100 More species #72: Dwarf Alberta Spruce

[urbpan]

Dwarf Alberta spruce Picea glauca variety albertianica Conica


The dwarf Alberta spruce is a cultivar of the white spruce, a massive tree of the North American boreal forest. Mature white spruces are a hundred feet tall or more, while a typical dwarf Alberta is a four to six foot pipsqueak. Cultivation has chosen individuals that grow very slowly, never get very tall, and maintain the thin soft needles of a sapling. It's as if we kept little orcas in our koi pond or tiny house giraffes. The little trees are hardy and long-lived. They don't seem to be crucial participants in the suburban ecology, but they probably provide cover and shelter for small animals, and add color and geometry to the winter landscape.



The thin soft needles of the perennially infant dwarf Alberta spruce--the perfect little living xmas tree.

Comments

[ellettra.livejournal.com]

Beautiful!

[hai-kah-uhk.livejournal.com]

Now I really want a tiny house giraffe. (I already have dwarf albertas. The previous owner planted them to improve the house sellability. Hehe.)

[bosoxmom.livejournal.com]

They will attract birds eventually eh???

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I spose it's possible.