Tree should live a lot longer than that. Aphid and mite problems common with this cultivar, you probably have such.

Thanks for your input bboy ~ the arborist took a good look at the old 40 y/o gal & found no mites or aphid probs. She still looks good except for the few spots where needles have shed. I'm keeping her for as long as she'll hold on.

It's this baby I just got (a Harry & David item) & still indoors that I a bit concerned. I've already repotted & keep from drying w/ indoor conditions this Winter!

Thanks again!

its probably your forced air furnace that is keeping humidity too low ...

they are not really indoor plants .... and the conifer i got for xmas.. is slowly dieing.. like yours ... here in MI ...

go buy one from an outdoor nursery.. in spring .... and plant it.. they are bulletproof .. OUTDOORS ...

ken
ps: are you sure what it is.. there are a lot of weird plants.. masquerading as indoor xmas trees????

Ken ~ You're surely right about the heating-vent close to where the babe sits that is causing the shedding!

This popularly decorated mini-spruce trees that show up around Christmas time each year, are meant to be planted outdoors. Shortly after enjoying indoors should be taken outdoor as plant-tag suggests. I just couldn't remember what I did to old gal Alberta 40 years ago!

I should go ahead & brave taking this babe out in a sunny exposure tomorrow it would be a perfect 30+deg & sunny here. I just wasn't sure how long I could enjoy her indoors ~ I hope I didn't do her grave harm!

Thanks for your thoughts Ken!!!

Put in garage, near window or other intermediate area until later in season, when outdoor conditions warmer.

your plant is acclimated to indoor temps ...

it is NOT going to take kindly to frost or freeze outdoors at night ... in your zone ...

nor is it acclimated to sunshine.. after being indoors ...

in a wild attempt to save it.. you might take it outdoors in near 40 degree .. in bright shade ... but you would have to bring it in every evening as temps fell .. [and then in my world.. one night.. the worst of them all.. you forget.. lol] ...

in my z5.. the garage .... though warm during the day.. is probably still too cold at night for an actively growing plant ...

it was a wonderfully thoughtful winter gift.. but i dont hold out much hope.. but odder things have happened ...

return the favor of a gift and have your daughter come for a spring visit.. and go buy a new.. FRESH one together ... for the garden ... and then take her to lunch.. create a second new memory ...

and who knows.. you may end up with two by summer ...

but dont tie all your emotional investment in this one.. should it fail ... it was the gift/thought that counted.. not really the plant itself ....

ken

Oh Ken what wonderful thoughts ~ spoken well, like a true dirt-digger & plant lover w/ sensible reservations!!!

It won't reach 34deg 'til late this aft'noon so I decided to take this babe to my very cold laundry room w/ E windows (am so challenged to rescue from her threatened state) ~ tied the curtain, half way albeit shear, for same kind of light as where she sat in the fam. room window shelf. Also wrapped around her a clear cellophane to keep from anymore drying despite closed heat-vents & even gave her a tepid drink of tea. She should do ok better than my somewhat darker & colder garage. I figured if my nearly 12y/o Rosemary makes it there sitting by the 2nd E-window, baby Alberta should have no problem ... fingers xx'd for now!!!

My Dau is not comming 'til Jun ~ hopefully both babies (Alberta & tree-form Rosemary) would have recovered to look decent & take their bows. Rosemary may not be a tree-form by then as she has lost much branches & will need a good hair-cut!

Since my dau's move South she's been sending Hydrangeas to add to my collection ~ am now running out of real estate. My grand-dau knows that bird-houses to replace the old ones, are in my wish-list!!!

Many thanks again Ken & bboy. Will keep you posted, Spring can't be too long now. My *Glory of Snow* has sprouted just before this last recent snow-storm ~ am wondering how they're doing under the ft of snow! Sigh!!!

"She should do ok better than my somewhat darker & colder garage."
No, Bboy is right. The garage by a window is much better than anywhere in the house. It can handle reduced light when the temps are cold.Then bring it out in bright shade for a week or so before planting it in full sun when the temps stay consistently above freezing. It has to get gradually used to sunlight, otherwise it will burn if planted in full sun right away.
The Dwarf Alberta Spruce was originally found behind a train station in Calgary, Alberta. It's a tough plant. You're babying it to death by having it indoors for such a long time.
Your Arborist is wrong. They grow much older than 40 years. Look at some of the old ones in the British Isles. Heck, even mine are looking fine at 40 years.
Mike

Here's a picture.

you guys in z8 PNW ... are in denial of the midwest ...

it was SIXTEEN DEGREES LAST NIGHT ...

in the garage.. probably a balmy 22 ..

you really think she should just take it outdoors???

in 2 - 3 weeks maybe .... when nights are in the 30's????

but where are your suggestions on hardening it off properly ...

and what if the pot freezes solid.. while the plant is actively growing???? .. what then???? do you think that will finish it off for sure ?????

hhhmmmmmm???

lol ... [ditas.. they are both friends who can take a ribbing.. dont get offended] ...

good luck ditas ...

ken

ps: pshaw on them.. they think a lined windbreaker is hardcore winter gear ... lol ... we could teach them a thing or two about what winter is really all about ...

"Also wrapped around her a clear cellophane to keep from anymore drying"

I'd take that off. And figure out a way to keep it as cold as you can without freezing.

tj

ROTFLOL Ken ~ I feel like I fit in ~ not to worry I can take this kind of chiding!!! Mike's PNW zone is indeed a *dirt-digging junkie's dream* no matter how tiny a piece of ground one has!!!

Mike ~ those Albertas are to drool over! Did you plant them in that grouping? Oh & they all look so dense & tight! My singular, old lady here would cover her face in shame, even if I think she is gorgeous still, compared to the many I see around here (agravated by our last season's severe draught surely)!

My laundry room is about 55-60deg w/ all the vents shot closed & the furnace is in an enclosed room away from where the babies are. I agree that I may have kept her longer than I should, indoors. So if the cold is more suitable than need for light perhaps i'll move her to the garage & wrap the pot w/ layers of news paper a few days til she acclimates.

tj ~ baby Alberta has started looking dryer by the day despite my misting, the reason for enclosing in a clear cellophane wrap simulating a cloche or terrarium to preserve moisture ~ a bad idea???.

Thanks a bunch again ~ espesially for the laughter as I read!!!
~â¬;) !!!

LOL Ken...as always.
Read my paragraph #2 again. That's fairly gradual. Iowa is getting a wet snow now so the temps have warmed up a bit.
A stint in the garage now doesn't seem out of reason, and then outside in bright shade after a few weeks before planting in the sun around the beginning of April. If you're worried about the pot freezing, put the pot in a pot for added protection.
I used to live on a farm just north of Zone 5 Spokane, Wa. Sometimes we would get subzero temps. A few times in the minus 20s. Glad I don't have to suffer that anymore!
Here, in the foothills outside of Seattle, the temperature rarely falls into the single digit range. (Not even the teens this year) We do get our winter rains, but I've never had to shovel it.
Here's a picture of the deepest snow we received this year a few months ago. Looking out my front door at a topiary lizard's hips. He's 45 ft. long and almost 6 ft high at the shoulders.
I'm headed outside now. Where did I put that windbreaker? ;-)
Bo