# Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens)

> A stiff, formal, pyramidal spruce with sharp four-sided needles in shades from green to striking silver-blue, cones with papery scales and purplish-gray scaly bark. It is Colorado's state tree and one of the most planted ornamental conifers in North America, used as a specimen, screen and windbreak. Outside the cool, dry West it suffers: in humid regions Rhizosphaera needle cast and Cytospora canker strip the lower branches of older trees.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/picea-pungens · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Blue spruce, Colorado spruce
- Family: Pinaceae
- Type: Conifer
- Mature height: 15 m; spread 5 m
- Growth: Slow growing; lives about 300 years
- USDA hardiness zones: 2 to 7
- Light: Full sun
- Water: Moderate water
- Soil: Average, well-drained soil; prefers rich, moist ground when young and tolerates drought once mature
- Native range: Central and southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, New Mexico and Arizona, mostly along mountain streams.

**Benefits:** Windbreak, Wildlife, Birds, Drought tolerant, Long lived

**Good for:** Windbreak, Screening, Yard shade, parks

**Watch out for:** Pest prone

## Care

Plant in full sun with good drainage and consistent moisture for the first few years; mature trees are fairly drought tolerant. Give it room and air circulation and avoid overhead irrigation. Needle cast, Cytospora canker, spruce spider mite, gall adelgids and bagworms are the usual problems, worst in hot humid climates.

## Where it stands

- **Native:** AZ, United States; CO, United States; ID, United States; NM, United States; UT, United States; WY, United States
- **Adapted:** Canada (Planted throughout southern Canada; USDA PLANTS lists it as introduced in Canada.); United States (Widely planted as an ornamental across the northern and central US outside its Rocky Mountain range; declines in hot, humid regions.)
- **Recommended:** Calgary, AB, Canada (On the City of Calgary Top Tree Species for Calgary list); Washington, DC, United States (On the Casey Trees Tree Rebate eligible species list)

## Sources

- https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/picea-pungens/
- https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/PIPU
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picea_pungens