You need to hear from someone who grows P. pungens in humid heat, but I can tell you that Fat Albert is a pretty fast grower and will get bigger faster than the other two. It's labeled a dwarf but I'd call it a semi-dwarf or intermediate. It has a strong central leader - I have three and have never needed to prune any of them, even slightly.

Sara M., Interesting. Monrovia, the nursery I'll likely buy from seems to imply that Fat Albert is the slowest grower of the three, but now your comments have me thinking. I'm trying to find a slow grower but also one I can keep slimmer and one that can handle 8 hrs of Atlanta sun.

i have no clue how they will do in the south ..

but my suggestion is to use google images .. using the full latin names.. to SEE .. mature versions of the plants .. to give you an idea of the future ..

hoopsi has huge tall potential ... fat albert.. to my eye.. is wide huge and squat .... over the years.. it wileat up a lot of lawn ... but not be as tall ... and BBE is just a nice smaller version of hoopsi ... compare for yourself ... i will give you the start below ...

ken

again.. use the FULL LATIN NAME .. just change the cultivar name ... now.. if they will only grow for you....

https://www.google.com/search?q=picea+pungens+baby+blue+eyes&biw=945&bih=745&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjqzabilJbNAhUQVFIKHRxSAbsQ_AUIBigB&dpr=0.9

I am sure some more local responders will chime in but I doubt you will be very happy with the long term performance of any blue spruce in your climate. They prefer to grow in areas with very distinct seasonal changes - mild, dry summers and cold, snowy winter and they are not the slightest bit tolerant of high summer humidity. Needle casts and cytospora cankers are common on stressed trees and the result is trees that grow poorly, with a lot of bare lower branches or with just some healthy growth at the branch tips. After a few years they all look like crap.

Even in my mild climate which doesn't share your summer heat or humidity and often gets pretty chilly in winter, Picea pungens struggle. It's hard to find a healthy mature specimen. I'd reconsider this choice.

You're right that there aren't many, but I've seen a handful of older ones in Cobb county that look great. Walter Reeves seems to think the key is drainage. See his great web site here: http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/colorado-blue-spruce/

Check out 'Landscaping with Conifers and Ginkgo for the Southeast' by John Ruter and Tom Cox. They don't recommend P. pungens as the best spruce for the SE but suggest a few. Both of these guys are active in the ACS and would be good regional go-to folks for you if you joined. Oh and yes, 'Fat Albert' is somewhat squat in that it has a wider base than other cultivars but it's far from looking like an equilateral triangle. I put three in the ground seven years ago in #15's and they are about 8-9' tall now. We're zone 9b but no summer humidity so I think that's why we can get away with them here.

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.

would abies lasiocarpa blue versions do any better for him??

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=abies+lasiocarpa&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4z5ez35bNAhXFZCYKHfGLDR0Q_AUICCgB&biw=945&bih=745&dpr=0.9#tbm=isch&q=abies+lasiocarpa+blue

A. lasiocarpa can have a brilliant blue color; I have a 'Glacier' that is stunning. But it should be grafted onto abies firma in order to give it a chance to survive here.

A good alternative: Cupressus arizonica var. glabra 'Blue Ice' is more of a silvery-blue in color, but the plant does extremely well in the southeast.

There are some other options, especially if something shrubby like a juniper is okay for a spot.

I wouldn't consider Fat Albert either slim or slow-growing here. I think its growth speed is similar to Hoopsii here based on some nearby Hoopsii I watched growing on a tree farm and the FAs I have on my own property. Here it is fine in full sun, but we don't get as humid as GA and nights cool off even when days get really hot.

FA at about 12' after 5 years of growth in this bed which is acid sandy loam. Was probably 4'-5' when planted, so early growth was something like 1 1/2' annually, though it may have slowed down the last couple of years.

I would think about other potential options given your heat/humidity. What about Abies pinsapo 'Glauca', Cedrus atlantica 'Horstmann', or Cunninghamia lanceolata `Glauca' (Grows huge, but can tolerate heavy pruning).

Those are just a few examples, maybe more cultivars within those groups to select from.

Baby Blue Spruce vs Fat Albert: Pros And Cons is an informative article on this topic.