Assistance appreciated. I was just up in North Van and saw some trees planted along highway 1. A select few were also seen in people's yards as well as those planted by landscape companies around buildings at Whistler. I believe this striking tree to be a 'Weeping Serbian Spruce.' >> picea omorika 'pendula.' They have a very narrow alpine-like habit. They exhibit short limbs with dense growth. Probably they are pretty slow growers, though in that climate there they'd probably show superb growth potential like up to a foot a year. None were probably more than 30 or 35 ft in height... 40 ft tops. Some were bluer than others. If it isn't omorika pendula it is something that looks VERY similar. Any trees of this type interest me. Perhaps they were simply Serbian spruce that had been pruned up a number of years running before they were planted at age 10 or 12 or something. Along the hwy just before you round the bend into Horseshoe Bay there are a number of them (maybe 40 or more) that had been planted by the hwy dept. Several folks suggested that they might be Siberian spruce or Brewer's spruce. That threw me off the track for a good while until I spent a few hours looking at pictures within The Conifer Society's website. I'm pretty sure now that it is neither a Siberian or a Brewer's. Solid identification of this tree is NOT helped by the fact that it appears to be quite rare and that there are 'omorika' that are dwarf or quite different ('Bruns.') They aren't looking at all like what I saw. All of these trees I saw fit best with the pictured ones referred to as 'pendula.' On the web I found a cultivar called 'Gotelli Weeping' that looked very correct. Here's a link showing a tree that is exceedingly close... if it isn't exactly it. I started a conifer arboretum effort here at my place above White Salmon, Wa in '94. I would like to find a specimen 'pendula' to plant on my property... not a baby but one that was 6 ft or so. Have yet to consult specialty growers within the Willamette/ Valley up to the Skagit Valley etc. Below here is a link showing a picture that best exemplifies what I saw. Again, thanks! Crawz http://65.114.89.211/conifer_db//photo_lib/displaypicture.php?id=1347
Serbian spruce is commonly planted. You may be seeing the typical plant, raised from seed rather than grafted selections which are much less prevalent. The weeping cultivars tend to differ primarily by having part or most of the branches looking as though pulled down. Any random seedling can of course also show differences in growth from its fellows.
