JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Actually 5 of them. And 9 state (texas) christmas tree farms.


And what were the results of those phonecalls? Did anyone sell the plant you
want, or not? If NOT, did they explain why not? If you called actual
nurseries (not places like Home Depot) and found that nobody sells these
plants, it could be because they don't grow well in your area. Or, you
might've just been unlucky and called nurseries whose stock isn't very
complete.

Go to this web page and call these people. They should have someone on their
staff who can advise you about whether the plant in question can or should
be grown in Austin:
http://austin-tx.tamu.edu/

It's possible that your climate's not right for the Colorado blue spruce.
Or, perhaps there's a local issue with a disease or insect which attacks the
spruce. The cooperative extension service is your single best source for
local plant info.

Amen to that. TAMU has one of the best hort sites on the Web.
Here's a detailed zone map for Texas:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/cemap/hardiness.html

If local nurseries don't sell a popular tree like this, there is usually a
really good reason. In this case, the blue spruce is generally rated for
zones 3-7 meaning that you are out of luck in Austin. You might want to
consider a Deodar cedar, a lovely tree with needles that can have a
blueish-green cast to them. Check out Outstanding Trees for Texas
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/e...pe/table5.html

Cheers!

-- Karen

The Garden Gate http://garden-gate.prairienet.org
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