Abies concolor ‘Conica’

A slow growing, dense, narrowly conical selection with branches strongly fastigiate; grows about 10 cm per year; foliage is grey-blue with needles shorter than the species; originated before 1930 in the Durand Eastman Park, Rochester, New York, U.S.A. where it was found by Slavin.

I first saw this cultivar in the garden of Layne Ziegenfuss, Lehighton, Pennsylvania in 1976. Its relatively slow rate of growth, its narrow habit, and the grey-blue foliage immediately caught my attention. This plant had been named and introduced almost 50 years earlier and yet it was, and still is, quite rare.

It resists snow load damage. It stays nice and narrow. It grows fairly slow. All of these are good attributes but try to find one for sale somewhere.

The plant pictured below is about 20 years old and gets the attention of almost every visitor to Coenosium Gardens. It is planted about 1 meter (3') from the corner of the house and still hasn't grown into the house.

Every terminal branch shoot grows upward, making propagation wood fairly easy to come by. Even laterals will soon turn upward with minimal training.