Spruce, Colorado Blue (PICEA PUNGENS) - 'HOOPSII'
This stately variety of Colorado Blue Spruce is not only extraordinary and eye-catching, but robust and strong. It is considered to be the bluest of all the Colorado Blue Spruce cultivars with its long, thick, silvery blue needles on spreading branches. In addition to it's rich, attractive foliage, it produces large magenta cones in spring. It has gained a reputation as an exceptional specimen tree and grows with a full, pyramidal form. Not one to be passed over, 'Hoopsii' definitely demands a space in the landscape.
This larger spruce tree grows under ideal conditions from 30-50 feet tall and 10-20 feet wide with a moderate to fast growth rate of 15+ inches per year. It is cold hardy at USDA Hardiness zone 3 and like other spruces needs full sun and moist, well-drained soil. Colorado Blue Spruces are listed as a selection in the University of Wyoming "Conservation Trees & Shrubs For Wyoming" guide.
In general, Colorado Blue Spruces can be susceptible to needle cast, canker, and rust. Aphids (particularly spruce gall aphids), scale, budworms, and bagworms can also be an issue. Spider mite invasions can cause significant problems with new growth and overall tree health.