I ultimately purchased this Serbian Spruce after searching for a replacement for the Miss Grace Dawn Redwood I removed from our large wooden deck planter. (The redwood became too tall and wispy in my opinion and so planted into the landscape). During a 3-nursery tour scouting for conifer options, I decided to move the Nuccio’s Bella Rossa camellia up to the deck and plant the new conifer in the corner spot which is now too sunny for the poor camellia. (I think this was a brilliant idea if I do say so myself, that camellia is perfect specimen for the deck pot, and now we get to see it a lot more.)

Back to the conifer search: many of the conifer options I liked called for full sun, full stop. A few that were ok with part sun either weren’t that appealing to me or had some sort of issue (dead leaves toward the center, burned tips likely caused by the June heat wave). During my last stop at my local Sky Nursery, right before I was about to leave, I found this Serbian Spruce tucked away near the information center. Listed as a Great Plant Pick, this cultivar purportedly sports resistance to aphids/adelgids, which is great since we have potential aphid issues with a couple large spruces in our yard, and recently lost a small Sitka spruce to what I’m pretty sure was Cooley Spruce Gall. Fingers crossed, it’s a beautiful tree and would love to see it thrive.

A final note –  this specimen was one of the worst root bound trees I have ever bought. I ended up making 4 vertical slices with a utility knife into the root ball sides to try and loosen it all up. Hopefully it isn’t too traumatized!