The blue Atlas cedar tree , Cedrus atlantica , is a large lofty tree native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco that will come upon a height of more than 100 feet and propagate of 30 foot . Generally speak , any contour of this Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree that mature to a elevation less than 12 invertebrate foot will be call a " midget . " The term is proportional , and any variety that does not maturate to monumental proportion may still be ambiguously called a dwarf blue Atlas cedar tree .
Foliage
A midget bluish Atlas cedarwood is an evergreen large shrub or small tree with forgetful needles , to 1 in in duration , that may slimly curve . They are four - sided and colored an beguiling gloomy - green or silvery sorry . Thirty to 45 needles form each whorling stem canker atop light spurs on the gray - barked branch .
Cones
As a conifer , this works does not produce flowers , but rather makes cones . Mature plants produce upright , cylindrical male - gendered cone in autumn that are light brownish in color and disgorge pollen . On other branches on the same plant , more ellipse or barrel - shaped distaff retinal cone come out and receive the pollen . The green female cones then ripen over two years and become brown , then break aside to release the seeds to the ground below .
Hardiness
In general , a midget dispirited Atlas cedar grows well in USDA Hardiness zones 6 through 9 , where the winters are not farseeing or too cold . In westerly North America , where the Sunset Climate Zones are more popularly used , this species is well - suited in Zones 3b through 10 and 14 through 24 . It does not do well in garden that are exposed to dry or cold winds .
Growing Requirements
industrial plant nanus blue Atlas cedars in a full sun exposure , where they receive at least 8 hours of lineal sunlight daily . A moist , inscrutable soil is best , although it will tolerate dry , sandy soils once its roots are well - established . It tolerates temperate drouth as well as loam and cadaver soil , again as long as it drain well and never is muddy .
Examples
Since this conifer species is slow - growing , gnome selection remain under 12 human foot in height for many years before reaching very old age maturity peradventure over the 12 - foot " nanus coniferous tree " threshold . Depending on the plant ’s genetics , that may take 20 or 100 years . The weeping culativar Glauca Pendula may be consider as a dwarf even though it becomes very wide in honest-to-god age . Also , Horstmann and Uwe are two variety often regarded as dwarf blue Atlas cedarwood choices .
