropped off of the radar. You cannot base any conclusions on one or two specimens. Look at nursery rows of each and then make a preliminary determination. Eshragi applied for a trademark of the name and did not do any followup. That is a bit suspicious. Look at the four pictures on this site and see how different these plants look from each other at the nursery. The top left picture looks like Larry's original plant. Bob Here is a link that might be useful: trademarks
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picea engelmannii 'bush's lace'
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Comments (12)
monkey boys link .. use it ... search for maigold.. contact them.. and find out who they wholesale to in your area .. contact the local guy.. and ask them if they can order it for you ... your problem with stanley.. and many of the online sources .. is that they are wholesale.. and wont sell directly to you .. and that is why the prices seems low ... if you gotta have it... you are probably going to have to pay for it.. and it wont be cheap ... i knew someone else would have the link ... ken
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Picea engelmannii Bushe's Lace'
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"I am still on the fence about whether it might be a P. pungens x P. engelmannii hybrid... Any thoughts?" I'd be very dubious. Hybrids between P. engelmannii and P. pungens are often claimed, but in reality are as rare as hen's teeth. There are strong reproductive barriers between them (e.g. Daubenmire 1972, Canad. J. Bot. 50: 733-742; Taylor & Williams 1975, Canad. J. Bot. 53: 2547-2555), and natural hybrids may not even exist at all (e.g. Rehfeldt 2004, Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-134 "the phenotypic resemblance between these species is so close that hybrids have been reported, careful studies have failed to uncover incidences of natural hybridization"). They have also proved difficult (though not impossible) to cross artificially ("Controlled crosses between blue spruce and Engelmann spruce obtained up to 2 percent sound seed set when Engelmann spruce was the female parent" - USFS). In practice, "hybrids" are very likely to prove not to be so. Resin
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tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
11 years ago
'Bush's Lace' is a bit bluer and a bit wider (to 10 feet, eventually) but both are very nice.

tj
keefesn1
Original Author
11 years ago
It's about $180. That worth it? I haven't been able to find bush's lace yet.
monkeytreeboy15
11 years ago
If you have to ask us if it's worth it, you're probably not too thrilled with the price..

I agree with Ken and Rick; it's better to buy multiple smaller plants.
If you purchase 1-year grafts or 7-10 year old plants, the mortality rate is much higher.

They're best when planted in #1-#3 size. I too prefer 'Bush's Lace':
A specimen at Albers Vista Gardens
{{gwi:613385}}

-Sam

This post was edited by monkeytreeboy15 on Tue, Apr 23, 13 at 16:47
ricksample
11 years ago
Sam - That photo is priceless! I have to see a Bush's Lace that looks that nice... and to boot it's being highlighted with a red background! Thanks for the pic!
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
if i were to choose one... it would be picea glauca pendula ...

nothing more than personal choice ...

and i have no clue.. whether zone matters for your location on either ...

ken
outback63 Dennison
11 years ago
Basically two different looks.

Both superb selections

Buy both of them only in 1-3 gal. potted offerings.

Dave
texjagman
11 years ago
I don't know where your 7A is located but if it is in a more southern region with long hot summers, you'll want to go with P g Pendula for sure. It can take a lot more heat than Picea engelmanii. You're going to lose the blue coloring of the engelmanni, but it will survive a lot better.

Mark

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