Goodstav,

what about this one here?

Cunninghamia lanceolata ÂJókékÂ
Published 2010 Mesterházy in Conifer Treasury of Hungary 1.0
Breeder/Found Orlóci László HUN
Introduced Fenyõkert Nursery Budapest HUN
Description A very blue selection of seed.

Photo documentation
Cunninghamia lanceolata ÂJókékÂ
{{!gwi}}
Photo author Orlóci László

Zsolt

Cedrus tend to come up blue, with some going green or greener with age. The Mediterranean ones are starting to have a blight problem in my area, that may become quite a spoiler - recently I saw a long-established, almost landmark specimen that had gone easily over 80% brown. But I have not seen this on Cedrus deodara here. Perhaps it is resistant due to coming from a different climate region.

So I would suggest you concentrate your efforts on Himalayan cedar seeds, which although perhaps not likely to give lastingly powder blue trees will all come up quite bluish or silvery and stay that way for awhile.

And do well in hot climates, there are lots of them in Los Angeles for instance.

Since blue Arizona cypress is grown in the southeast perhaps that would also do for you as well. Some pretty blue seedlings should be possible, that is probably how most/all of the extremely blue grafted forms originated.

Other cypresses come with pretty blue foliages, these and various other less hardy conifer species should offer some potential for you. The front yard tree at my grandmother's house (built ~1932) in Honolulu, which unless after the property was sold several years ago was still present at that time was a juniper. You aren't limited to species used in frosty climates.

...unless it was cut down after the property was sold...

mesterhazypinetum, this blue china fir cultivar looks really beautiful. I didn't find much information on the internet  and wasn't able to find any store that ships seeds of blue china firs worldwide... Do you know where can I find them? Either "glauca" or "jókék".

bboy, thanks for the reply. I'm definitely giving the cedars a try. We can find loads of junipers here, but not many of them are blue. I think Juniperus squamata is the blue one I've seen around. Arizona cypress is also an option, but I still prefer the fir/spruce form of Cunninghamia.

Low hanging branches of Cunninghamia tend to root on the ground, so (answering to myself.. :) I suppose air layering is really feasible with the species.

Grafted clones would have to be received as grafted plants (or scions you would then graft yourself) to be the same. Seedlings of these might vary as much as seedlings of other forms of the species, depending on the behavior of each species; some garden forms of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana for instance do give off some similar seedlings.

From what I have seen Cedrus deodara does better with the heat than atlantica and there are several good blue ones.
Atlantica will grow but the foliage is sparcer and color not as blue as it is in cooler areas.
There are several Mexican pines which are blueish that love the heat and get plenty of humid heat in thier natural habitat. The best one for blue is Pinus maximatinezii it retains it's juvinal powder blue feathery foliage well into
it's sixth year. If kept pruned back or grown as a topiary keeps pushung it. These are planted in parks and street islands in Aguas Caliente Mex. at first it's hard to tell they are a pine.
I think with extended humidity you will have a problem with any of the Cupressus from rhe Southwest US they might get fungus and alot of dieback.

arawa, I've found wonderful pictures of the juvenile Pinus maximartinezii. But finding seeds for this endangered species seems to be quite difficult.

C. arizonica is ~immune to cypress canker. At least two cultivars of it have originated in South Carolina, where it is plenty hot and wet.

I have germinated seeds from the Blue Atlas Cedar twice. Both times I came up with about a hundred trees....all green. I grew them on for several years with no change in color. The cones were probably harvested from grafted trees.

Cunninghamia lanceolata, 'Glauca' roots fairly easy for me with cuttings taken in the Fall and put under a misting system with bottom heat and hormones.

When cut, Cunninghamia wilts rather rapidly. I would think it would make for a very temporary Christmas tree.

Here's one in my garden. I haven't been able to get viable seed yet. I don't think it's hot enough in the summer here. I keep trying though, just to see if the seedlings will be blue or not.

{{gwi:613987}}
Mike

thanks Mike, love the colors of your garden in the picture, nice autumn touch to it. Sorry you couldn't get blue seedlings from the atlas cedar, hope I'll be luckier.
I've done some research and will also try Cupressus torulosa var. cashmeriana and Taiwania cryptomerioides from seed. Abies firma, though not blue, will probably grow fine here, and I'll give them a try.. just for the fun of having a true Abies here.

But where do you will find seed of Taiwania cryptomerioides ? I am also searching for seed but I have found nothing

Plants of the Southwest has smooth-bark Arizona Cypress seed for sale. I have 5 of them planted and have 3 different blue-green colors so far. 3 of the 5 trees look bluer than the cultivar "Blue Ice" does, at least so far.

Borubar, I've found Taiwania cryptomerioides at B ant T world seeds... but I think paying more than 20Â for the 5g packet is quite abusive (I mean... it's to many seeds for me). There's also the var. flousiana listed, with a package for 7Â, but no idea how many seeds are shipped.

As for Cunninghamia lanceolata glauca, the only source would be an ebay announcemente with only 10 seeds. I'll still try some seed exchange before ordering there.

And even rarer are Pinus maximartinezii seeds...

About cuttings of China fir, one poster from Seattle area earlier reported no problem. I have only had success with saplings from the base of the tree if I could get the sapling up with a few intact roots.

I have occasionally (only very occasionally) been able to germinate seed from landscape plantings. The success rate was very limited -- maybe because seed from these landscape plantings is not terribly viable. I don't know. The few seedlings I did get were subject to damping off. I guess I'll have to be more sterile next time.

To your key question here (Will seed from a glauca specimen produce glauca offspring?), I don't know. What is the experience of others?

As for conifers generally, here in Georgia (USA), we have success with (some) conifers from southeastern China, Vietnam, Laos, Taiwan -- though none of them is especially blue (outside the glauca China fir, of course).

Here's a blue idea for you: Blue varieties of Coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) do alright in the humid and hot weather.
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Goodstav, I have a question for you. What species of Araucaria or Agathis are people able to grow in your area of Brazil? Araucaria angustifolia, I'm assuming. But others as well? Thanks.

hi Arauquoia, thanks for the reply. I was already thinking about posting something on conifers in south Brazil, I'll still do that when I collect more photos. But I can already tell you I'm definitely in Araucaria angustifolia land.
Other araucarias that are commonly grown here are:
Araucaria excelsa
Araucaria bidwillii (which bears edible seeds too)
Araucaria columnaris

We also grow Podocarpus lambertii (our native Podocarpus). Together with A. angustifolia, the only conifers native to Brazil, I guess...

here as street trees:

Don't know If this is splitting hairs plus this is an old thread but I'd say northern FL or southern GA is more like a z8b and there is enough diff between 8b and z9a, esp for growing conifers. I've not been able to "push the zone envelope" when it comes to conifers.

You see the same thing with Florida and vicinity native trees, lots of kinds having dropped out of the vegetation by the time (going southward) you get down to even as far north as the Orlando part of USDA 9.

And it's getting hotter there, as elsewhere.

Hi goodstav
I'm in São Paulo state region and I'm having good results with pynion pine and Colorado blue spruce from seed, but they are both damn slow growing species. Some nurseries here sell a bluish juniperus chinensis they call "blue thuja".

I have both Ararcaria angustifolia and araucana here
also Cunninghamia l Glauca a fast growing form.If you
order a packet of Cunninghamia lanceolata seed you
might get a blue seedling.

Thank you for the new replies.
Long time ago since I've posted it. Some things have changed: living in Germany now opens a whole new conifer world.
But in Brazil I have now (among others):

Abies firma (imported seedlings)
Cupressus cashmeriana (from seed, some blue some not as blue)
Cedrus deodara (from seed collected in France)
Juniperus conferta 'blue pacific' (from nursery)

@coniferas.br, dind't now Picea pungens could be successful here. Did you get it from seeds? How many years have they been growing here?
I'll try to get some blue Cunninghamia seedling in Germany and import it myself next time I fly to Brazil.

While this minutiae is still being discussed I might as well pick a bone with the opening statement:
"I live in zone 9 in southern Brazil (equivalent to northern Florida or southern Georgia)"

Generally not the case. If that were true, I would have moved to northern Florida a long time ago. If you go high enough to be USDA zone 9 in Brazil - because of the various factors I bring up repeatedly and will tediously rehash now, the cool ocean currents off the coast, the higher adiabatic lapse rate compared to the northern hemisphere, the prevailing high pressure patterns etc., summers in that zn 9 are NOTHING like those in north Florida. Here are Curitiba's stats:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curitiba
max 78F/61F in summer

A measly 3000 ft. of elevation, and the summers are almost as cool as SE England's. And it is probably closer to zn 10 all the same. You would have be north of Boston to have summers like that on the US East coast. I don't think it would be Picea pungens, but I have NO doubt you could find a very similar looking blue Picea from high-elevation cloud forest areas of Mexico that would be happy as a clam in zn 9 Brazil.
Even Sao Paolo is zn 11 (!), and has very mild summers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo

Hi goodstav

Yes, my spruces are from seeds from US sellers. The older is four y.o. now.

I tried to grow C. cashmeriana from seeds but I got a lot of C. lusitanica seedlings instead :(