A. pindrow is true green with no blue. Also unlikely to be hardy in your zone.

no scale in the first pic.. how long do you think the needles are ... was it really as blue as it looks on these cloudy day pix????

but i look at the tree .. and i see the yearly whorls.. and i think i am seeing 3 to 5 feet of annual growth ... which seems rather aggressive ...

how big is your yard ....??

i like that you are looking around for inspiration ... but you might be further ahead with us.. if you gave us some info on your garden.. to allow us to lead you along ... perhaps a couple pix .....

ken

Buds, needle shape and needle arrangement look like some type of spruce.

Looks a bit like Serbian spruce. Cones would help if they're available.

Thanks for the response. I've had a hard time getting the post up. Anyway, no it really didn't look blue at all. The pic seems to change hue a little when I attached it. In person and in the pic I took not any blue. Here is another picture which might give some idea to the annual growth. I'll go take some pictures of where I want to plant it...of course I'm imagining what it will look like years down the road.

The needles were approximately 1"-1.5" .

I think you guys are right that it is a spruce. Picea abies looks the closest. Thanks for the information. I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Virginia Tech has a good profile of it. After I began this tree hunt...I realized there are couple of these trees right down the road from me. They are absolutely huge. I didn't have much time to look and was basically in someone else's yard but some of the cones were on the ground. I'll probably go retrieve one. The area where I took my pictures was in an area that was landscaped so I figure they kept them picked up. I'm so glad to finally figure out what this specimen was. I'll post a pic of the ones down the street (I think they are the same). You guys have made my day!!!

Picea abies cones are anywhere from 6-10" long.

Looks like Picea abies to me, but I wouldn't be able to identify Picea asperata from Picea abies. I would probably go with Picea abies just because it is more commonly planted.

Ironically, there appears to be an Abies cone scale sitting in the foliage of the spruce in your photo.

That's what I'm going to plant (picea abies) seems like the closest thing to what I was wanting and to be honest I'm tired of searching...I've literally been looking at pictures for several days ready to pull my hair out. I'm ordering some of my trees tonight.

Norway spruce, very commonly grown.

Be aware that seedling Picea abies can vary widely in their growth habit. That is one reason they have so many cultivars.

tj

Ok some last questions...Smivies what did you mean about the cone scale in foliage?

tsugajunkie....I'm worried about the growth habit. Are there cultivars which grow a lot faster?

...background - Abies (Fir) cones disintegrate on maturity to release the seeds. Around Fir trees, one will often see the individual parts of the cone (scales) on the ground.

In the close-up of the foliage, there is one of those cone scales resting in the needles of your spruce.

Jeanne , not faster than species , google image search picea abies cultivars for quick examples

ron

Ok guys. I went down the road and took some pictures of the picea abies. Keep in mind I was dealing with a couple of things while doing this....sun, a dog pulling me on a leash, wind, plus I was in someone else's yard and in a hurry. The pics are crystal clear on my phone but don't attach in as good of quality. You all seem much more knowledgeable so please confirm these are the same (picea abies) that I was initially trying to identify. And, also how many years or how mature before they sort of lose the Christmas tree look and become more of a good sized tree. Thanks.

More pics.

Once established, young Norway spruce will grow 2-3'/yr. Extrapolate that to the size you consider to be the transition from Christmas tree to good sized tree. There are lots of selected varieties of Norway Spruce that have attractive features such as slower growth rates, new foliage red, new foliage yellow, colorful cones, or unique growth...narrow, pendulous, scarecrow, etc.

You might also consider Oriental Spruce (& it's varieties such as 'Aureospicata') which many consider to be one of the finest spruce. Needles are shorter than Norway Spruce and the overall tree while also big, is neater. Serbian Spruce is also lovely but is a comparatively narrow (& shorter) tree.

Thanks for the information. I consider that pretty fast growth. I'm just going to keep it simple if I start considering other attributes I know myself I'll just go back and forth forever it took me a long time just to feel I knew definitely what I was looking at (my own fault I'm not as knowledgeable as I'd like to be when it comes to conifers). I ordered a variety...the norway spruce (of course), white pines, oaks (pin, scarlet, red, willow), red and silver maple, southern magnolia, a quaking aspen, a yoshino cherry, river birch, white dogwoods, some orange azaleas, forsythias. Should keep me busy for awhile. I'm trying to decide on good hedge to put behind the brickwall down by the street sort of as a border to the yard.