Here's two that I have in my collection that do well in my zone 4 garden. Picea glauca 'Echiniformis

Not sure about "original" and 3 ft high might be a stretch, although it should get there eventually, but...

Picea pungens 'St. Mary's Broom'

tj

Harv, your Picea glauca 'Echiniformis might actually be a cultivar of Picea mariana...just a heads up. What are those little blue seedlings by the way?

drdna, do you plan to buy locally or go mail order? If the latter the sky is the limit! Check out the dwarf mounding verions of Abies concolor as well.

Whass, the little blue 'seedlings' are Sedums. They come in several different colors. Blue, white, green red,and yellow for the most part.
Mike

hey

every conifer has an annual growth rate.. nothing is really going to stop at some magical height.. most size estimates are at 10 years .. double at 20 ...

so its all about how big you get it.. and how long it will take to achieve and surpass the size you want ...

dax ought to have a link to the guy in Canada.. whispering.. or whistling something or another ...

we can probably make a lot of suggestions about names you might never find in the trade ... so it might be better to find suppliers lists.. and then ask us about the names you find available ....

i do like st marys though ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: conifer intro

drdna,

Several things...blue conifers come with varying degrees of blue.

If you have to have blue then Picea pungens cultivars are the best bet because of so many cultivars to choose from.

If you can live with steel blue, blue/green. blue/silver that opens up a broad field of possibilities.

3 ft. conifers don't exhist in a garden setting for very long. They only achieve that height/width for a short time. That may take 3-5 years to get there and then continue growing till they die.

The last thing...how easy is it for you to find and purchase some of the interesting/rare cultivars that will be mentioned on this post. Do you have a local nursery that carries more then the big box garden variety of plants. Will they order some of the more interesting offerings out there if asked to do so.

Several offerings I have growing in my garden. I'll do 4 and see what happens.

Dave

Picea mariana 'Blue Tear Drop'. A blue/green coloring.

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Picea pungens 'Waldbrunn. Another blue/green.

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Piceq pungens 'Globosa' Available at most garden centers.

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Picea pungens 'Gerald's Dwarf Blue.

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I have and like Picea pungens 'Globosa', 'Montgomery', 'Blaukissen' and 'St. Mary's Broom'. I just could not resist a 1 ft tall Pinus strobus 'Soft Touch' from Home Depot for $3.49 (also Ilex crenata 'Sky Pencil' for $2).
Bernd

Whistling Gardens in Wilsonville, ON is what Ken alluded to.

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Whistling Gardens

One of the best blue colors around is available on Tsuga mertensiana. This slow-growing, upright cultivar called 'Bump's Blue' is excellent!

Picea mariana 'Blue Teardrop' is a good one, also
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Abies procera 'Blaue Hexe' is the best blue fir I know of

Hope this helps!

-Sam

Zone 4b would likely kill the Abies procera and the Tsuga mertensiana would not be happy either.

tj

Hi. This one isn't round,but it's slow growing,very hardy and a nice blue imo.

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Picea glauca v. albertiana 'Sander's Blue'

T.

Nice T!

Here's another one, with a slightly irregular roundish shape. Slow grower, and one of the bluer doug firs.

Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Bila Lhota'

Wow! That's what I call great service! Thank you all for the suggestions and pics! I have an account at whistling garden so I have many choices to pick from.

Dan