Picea pungens 'Blue Kiss' / Blue Kiss Colorado spruce

Picea pungens 'Blue Kiss' is a globose selection of Colorado spruce which over time will become broadly pyramidal with a wide skirt of foliage. Needles are a pleasing bright Blue in color on moderately dense uniform branching. After 10 years of growth, a specimen will be mature at 4 feet (1.2 m) tall and 1.5 times as wide, a rate of growth of 2 to 4 inches (5 - 10 cm) per year. Some will say that the mature form can be compared to that of a Hershey Kiss.

This cultivar originated as a seedling selected around 1975 by Brotzman's Nursery in Madison Ohio. It should be noted and emphasized not to confuse this cultivar with the German introduction, 'Blaukissen.'

This picture was taken at the Dawes Arboretum in Ohio during The Conifer Society tour there in 2004.
Photo by Ken Church
Picea pungens 'Blue Kiss' Green Industry Images Copyrighted Photograph; Permission Granted;
Photo by Ernie Wiegand
Picea pungens 'Blue Kiss' Green Industry Images Copyrighted Photograph; Permission Granted;
Photo by Ernie Wiegand

Comments

wdunagin

Blue Kiss' was introduced by Brotzman's Nursery in Madison, Ohio, about 1975. Here is a link to their web page about it: http://www.brotzmansnursery.com/piceapungensbluekiss.html. Mature specimens have a wide skirt, but vertical growth at the center, so the outline resembles the shape of a type of candy called a Hershey's Kiss (trademark).
The variety 'blaukissen' originated in Germany. The German word "kissen" means cushion in English, so I suppose it resembles a blue cushion.

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[Deleted User]

Thank you for the update on this plant's history. Honestly it was a horribly-written record full of unresearched speculation. Thanks for helping to complete the record!

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