The Indispensable Evergreens 3 

Picea pungens—Colorado Spruce 
A magnificent tree, 70 to 90 feet at maturity, ideally 
used as single specimens or background groups in parks and 
larger suburban home grounds—definitely NOT a tree to 
piant in the “front yard” of a city home. 
Its needles are short (avg. 1 inch), square, stiff and 
sharp-pointed and their color varies from a br-ght, cheery 
green through tones of silvery green to a lustrous, glisten- 
ing silver-biue. The blues are called “Shiners” in the 
trade and are rarities much sought-after. 
Koster and Moerheim spruce are simply clons of P. 
pungens, propagated by gratting. We do not grow them 
because of the difficulty and time necessary to develop 
shapely specimens and because in our large stocks of the 
species you can always find spec.mens as highly colored as 
any of the named varieties. 
The blue color of a “Shiner” and to a lesser extent of 
the Silver, is a bloom or sheen, a sort of powdery sub- 
stance on the surface of the needles, such as on a plum or 
grape, brightest in early summer during the new growth, 
less so after long months of winter wind, sun and storm. 
Generally the blue-toned spruces carry a more sombre hue 
for the first year after transplanting, until they become 
thoroughly established in their new location. In the second 
and subsequent years after transplanting: they glow with 
all the beauty of their native heritage. This is true of 
every nursery transplanting as well as the final planting on 
your own grounds. 
In following the progress of many thousands of spruce 
through more than a decade in the nursery we are im- 
pressed with the great variation in shape and habit as well 
as color. Our pruning in the nursery is (and your on your 
own grounds should be) restricted to a light annual pinch- 
ing in May while the new growth is still soft, to correct 
double leaders, to restrain an occasional overly-exuberant 
side branch, and to enhance the distinctive individuality of 
each speciment. 
Richards’ spruce are priced according to the symmetry 
and color of the individual specimen. Base rates are for 
Shiners, those bluest of the blues, sizes 1 to 6 feet, 
$3.50 per foot 
Silvers, midway in color tones between blues and 
greens, sizes 1 to 6 feet, $2.75 per foot. 
Greens, (should be used a great deal more than 
they are), sizes 1 to 6 feet, $2.00 per foot. 
Since there is no sharp line of color separation in these 
groups you may be asked more than $2.75 for a particularly 
good Silver; conversely an ordinary Blue not quite a Shiner 
would be charged at only $3.00 per foot. Individual pricing 
gives you the most for your money at Richards’. We will glad- 
ly help you select the trees that best fit your needs. 
Shiners, those bluest of the blues, 6 ft. and larger 
trees, $5.00 per foot 
Silvers, midway between blues and greens, 6 ft. and 
larger trees, $4.00 per foot. 
Greens, (deep green is a most restful color) 6 ft. 
and larger trees, $3.00 per foot. 
Our measurements are taken from ground level to _the base 
of last year’s growth; do not include the ball, or the tip of the 
tree. Remember this when comparing prices. 
How to Plant Evergreens 
1) Dig hol foot d deeper than ball of earth. 
(1) Dlg Bet cod loamy top soil to fill around ball. 





SET TREE IN HOLE 
TRIFLE LOWER THAN 
IT STOOD IN NURSERY 
‘W/7 AT TOP OF BALL AND 
é Yj ROLL BACK OR CUT 
1” OFF 
WITH WATER FILL HOLE WITH SOIL. PACK FIRMLY 
AND LEAVE TOP OF GROUND COVERED WITH LOOSE 
EARTH, OR BETTER MULCH WITH STRAWY WELL ROT- 
TED MANURE 
Remember, your evergreen is in full leaf—its 
leaves (needles) transpire (give off water) con- 
tinuously. Twice daily syringing of its foliage 
with the hose for two weeks will help it to a 
quick, strong start. Soak the soil at the roots 
thoroughly every week or ten days. Keep dogs 
away! 
BOTANICAL vs COMMON NAMES 
The botanical name is the proper name of a plant; 
“common name” is simply another expression meaning nick- 
name. Plants are related in large, or small, family groups 
and that is why, as in human families, most individuals 
have two or even three names. Plants’ proper names are 
in Latin because when systematic botany was first organiz- 
ed Latin was the language of the day—and now that it is 
a “dead” language its words are no longer subject to 
change of form, or meaning. It is the only international 
language—for example, Berberis thunbergi refers to the 
same fine shrub in France, Holland, Russia, and even in 
Japan, as in the United States. 
Naturally, to the person who hasn’t heretofore had a 
speaking acquaintance with plants, some names seem unduly 
long and hard to pronounce. But it is no harder to learn 
a dozen, or two hundred, names of plants than to remember 
the names of a dozen, or two hundred new friends when 
you move to a new and strange town. 


Pinus nigra—Austrian Pine 
Another massive tree, native of Dalmatian forests, bet- 
ter suited to city planting because of more compact habit 
and much better color, a rich, deep green noticeably darker 
in winter, a color that in some localities has given it the 
name of Black Pine. The needles come two in a sheath, 
straight and slender and 4 to 6 inches long. Best adapted 
to backgrounds, parks and windbreaks, 
4 to 5 ft. 7.00. 5 to 6 ft. $8.75 
Pinus ponderosa—Western Yellow Pine 
Large Colorado native tree to 100 feet or more with 
stout spreading branches forming a narrow-jyramidal head. 
It is a straight-trunked tree with long (avg. 6 to 8 inches), 
heavy needles usually carried in bundles of three. Its very 
rapid, coarse growth should rule it out of small gardens 
but it is especially suitable for massive effects in large 
plantings and for windbreaks on the drylands, where it has 
proven more drouth-resistant than any other tree, deciduous 
or evergreen. 
4 to 5 ft. $6.00. 5 to 6 ft. $7.50. 6 to 7 ft. $9.00 

en, 
“The glory of the conifers” and Cutleaf Weeping Birch create an exciting group as spectacular in 
winter as it is in summer. The tall, slender J. Scopulorum at the right and the solid, sheared cotoneaster 
hedge in left foreground are minor accents in a picture of year-’round beauty. 
