I got Baby Blue Eyes this spring - you will love it! Fair warning thought... it isn't a tiny "mini" it is a small. I will try to get a photo tomorrow....... As far as price coming down? I dunno - I would think about 3 years before it drops significantly. Here is my logic: Year 1 - the super-serious collectors go crazy over it and pay top $ Year 2 - the super-serious collectors post photos and the rest of the addicts decide they "need" that gorgeous plant and shell out very good $$ Year 3 - Nurseries finally figure out that a plant is popular and start making it more widely available. Non addicts buy it at local nurseries because it is a nice landscape plant. Year 4 - market is almost saturated, price begins to come down a bit This is just my best guess though, I am certainly not an expert by any means! And please feel free to disagree with my logic above, this was just a 4:00 AM rambling thought.... Alexa

There are also some nice large-ish trees a bit further south in Buckhead. Again, it can be done, but the odds are not good. Many of the trees further north in the southwest mountains of North Carolina, where summer temperatures almost never rise above 85 F (and are usually in the mid to upper 70s) and steep slopes ensure good drainage - even those look ratty. Having said all of that, I have three P. pungens in my own garden. One has been in the ground for four years old and is beginning to show signs of stress, one is three years old and looks great, and one is less than a year old (I only have the latter because it was one of the ACS Conifers of the Year this year). I have lost three other blue spruce, and became a skeptic about this species in our region a while ago. I'm hopeful but not very optimistic (surprise, surprise) about the long-term survival of ones still alive. There is certainly nothing wrong with giving it a shot - I'm a huge fan of experimentation. But experimenting can be expensive and lead to disappointment if expectations aren't tempered. I agree with Sara (in addition to what everyone else has said in this thread) that 'Landscaping with Conifers and Ginkgo for the Southeast' is a great book. in my opinion, if you're going to be serious about conifer gardening in the southeast, you should own a copy.

Difficult to tell for sure. Ive got about 12 baby blue and 2 baby blue eyes, all about that size at present. Of my trees (ymmv), the baby blue are definitely more blue while the baby blue eyes are more silvery (like yours). Ignoring the color, my BBE appear to have that form/branching style. .The best way to tell, however, may be how much you paid. The baby blue tend to be about half the price (or less) of the baby blue eyes, at least here in Ohio (where conifers seem to be noticeably cheaper compared to whenever I see prices mentioned from other parts of country on here). Id say if you paid (full price) $70 or more it is prob BBE. $60 or less, probably BB. I got most of my BB on special (they just picked the worst looking ones and marked em down to 10). I like em both and looking forward to seeing variations in the seed grown BB. The BB are also supposed to be narrower which I like.

conifers are trees .. they NEVER stop growing ... use the latin name to get an annual growth rate ... and just start multiplying after that ... most size estimates are at 10 years.. and if they are honest.. they are ten times the annual growth ... clay soil are not a problem... its all about how you plant in them.. and how you water for the first few years to get them going.. see link ... bad clay does not allow drainage.. so problems happen ... i had tip blight problems on some types of Js ... i am not sure if sky rocket was of the type ... https://www.google.com/search?q=sky+rocket+juniper&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=juniper+tip+blight ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub