When grown right, they are a unique and attractive plant. I agree they are overused and often look ratty, but I do see some nice specimens, which is why so many of us can't resist trying to make one our own. I'm not exactly sure what the secret hort sauce is to growing a fine specimen, but I know they are susceptible to winter burn.

On another thread I mentioned I recently purchased Abies koreana 'Starker's Dwarf'. I had seriously considered Sanders Blue Alberta Spruce for this site. It's very similar to 'Conica', but with a blue hue mixed in. If anyone is successfully growing it, I for one would appreciate how you did it.

I like 'Sanders Blue', had done very well on the north side of my garage where it was protected from winter / early spring sunscald. Received hot sun during the growing season and thrived for about seven years until one mean relentless winter had done it in. I'd like to try again and construct a bit of a wind break each autumn, my climate is pretty very darn severe compared to most all others.

I was thinking of getting a dwarf Alberta Spruce as well, but I am in zone 6. Are you saying it doesn't do well over the winter because you are in colder zones than zone 6, or do they do poorly here too?

My Picea glauca 'Conica' which does not look too bad :-) It gave me the idea to look for a variant as a companion plant for my Colorado Blue Spruce, see parallel thread. I was looking for a variant that is bun-shaped and yellow, but I could not find it LOL Anyway, the search became the OP of this thread :-)

Found an interesting cultivar on the ACS site

Picea glauca var. albertiana 'Dendrofarma Gold'

In spite of the word 'gold' in the name and description, the picture below shows (seasonal) white. Very pretty, though, and like always, where can I get one?

I have many throughout my gardens and they all are doing well. No problems other than occasional spider mites when it gets really hot and dry. When ever I see any webs I just simply blast them away with the hose!

I have only 1 specimen of the 'Conica' but it does well too, without any problems in the 5 or 6 years that I have it, not even spider mite problems.

I am surprised that so many others have problems, so much so that someone asked for secrets.

Well, I don't have any secrets, I planted mine in a slightly raised bed (about 8") see the photo a few postings earlier on. In the partial shade of the 'Conica' grow wild ferns at soil level. Perhaps that can be used as an indicator, i.e. try to grow ferns in partial shade and if you can, then you can grow the 'Conica' too!

This one is about 15 years old, give or take. It has experienced a few winter burns, and a couple of times looked awful, but has always recovered. One was quite nasty, and it took 2-3 years to overcome. Are mites the bigger issue, especially as you move south?

The only winter issue that happened to my 'Conica' was very heavy snow load bending a bottom branch down so that there was a large gap visible for a couple of months, so large a gap that I thought the branch broke. But come spring, the branch moved back up, closing the gap.

The fence (visible in the photo that I posted earlier on) may be providing stronger winter protection than I thought. The photo is looking NNE with the fence about 5' from the 'Conica'. To the right (not visible in the photo) is is the other (perpendicular) fence at 8' distance.

I never thought about the winter protection issue, I am lucky, I guess. I did look up at the ACS site and saw that the 'Conica' was/is rated zone 4 which is OK for me.