HOW-TO

Plant primer: Hoops blue spruce

Staff Writer

The Columbus Dispatch

Height: 30 to 50 feet

Spread: 15 to 20 feet

Hardiness: Zone 2

Origin: western United States

Hoopsii Colorado spruce (Picea pungens ‘Hoopsii’) is even bluer than the grayer Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens ‘Glauca’).

This dense evergreen has stiff, sharp, angled needles that surround each branch. New growth is blue, then turns silvery blue.

When young, Hoopsii — also known as Hoops — grows in a more irregular form but matures to a narrow pyramidal shape. Hoops Colorado spruce should be planted as a focal point and not as a group; the difference in foliage color would be unsightly. The tree is adaptable to many garden environments.

It won’t fair well in standing water but, once established, is drought-tolerant. As with other spruce varieties, it is considered deer-resistant.

Hoops Colorado spruce can be seen in the Crane Conifer and Ornamental Grass Collection at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

— Barbara Arnold,

Franklin Park Conservatory