No. Full sun is most preferable if grafted and not on its own roots.

All Picea are grafted onto P. abies... So, in actuality the rootstock tends to be the major determinate in survivability and I suspect that is why it does so well for me in hot sunny Kansas.

Dave

This post was edited by Davesconifers on Fri, Sep 19, 14 at 16:17

Yeah, I'd agree with full sun for this species. It tends to want a bit more moisture than other spruces though. Or more simply put doesn't appear to as drought tolerant as Serbian, White, Blue and Norway spruce.

Full sun is fine for this species, but not required, and maybe not even ideal. The natural home of Engelmann spruce is cold, humid, high elevation mountains. It does not like excessive heat and has a low drought tolerance. So, it's not the full sun that is the problem, it's the heat and making sure it is adequately watered. Often engelmannii and pungens are considered very similar, but I find them to be quite different, with pungens not tolerating anything but full sun.

Here is mine, growing in about 4-5hrs of direct sun. Color and spring flush both looked excellent. This was not the case with pungens placed in the same light conditions.

Here is the description of Bush's Lace provided by Stanley and Sons nursery:

A weeping variety of Engelmann Spruce. Leaves long, bluish-gray. Main leader with all terminal branches cascading down. Can take some shade. Plant found and introduced by Dick Bush in Aurora, Oregon.

-Alex

I greatly appreciate the help.

I bought the Bush's Lace from Conifer Kingdom. Can the Bush's Lace survive in my zone? Anyone growing their Bush's Lace in Zone 7b or higher? I can keep the Bush's Lace in partial sun or Full sun, which do you think for my location? I read on a site that the Bush's lace will struggle in hot climates above zone 6.

looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks

This post was edited by StuartLawrence on Tue, Sep 23, 14 at 0:35

Hey Stuart, I live on Long Island as well and was wondering if you've had luck growing the Bush's Lace. If you have some time let me know how its going growing this great conifer. Thanks!

stuart's message button is showing on his home page

ron

The zone system only measures/evaluates winter cold, not summer heat or humidity. Aurora, OR - where this cultivar originated - is zone 8b. Obviously it will take higher zones. What may restrict its ability to thrive is high summer humidity and prolonged heat. The species is really a high altitude plant in a relatively summer dry climate.

Here's the thing that I don't understand though; one person says that this conifer needs a lot of water during hot dry summer months, and others say that it prefers dry summers. Could it be that if this species does face hot summers that adding irrigation allows the ground to adequately cool the root system? Does humidity have anything to do with it?

welcome chris ...

in my sand.. in my MI... with 90 degree heat for july and august .. ALL my plants might need water during that time... especially in a drought ....

i might presume in say the PNW where i hear it rains about every 45 mins ... i bet they dont need much additional water ...

so how that all works.. in you LI,NY ... who knows .. lol ..

so .. not only is most info location specific ... it can also rely on every variable in your garden. like drainage.. soil type ... direct sun ... etc ...

when you are reading on line.. try to figure out if the author is in your type of area .. but when it comes down to all your yard variables... you are usually left with just trying it ...

ken

I hear you, Ken. Thanks for your reply! I'm on the south shore of LI, so sand is all over the place; it is essentially a giant sand bar. I suppose the best soil formula for Bush's lace is raising it up
for sharp drainage, similar to a deodar cedar, with good moisture retention by adding some peat moss in the mix. I'll post my results if she doesn't croak.