Colorado Blue Spruce
Picea pungens
Wildlife Value
Food value for grouse, and various finches including crossbills, siskins, and nuthatches and by gray squirrels. Provide excellent nesting, roosting, and winter cover for numerous small birds. Deer will browse on blue spruce although it is not a preferred forage. Native to Rocky Mountains of the United States.
| Growth form | conical |
| Crown density | dense |
| Size | 60 to 100' high 15 to 35' spread |
| Drought resistance |
fair |
| Cold hardiness | excellent |
| Growth rate | slow |
| Life span | long |
| Elevation range |
to 9,500 feet |
| Soil conditions |
fair alkaline tolerance; usually on moist soils but will do well on drier sites with supplemental water. |
| Possible insect problems |
pine needle scale, tussock moth, terminal weevil, gall aphids |
| Possible disease problems |
Valsa canker, spruce witches broom |
| Wildlife value | high: song and ground birds and grouse; hoofed and small borers |
| Seasonal color | bluish evergreen |
| Miscellany | native; Colorado's state tree; high ornamental value |