Pied Beauty

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Foliage Friday: Colorado Blue Spruce

No, we can't really grow it in our area (humid zone 9a).  But it's the first thing I notice whenever I travel to cooler,drier climes.  Isn't it pretty?

Colorado Blue Spruce: Picea pungens

This beautiful evergreen looks best when left to form a pyramidal shape, with branches all the way to the ground.  It's a slow grower, but if left to its own devices, it can grow more than 50 feet tall.  The blue-green color is appealing, and the young cones are almost a violet-purple color. 

Why doesn't it work in the Houston area?  It suffers in our summer heat, and is prone to diseases like canker and insect damage from mites.  It does better in North Texas.  Which is why, probably, I really want one!
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1 comment:

  1. Noel MorataAugust 20, 2010 at 10:06 PM

    aloha,

    yes i wish i could grow this also here, the color is so amazing.

    thanks for connecting with me today :)

    ReplyDelete

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