20 Interesting Facts about The Colorado Blue Spruce Tree

The Colorado Blue Spruce is ranked among the most popular evergreen trees. Much like the Bonsai or the palm tree family, it offers a magnificent addition of a silver-blue-green hue to any landscape or backyard.

1. The Colorado Blue Spruce is a member of the spruce species in the plant Kingdom.

The Colorado Blue Spruce Tree (Latin – Picea pungens) is also known as the White Spruce, the Blue Spruce or the Green Spruce. This variety of spruce is dense, symmetrically shaped, and compact. It is further characterized by condensed foliage that grows at a relatively slow rate. The needle color of the Colorado Blue Spruce can range from green to blue to bluish silver.

2. The Colorado Blue Spruce is a type of evergreen tree native to the North American Rocky Mountains’ central & southern regions.

The Colorado Blue Spruce can generally be found in the northern sections of New Mexico through the states of Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming. The Blue Spruce has also been found in isolated areas of Montana’s northern-central locations. These Blue Spruce trees, which are often growing along streams in mountainous valleys, are also adaptable to other habitats. Blue Spruce trees are also native to Alberta and British Columbia, Canada; however, the Colorado Blue Spruce tree has widely been introduced in many areas that extend beyond its native habitat.

3. The Colorado Blue Spruce is a monecious type of tree.

The Colorado Blue Spruce tree is monoecious, which means that the same tree produces both male and female cones. These cones are produced in different areas of the same tree. Typically, the female cones of the Colorado Blue Spruce tree are near the top, with the male cones found on its lower branches.

4. The Colorado Blue Spruce was adopted as the state tree of Colorado schoolchildren in the 19th century.

In 1892, children in schools across the state of Colorado voted on Arbor Day to name the majestic Blue Spruce as the state tree; however, it wasn’t declared the official state until 1939 through an act by the Colorado General Assembly.

5. The Colorado Blue Spruce has an average mature height of around 70 to 80 feet and a spread of 10 to 20 feet.

The Colorado Blue Spruce grows at a slow (sometimes moderate) pace, depending on location. When growing in the wild, the Colorado Blue Spruce tree can reach more than 100 feet, sometimes topping 150 feet with a canopy spread of nearly three dozen feet. This Blue Spruce is also among the longest living trees. While they mature in 30 to 50 years, they can reach a potential age of 600-800 years.

6. The Colorado Blue Spruce was first identified on top of Pikes Peak, Colorado, in 1862.

This remarkable and symmetrical species of spruce was discovered growing in high meadows and streams on the Rocky Mountains, specifically on Pikes Peak.

7. The Colorado Blue Spruce was named by botanist C.C. Parry due to the tree’s distinctive silver-blue color.

C.C. Parry was the individual who identified the Colorado Blue Spruce. It is said that C.C. Parry chose its name based on the unique color the tree offers with the white powder created on new young Blue Spruce needles.

The Colorado Blue Spruce’s needles are 4-sided (w/six stomatal lines on each side). These needles come to a very sharp point and can potentially poke someone who is not paying attention when landscaping or walking by.  The needles of the Colorado Blue Spruce remain on the tree generally for ten years or more before shedding naturally.

8. The Colorado Blue Spruce is often used as an ornamental evergreen in various landscaping designs and habitats.

Many Colorado Blue Spruce cultivars are used by novice and professional landscapers/designers in the United States as well as Europe. It is a great and beautiful addition to most landscape designs. The Blue Spruce, when planted in a yard or garden as the property’s focal point, can showcase the Blue Spruce’s softer shades of blue in every season. This sturdy tree prefers full sun and soil that is well-drained and abundant in organic material. When emerging, new foliage tends to be a bright green-blue that fades with age into a subtle but stunning and unique silvery blue.

The natural pyramid shape of this evergreen tree makes it perfect as a holiday or Christmas tree that can be quickly and beautifully decorated. Note that these Blue Spruce trees are now grown in all fifty states for retail Christmas sales, which highlights its true adaptability to varying environments.

9. The Colorado Blue Spruce can be grown in USDA hardiness zones #1 – #7.

Blue Spruce trees thrive best in the USDA’s (United States Depart. Of Agriculture’s) zones 4a through 7B.  In addition, these types of spruce trees are typically found at elevations that range from 6,000 to 9,000 feet in the northern reaches and up to 10,000 feet in their native southern locations.

10. The Colorado Blue Spruce Tree is a hardy tree that requires little pruning and maintenance.

This type of spruce is among the type of trees that can withstand drought better than any other type of spruce variety. The Blue Spruce only needs 15 inches of rain per annum, sometimes even less.

In addition, the Blue Spruce is capable of withstanding very low temperatures (temps that drop to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit). As a result, the Colorado Blue Spruce is highly resistant to frost damage – especially when compared to most other tree types. It is noted that the Blue Spruce may be susceptible to white pine weevils, a kind of insect that impacts the tree’s leading growth.

Dead or dying branches should be pruned from the Blue Spruce. Additionally, wayward directed spruce branches – that are growing from the tree’s canopy should be trimmed as well. When pruning, it is recommended that the person pruning the tree wear protective gloves because the sap from the Colorado Blue Spruce Tree can be quite sticky.

11. The Colorado Blue Spruce grows at a slow to medium rate and prefers areas of low humidity.

While it will often take 30 to 50+ years for the Colorado Blue Spruce tree to reach full height and maturity, it tends to grow in spurts that can range from 6 inches to 24 inches each year. Its rate of growth will depend on the soil, sun, and wind present in the spruce tree’s location.

For example, a 2-foot-tall potted Blue Spruce tree will likely grow to 5 feet in 5 years – if grown in good soil, with enough water and sufficient weed control. Note, however, the Colorado Blue Spruce trees that are situated in full sun will likely be the fastest-growing trees.

12. The Colorado Blue Spruce provides food and shelter for a variety of wildlife.

Blue spruce trees provide shelter and protective cover for a variety of birds and other animal species. Many feasts on the Blue Spruce’s seeds and cones. For example, the Spruce Grouse shelters and nests exclusively in conifer forests among the Blue Spruce trees.

The Colorado Blue Spruce also acts as an important animal cover for mule deer, moose, elk, and other small mammals and birds in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Bald eagles make good use of the Colorado Blue Spruce for nesting at intermediate elevations and locations in Wyoming.

13. The Colorado Blue Spruce was recognized by Henry Tuescher as one of the five finest conifers. A conifer tree is one in that generates cones.

When writing Handbook on Conifers in 1969, Henry Tuescher, as the curator emeritus of the Montreal Botanical Garden, wrote the Handbook on Confers, and in it, he referred to the Colorado Blue Spruce as one of the top five conifers on the globe. His reason was to honor the Blue Spruce’s amazing beauty and stature, and in winter, when the primary color is a drab gray, the Colorado Blue Spruce adds its unique and wonderful blue hue to the winter landscape.

14. The Colorado Blue Spruce tree makes an excellent windbreak, screen, or border tree on any property because of its large height and width when fully mature.

Because the Blue Spruce branches provide great, dense shade, it is likely that grass will not grow beneath the extended branches of the tree. When planted in a row as a windbreak, these spruce trees should be planted 10 to 15 feet apart.

When planted in this manner, the Colorado Blue Spruce creates a terrific screened planting or windbreak that provides great privacy. Blue Spruce trees are great in areas that experience snow because the tree’s branches and needles catch the snow while having the ability to block the cold wind.

15. The Colorado Blue Spruce is best planted in a sunny spot with fertile soil during the fall or spring.

The Colorado Blue Spruce tree requires consistent water. And while the Blue Spruce likes moist soil, it also must be well-drained. This is because this variety of spruce does not do well with flooding or areas that tend to collect water. However, this spruce variety can adapt to dry soil and dry wind better than most other types of spruce trees. Fortunately, other than watering the Colorado Blue Spruce tree regularly (especially during the first season of growth and dry spells), the Blue Spruce does well will new mulch every now and then.

16. The Colorado Blue Spruce is not generally used for lumber or wood products because it is rarely abundant in nature, and its wood is brittle and often full of knots.

Blue Spruce trees have wood that is recognized to be knotty timber. However, the wood from the Colorado Blue Spruce can be used for firewood, but because it burns fast, it is best to use this spruce variety for fire kindling.

17. The Colorado Blue Spruce is a conifer tree that yields light brown cones, which are typically 3 to 4 inches in length.

The pine cones of the Blue Spruce, which have papery cone scales, hang downward and are more concentrated in the upper crown area of the tree. The Blue Spruce’s cones have a truncated edge and are chestnut to yellow-brown in color.

18. All parts of the Colorado Blue Spruce tree are non-toxic and are high in Vitamin C.

The Blue Spruce needles are edible and often used to make wild edible tea.  Spruce tea, to many people’s surprise, has a surprisingly good flavor. However, its taste can be bitter, slightly sweet taste and resinous. Most who enjoy Spruce tea usually add their own sweetener or sugar product.   It is best to steep the tea rather than boiling the needles, as this helps retain the nutritional value of the tree parts.

19. The Colorado Blue Spruce play a vital role in the habitat in which it lives.

This variety of spruce critically contributes to the balance of the habitat in which it lives. The Blue Spruce is capable of absorbing great amounts of light, nutrients, and water to complete the process of photosynthesis. This process of photosynthesis is the way in which plants and trees convert water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide into oxygen (which is released into the air) and energy, stored as glucose within the tree.

20. The branches of the Colorado Blue Spruce are stiff and tend to grow horizontally.

The Colorado Blue Spruce tree branches outward, with a width that can grow to 25 – 30 feet. Its root system follows a similar pattern as the roots are wide-spreading and shallow but firm.