Hoopsii Spruce vs Northern Catalpa (Cigar Tree)

The Hoopsii Spruce is a cold-hardy variety that has attractive silvery-blue foliage. It is a dense evergreen tree with a distinctive pyramidal form. The needles are highly ornamental and retain their color throughout the winter, which allowed it to win the prestigious Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society.

The Hoopsii Spruce, is a Blue Spruce cultivar and is popular due to being relatively low-maintenance and having a high pollution tolerance.

Northern Catalpa is a striking feature tree with showy flowers, and very large leaves. Its orchid-like flowers are white with yellow and purple accents, and they have a pleasant fragrance. They bloom from late spring to early summer and can last up to two weeks, attracting hummingbirds and pollinators. The leaves are very large, ranging from 15-30 cm long, 12-20 cm wide, forming a canopy that makes it a good shade tree.

They can tolerate dry conditions as well as standing water, air pollution, and salt. These factors and its beauty contribute to its growing popularity as both a boulevard and ornamental tree in colder areas.

Northern Catalpa produces long bean-like capsules and are sometimes called the Cigar Tree in reference to this fruit.

Compare Hoopsii Spruce with

Compare Northern Catalpa (Cigar Tree) with