Picea abies 'Weeping Blue'

11 years ago

Plenty of time to talk about odd balls or things you like in your conifer garden so I will bore you all with this one.

An Iseli conifer. I purchased it about 8 years ago somewhere close to 4 ft. tall. From what I understand they don't sell it anymore. For several years the larger nurseries were full of them when Iseli unloaded them into the market place.

There might be a slight tinge of gray/blue in the Spring but you have to look very closely to see it. Iseli had half the cultivar name right weeping.

Other peculiarities... Often it would never form a central leader. About 3 ft of the vertical height is trained by me and as you can see there will not be one this year. I will let it free range back to the ground. I am thinking it's not its nature to form a central leader but it had a nice straight untrained leader when purchased. Should become an interesting form as it is now 12 ft. tall and 30 inches wide. A nice skirt also develops as this conifer grows. It is blocked out by the shade and not knowing how to set up my new camera. That's another story. THe new camera is suppose to take wonderful photos but as you can see it's beyond me. Old school you know. Back to the older one till I understand this one better. What was I thinking?

Dave

This post was edited by dcsteg on Mon, Feb 4, 13 at 17:05

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
i dont care what camera you use.. you arent going to get a pic with bright blue sky at the top.. and in focus shade at the bottom ... but for perhaps training yourself to professional level ... [and on top of all that.. bright sunlight on the plant ... [

i got nothing more to add on the plant.. its cool..

thx for the pic and the effort to past..

ken

ps: i will pay you half of what the camera is worth.. if you want to get rid of it.. lol ...
Sara Malone Zone 9b
11 years ago
You want to see odd ball or peculiar, get a load of mine! It is not blue in the least and seems to want to grow sideways as well as weep. Definitely belongs in the 'weirder the better' club...
Sara

Here is a link that might be useful: Picea abies 'Weeping Blue'
Related Professionals
Folsom Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Kapaa Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Saint Louis Park Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Brunswick Landscape Contractors · Golden Gate Landscape Contractors · Kettering Landscape Contractors · Lynchburg Landscape Contractors · Matteson Landscape Contractors · Medford Landscape Contractors · Merced Landscape Contractors · Shaker Heights Landscape Contractors · Teaneck Landscape Contractors · Twin Falls Landscape Contractors · Waltham Landscape Contractors · Selma Landscape Contractors
monkeytreeboy15
11 years ago
Dave, the only problem with taking pictures of narrow conifers like yours is the fact that camera focuses on the sky too much, losing the clarity of your specimen.

The best thing to do is adjust the area of focus. This can usually be done by pressing the little arrows until your conifer comes more into focus.
You want to center the area with the most detail in the portion of your tree that is not against the sky. (In this instance, it would be just at or below the level of the fence.)

Please don't give up on your new camera; it simply takes some getting used to.
What kind of camera do you have, anyway?

-Sam
ladylotus
11 years ago
Dave, Weeping Blue is gorgeous. I think it will look gorgeous coming back down on it's own and creating a waterfall affect.

What kind of camera did you buy? I would keep playing around with your new camera. Every time I buy a new camera it takes me awhile to figure out what works...there are so many bells and whistles on these new cameras. Good luck!
gardener365
11 years ago
That leader may turn up Dave. It also may not. I've seen it happen though.

Dax
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
sam said what i tried to say .. but much more camera-wise ...

if you want blue sky .. with a pic .. idiot proof ... take pix at dawn or an hour before sunset ..

its the sun blistering down at high noon.. that has to be left to those with much more experience..

which of course you can gain by practice ...

ken
dcsteg
Original Author
11 years ago
Yea...It's a Canon Power Shot SX260HS.

I like Canon because of its easy to use software. Zoom Browser EX.

I need to download the instructions which I haven't done.

More foo foo things on this camera then I needed.

SAm...Pressing the little arrows to center. I see none of that.

Anyway since I got to move on from PB it could be some time before more photos are in the mix.

Dave
arceesmith
11 years ago
Dave, I just wanted to pop in here and clarify that 'Weeping Blue' is not an Iseli selection. Our records show that we received the plant in 1984 with very little information. The plant was grown, evaluated and sold with the name that it had when it came to us. It may very well be a named and known cultivar (other than 'Weeping Blue'). We did not see a reason to continue to grow and market the plant so we sold out our inventory.

Perhaps one of the group's cultivar experts will be able to properly ID the plant, if indeed it is a misnamed cultivar.
dcsteg
Original Author
11 years ago
rc,

That's fine.

I was only alluding to the fact that Iseli grew it and sold it with an Iseli name tag.

It is what it is. Quite frankly I like mine very well. Unique in its own right regardless of whoever propagated it to start with is not a concern with me.

It would seem that Iseli would have a record of who they received it from. Just a common business practice. Who, when, why and how. Just saying...

Dave
arceesmith
11 years ago
In the early days, it didn't always work that way. Sometimes Jean would meet someone or be approached by a new "nurseryman" with a "great new plant" to get his foot in the door, hoping for a trade or whatever. This may have been one of those.

As you say, it is what it is.
firefightergardener
11 years ago
It's an interesting looking plant, certainly worthy of a fine garden like Dave's, even if space is at somewhat at a premium. I have a small graft and it's worth noting it does seem to have *some* blue tint to it, but nothing like some other Picea abies with some good strong blue hues.

2011- The blue is less noticable, perhaps because it was grown in a greenhouse setting. Western Evergreen Nursery source, c/o Jason Hupp.
{{gwi:650045}}

2012 - The blue isn't bright, but it's clearly present. I'd say 2/3's a day during the growing season.
{{gwi:650047}}

-Will