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| May 1, 2010 |
This is 'Conica', the classic dwarf spruce.
The builder put one in at the corner of the front porch. I added four from Lowe's in a staggered line to shield the electric meters on the west side of the house.
They provide a good background for the fothergillas on the west side, and a little bit of vertical structure for the big blank west wall of the house.
They are susceptible to brown tip dieback (Bartlett treats them for spruce bud scale, Physokermes hemicryphus) and I have seen many revert to the original large spruce form!
They screen what is behind them, and offer a backdrop to what is in front of them. Very useful plants.
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| 12/27/2010 |
By themselves as a lone focal point, dwarf Alberta spruces don't do much for me. But massed, and as part of a complex planting, they add dark depth, and I really like how they do that along the side of the house.
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| 7/2/2012 |
I finally planted a gift Alberta spruce that Pam had given me, and that I had kept in a pot for a year. It now anchors the curve of the dry creek bed, with Ice Dancer carex below it, and I kind of like the vignette. It add a dark mass to define the transition to the meadow, I think.
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| 8/30/2012 |
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| 12/10/13 |
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| Ice cream cones 1/5/14 |
The dwarf Alberta spruces along the west walk and in front are dense and bulky.
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| 5/17/14 |
Look how the light grabs the little dwarf Alberta spruce by the dry creek bed.
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| 9/27/14 |
By 2015, the set along the west wall were huge. They do make a nice foil for the brilliant fothergilla in fall.
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| 10/29/15 |
The one by the dry creek bed doesn't seem to be putting on any growth. Dwarf Alberta spruces are slow growers, but the rate of this one is so much less than the others I have.
