Those are a great start IMO.

There are a couple weepers I see but none of the more upright weeping Picea (some achieved with staking) that most people have. Some of the more popular:

Picea abies 'Gold Drift'

Picea abies 'Pendula'

Picea engelmannii 'Bush's Lace' (wider than the others with age)

Picea glauca 'Pendula'

Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns'

Picea pungens 'The Blues'

to name a few (and a quick mental lap around my gardens).

What are your thoughts on those?

Upright weepers, another category for me to consider. I have seen some rather large trees nearby that are 70+ feet tall, completely upright habit with straight branches but the needles are drooping straight down like Spanish moss. I'll have to take a closer look.

I actually do have some other conifers. I planted some junipers along a steep hillside and I did plant what could be Picea abies 'Pendula' 3 years ago. I'll have to check the tag. I may need to fix this one if possible. It was weeping straight out of the pot so I planted it at the top of our terraces so it could weep down them. It's gonna get way too crowded in there, but I still have it 3 years later. I found it in the background of a pic (sprinkler running) and cropped it out. Its in the center.

And a picture of Silberlocke I took two years ago, so I've been tempted for a while.

'I have seen some rather large trees nearby that are 70+ feet tall, completely upright habit with straight branches but the needles are drooping straight down like Spanish moss.'

Most likely Picea abies (species tree) normal habit.

Well, don't I feel like a total newb now. Picea abies has a much different habit when smaller. Guess I spend too much time looking at cultivars and uncommon species to concern myself with those large majestic trees.

Great to hear the night temps are helping my trees, but I still want to wait for it to cool a little before I plant the rest.

When you're ready to challenged plant Pinus parviflora 'Tanima no yuki', Abies Icebreaker and Picea orientalis Skylands (or its dwarf sport - forget the name at this moment).

Bush's Lace is superior to Blue Magoo by the way. I've had 5 of them die or get severely damaged by winter over the years and different houses from different suppliers. I just want this cultivar to die off!

I've had more luck growing the first three I mentioned than Blue Magoo.

ken is also one of those responsbile from enabling me to the world of conifers awhile back.

I've always been into decidious plants then went crazy for confiers. I've gone back to decidious plants but making my way back to conifers as the damn things are invinsible once I get them through the frist couple years. Usually its a thinning of the heard from bad grafts or poor rootstock which is unfortuanlety common for conifers.

OK, Blue Magoo out, Bush's Lace in - Thanks.

Just picked up Icebreaker, lol.

Here's the pic of Picea Abies (I think).

I've never seen them quite that large or developed in my area.

Thanks for posting.

Here's another Picea abies I found nearby

Those are some dangley branchlets.

Best to show close up pictures of needles, buds and cones of said tree if you are interested in an identification. The trees in the back ground of your last pictures, could be something else entirely but one can't say with any amount of certainty with the information provided.

I was cheating. It's Picea abies 'Cranstonii'. I just had to look at the label. It's at Dawes arboretum. Some of the branchlets are over 6' long. And not the best picture.

haha!

I knew something wasn't quite 'normal' there.

Thanks for the pic. :^)

Drooping Picea abies brings the P. a. 'Virgata' to mind in the Harper's Collection at Hidden Lakes, Michigan.

tj

Very nice pics. I'm going to have to work on my camera skills. That looks so similar, I almost wonder what the differences are.