Dave--(or anyone else?): I am really confused by these "weeping" Norway spruce cultivars. You show one picture of a 'Reflexa' that was not staked but is growing erect, then another picture of the same kind of tree that had to be staked. So, does this tree grow erect sometimes, and not all the time? As for the P. abies 'Frohburg' I find confusing statements. You say it needs to be staked or it will grow prostrate. Iseli nursery, and a couple of other places on-line, says it is an upright grower. Elsewhere I see a cultivar name P. abies 'Frohburg Prostrata,' with the 'Prostrata' sugggesting a flopping tree. So what am I supposed to think? Now in the Gotelli collection at the National Arboretum in DC they have two P. abies 'Inversa' trees. Both of these have picturesque irregular habits, but they are definately not prostrate. One, or I think both, have multiple erect trunks growing upright with severely pendulous side branches. I would like to grow one of these, but several sources say they will not grow upright. I have also seen another P. abies 'Inversa,' or so it is labelled, in the courtyard of the Winterthur museum in Delaware. This tree is also growing upright without any staking. And there is another similar tree growing prominently in the National Memorial Park in Fairfax, VA, but this tree has no label at all. I don't know if you have seen my postings in the trees forum under the topic "Large Willow" where I comment on the rampant confusion about golden weeping willows, but I may be even more confused and frustrated in trying to get information about the growth habit of these so-called weeping varieties of NS. I want to grow one or more, but what do I buy? And from whom? Are those I saw labelled 'Inversa' actually something that I can buy as 'Inversa," or is that an incorrect name? And this 'Frohburg' thing? Is there a 'Frohburg' that grows erect, and then another that is 'Frohburg Prostrata' that must always be staked--or which is more properly meant to grow along the ground. Of course, I assume that any of these that are potentially erect growers probably must be staked for a time, but from what I have seen with my own eyes (at the Nat Arb, and at Winterthur, and at the Nat Mem Park), at least one, and maybe more than one of these cultivars, can grow on their own after a period of time being staked, in at least some irregular erect fashion. So, is 'Inversa' one of these? Or 'Frohburg' or what? I have seen them, want one, but what one, or ones is/are it/they?? H E L P!! this is driving me nuts!! --Spruce

Welcome to the forum! And, yes, it will weep down from where it is grafted unless you train it up higher. It will eventually spread out more, but it will not get incredibly wide, either. However, it is NOT slow-growing. It can grow in excess of 12" in one year. To give you an idea of their mature habit, here is a picture of me a few years back standing between some very old specimens that appear to have been allowed to reach about 7 feet in height at Iseli Nursery. From there, they simply hang down gracefully. -Sam

Some of the most beautiful Weeping Norway Spruce have their leaders cut off at 4 ft - 6 ft. They form a wide cascading umbrella shape. It looks like a totally different tree than the traditional up and over. It also fill a different space in the landscape. So unless you were tied to filling the vertical space make lemonade out of what you think is a lemon. I personally prefer the Norway growing horizontally and the Picea Glauca Pendula for the vertical space. Good luck and how about a picture.

Anything can be overwintered with protection. Nurseries here do it one of two ways. A grower I know simply puts his pots in cold frames and opens the door on occasion when outside temps become warm. The other keeps everything in a fully closed building (no light) and has a heating/cooling system installed that keeps the plants at a constant 36 degrees F (or some such number just above freezing). Right now for your Spruce all you need to do is plant the whole thing, pot and plant up against the north side of your home and mulch it for the winter. Be sure to water at the time of planting as well. Plant it while it's dormant early next spring at the first sign of bulbs coming up and tease the roots while removing encircling ones. Back to the overwintering/darkness discussion that's taken place, it was recently suggested to me that I use the crawlspace under a deck as a coldframe for storing potted plants (by an arboretum owner). Good luck!!! Dax