Abies grandis in the eastern US/Canada?

The St. Louis Botanical Garden says that it grows poorly there, but their summers are way hotter than mine, yes we still have humidity, but our summer high is usually around 81F, 90F or above is quite rare. Do you think it will work? I find it very attractive, and it’s a fast growing tree.

In our state, our state champion Grand Fir is 96 feet tall so I hope i'll be able to grow it here

 

Look at east Asian species adapted to the more similar climates and soils of that region instead.

 

None of those are cold hardy enough, plus it is fast growing unlike most firs, and almost all of the East Asian firs are hard to find except for Korean and Nikko Fir

 

Abies grandis (grand fir) description (conifers.org)

 

Manchurian Fir (Abies holophylla) is very hardy (to -40° or -50°) and grows reasonably fast with summer heat; grows to over 40 m tall in the wild.

 

How fast does it grow? And will it tolerate heavy clay?

 

About 30-40 cm/year here in Britain where it does relatively poorly for lack of summer heat; I'd expect it would be faster for you in Ohio, maybe 40-50 cm/year, perhaps a bit more. As long as the clay isn't heavily compacted, it should be OK with it. Nothing grows well in clay that has had its structure wrecked by heavy machinery going over it of course.

 

Here, Abies balsamea phanerolepis grows fastest at up to two feet a year, sometimes more. They also come from a very similar climate as mine from West Virginia. The faster growing ones are all PNW species.

 

Yes, fast when young, but it doesn't continue for long, nor make a large tree.

 

Just for interest, here's a photo of what Abies grandis can do in Britain - best viewed full size :-)

 

Britain is an extremely different climate than mine, Britain has cooler summers and we have more humidity and colder snowier winters.

 

Yep, I know! Just added it for interest. The species likes our climate much better - this one is 57 metres tall.