While traveling I happened upon a Picea Pungens with a variegated sport. My exposure to Picea Pungens is limited; I live in an area not particularly conducive to growing them. That said, I’ve never seen variegation like this on one before. A search online didn’t turn up any cultivars that display similar characteristics. Is this something new? Pics attached. In the shot of the full tree, the variegation can be seen on the lower right-hand side.
They don't grow here either, but i think most blue spruce cultivars color seasonally i.e., the new growth is golden. In any event, i guess you would have to graft some of those shoots and see if new growth retains the variegated characteristic to see if it is really genetic mutation or caused by something else. Which would be hard for you in Dallas trying to care of a bunch of baby blue spruces for a few years. Maybe someone else will give it a try.
I don't really have much interest in taking cuttings from this tree, grafting it, and growing it on. I was really just curious. It's a bit hard to tell from the pic unless you zoom in all the way, but the coolest looking shoots have a 50-50 mix of cream and blue needles.
You'd need to check it over a few years to see if it is a genuine mutation, or a disease of some sort.
