(White Fir)

The small-growing white fir cultivar 'Rochester' produces needles that mature to silvery blue but emerge pale chartreuse in spring. White fir is a pyramidal, slow-growing evergreen tree native to the western United States and adjacent highlands in southwestern Canada. Its cones are oblong and held upright on mature branches. White has a fine-textured symmetrical growth habit, even making an exquisite choice for a Christmas tree.

Grow 'Rochester' in full to partial sun and a slightly acidic,...

(White Fir)

White fir is a pyramidal evergreen tree native to the western United States. The cultivar 'Violacea' has particularly beautiful coloration with intense silvery-blue needles that appear silvery white when new. Their cones are oblong and held upright on mature branches. White fir has a fine symmetrical growth habit and is an ideal native for year round interest. These trees prefer full sun, slightly acidic, well-drained soil and are more tolerant of heat, drought and pollution than other firs. In...

(Japanese Fir, Momi Fir)

The wood of the momi fir is light colored and traditionally used to make coffins in its native Japan. A tall-growing evergreen, momi fir grows in Japan's highlands intermixed with other conifers. This tree grows slowly in its youth, retaining a dense, upright pyramid shape. When mature, the straight trunk becomes massive and the scattered horizontal branches look somewhat like the silhouette of an old white pine.

The emerald green needles are flattened and are alternating on the twigs in two...

(Fraser Fir)

Fraser fir is a fragrant evergreen tree native to the Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States, from Virginia down to Georgia. Native populations grow at both high and low elevations along the mountainside. They exist in nearly pure stands at high elevations but are mixed with other conifers and hard woods at mid to lower elevations. Young trees are dense and pyramidal, which is why they are favored as Christmas trees. In fact, Frasier is only rivaled in popularity by balsam fir. Mature...

(Giant Fir, Grand Fir)

This species is appropriately called the giant or grand fir because it's one of the tallest growing firs in the world, usually in the 200- to 300-foot (70 to 100 m) range. This evergreen is very fast growing, attaining a narrow column-like or spire-like silhouette with massive trunk. Native to the central Pacific coast of North America, the giant fir grows in British Columbia inland to the Idaho-Montana mountains and southward to northern California, where it's known along the coast. Some botanists...

(Marie's Fir)

Look through the evergreen boughs of Marie's fir to see the ghostly white bark that often is blushed with purple hues. This conifer is a subalpine species native to the mid- and high elevations of the central Japanese island of Honshu. Although a pyramid when young, Marie's fir becomes more oval or flat-topped in silhouette at maturity. The bark is pale gray or brown with a powdery covering known as bloom, occasionally touched with hints of purple. Large, old trees display the ghostly white bole.

Young...

(Nordman Fir)

Nordman fir is a striking evergreen tree that originates from Asia Minor along the southern reaches of the Black Sea. It has an elegant, columnar form with horizontally tiered branches that reach down to the ground. Branches are covered with dense, lustrous, dark green (with a hint of black) needles that are soft to the touch when grasped. The female cones are quite large and narrow, becoming reddish brown when ripe and are displayed in the upper third of the needled canopy. The bark is grayish...

(Nordman Fir)

Nordman fir is a striking evergreen tree that originates from Asia Minor along the southern reaches of the Black Sea. It has an elegant, columnar form with horizontally tiered branches that reach down to the ground. Branches are covered with dense, lustrous, dark green (with a hint of black) needles that are soft to the touch when grasped. The female cones are quite large and narrow, becoming reddish brown when ripe and are displayed in the upper third of the needled canopy. The bark is grayish...

(Nordman Fir)

Nordman fir is a striking evergreen tree that originates from Asia Minor along the southern reaches of the Black Sea. It has an elegant, columnar form with horizontally tiered branches that reach down to the ground. Branches are covered with dense, lustrous, dark green (with a hint of black) needles that are soft to the touch when grasped. The female cones are quite large and narrow, becoming reddish brown when ripe and are displayed in the upper third of the needled canopy. The bark is grayish...

(Turkish Fir)

The Turkish fir is every bit like a Nordman fir except it doesn't mature nearly as large and has a greater tolerance to alkaline soils. Turkish fir grows naturally at high elevations in the mountains from roughly Athens, Greece to Istanbul, Turkey and the adjacent Bithynia region. Turkish fir essentially is an isolated population of Nordman firs that evolved and survived on cooler, northern-facing slopes in the region.

Turkish fir has an upright, narrow and columnar form with a partially rounded...