Picea pungens 'Montgomery' / Montgomery Colorado blue spruce

Picea pungens 'Montgomery' is considered by many to be a classic dwarf conifer and is present in many arboretums and large gardens around the world. This dwarf selection of Colorado spruce is broadly pyramidal, with a somewhat mounding form. Dense, compact branching holds short, fleshy, powder-blue needles. After 10 years of growth, a mature specimen will measure 4.5 feet (1.5. m) tall and 3 feet (1 m) wide, and annual growth rate of 4 to 6 inches (10 - 15 cm).

A true Montgomery spruce is usually globose when young and will eventually form a leader, becoming broadly pyramidal with age. A specimen growing in the Harper Collection of Dwarf and Rare Gardens at Hidden Lake Gardens, Tipton, Michigan is now about 35 years of age and is very pyramidal and symmetrical. It is 15 feet (4.5 m) tall with a bottom of 12 feet (3.8 m). The original mother plant is still alive in the New York Botanical Gardens, New York (pictured in the gallery below).

This cultivar originated as a seedling selected in the early 1930s at Eastern Nursery, Massachusetts, USA. Later, noted collector, R.H. Montgomery of Greenwich Connecticut obtained the plant, named it after himself, and introduced it to the nursery trade. In spite of the fact that the plant was originally listed under the cultivar name, 'R.H. Montgomery,' the shortened name, 'Montgomery' has become so prevalent in the international nursery trade, that it's unlikely ever to be corrected. Apparently several of the dwarf Blue spruce have become mixed in the trade, and 'Montgomery' is often confused with the cultivar Picea pungens 'Globosa'.

Picea pungens ‘Montgomery’ is an outstanding and industry-standard silver-blue spruce that was originally part of the conifers accumulated by dedicated collector, Col. R.H. Montgomery. Prior to selling his Greenwich, Connecticut, estate, he donated his entire collection of 200 specimen trees to the New York Botanical Garden.