Abies concolor ('Violacea Compacta') 'COMPACTA'

Abies concolor ('Violacea Compacta') 'COMPACTA'
dwarf white fir

SIZE/TYPE	medium-sized shrub
USUAL HEIGHT	1-2m
USUAL WIDTH	1-2m
LEAVES	evergreen conifer
COLOUR OF LEAVES	+multicoloured:silver and blue-green
FLOWERS	insignificant or non-blooming
LOCATION	full to partial sun
USDA zone (lowest)	3 (down to -40°C)
WINTER PROTECTION
FOR ZONE 5+6
FOR ZONE 7
BELONGS TO CATEGORIES	Conifers

White fir is a popular conifer of Czech and Slovak gardens and parks. It is demanded for its glaucous foliage colour. Nurseries take good care to select only the seedlings that have the most attractive colour because this fir occurs naturally in the range of dark green where only the young shoots are light green or turquoise to silvery blue. Compacta is a variety first described by German botanist Ludwig Beissner of Ludwigslust in 1891. He named it Violacea Compacta and it took over 30 years when it was first introduced to nursery trade in 1923. Possibly in en effort to simplify the nomenclature the name was shortened to only Compacta which modern dendrology approved.

Compacta is a dwarf version of popular Violacea white fir. It has bright silvery blue, sickle-like needles which turn only one shade darker when mture. They are soft to touch, borne erect on strictly horizontal branches. Young plants are stiffly upright, very dense, forming a miniature of a Christmas tree. 10-year-old plant measures only about one meter tall and 50-60 cm wide. As the plants grow older they lose the conical habit and spread. Shaping and trimming is possible best in early spring, just bear in mind that the plant grow very slowly making only some 5-8 cm per year so think twice before any radical pruning.

White fir will grow in almost any well drained soil, from slightly alkaline to acidic. The soil should be humus-rich and moist when transplanted but once established it can take long periods of drought. Grow it in full sun for best colour or in light shade. Fully hardy to -40°C (USDA zone 3) and suitable for outdoor containers.

Last update 16-01-2017

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GLOSSARY

STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.