Evergreen Tree Identification

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Brian1958

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I recently had 3 new trees planted by a service. They were all to be White Firs. They are about 6-8 feet in height so assuming all are around the same age.

One of the trees appears to be a completely different color than the other two. Two of the trees are the color I expected, a blueish silvery green. The third tree is bright green. When I contacted the tree service, they told be that the one tree has not shed it's interior needles. This means nothing to me so checking to see if this is true and if so, why is it different than the other two and when should I expect the color to change?

I've attached a picture which shows the difference in color
 

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I recently had 3 new trees planted by a service. They were all to be White Firs. They are about 6-8 feet in height so assuming all are around the same age.

One of the trees appears to be a completely different color than the other two. Two of the trees are the color I expected, a blueish silvery green. The third tree is bright green. When I contacted the tree service, they told be that the one tree has not shed it's interior needles. This means nothing to me so checking to see if this is true and if so, why is it different than the other two and when should I expect the color to change?

I've attached a picture which shows the difference in color
The left one looks like a White Fir cant see the other clearly but the colors do vary.
 
Agreed, I would have color matched them.

I used to run into this in Denver. Customers would ask for a "Colorado Blue Spruce." No such thing, they are all picea pungens "coloratus", and their needle color could vary from silver blue to bright green. We would always try and color match as much as possible. I did have good luck "bluing them up" post planting with micronutrients, mostly iron, copper, and zinc, but it usually took a season or 2. Ironically, Miracle-Gro for acid loving plants seemed to work really well to do this, but my evidence is just anecdotal and based on my personal research and experience.
 
The color difference is obvious. Curious if what I was told about it shedding it's interior needles and will change colors is correct.
No...shedding interior needles doesn't change colors of remaining needles. The bluish color is a waxy coating on the needles. Pull one off of one of the "correct" trees and buff it between your fingers. You will see it turn green. Now, crush and smell the needle. Then, go crush and smell a needle off of the "wrong" tree. Do they smell the same? If so, it is probably a white fir...just without the genetic tendency to produce as much waxy coating on the needle. (same thing @TheJollyLogger described with Blue spruce).

Did your contract call for 3 White fir (Abies concolor)? If so, there may be no violation of contract on their part. Does that mean they they did you right? No, not at all. It may be all that they had at the nursery. Or they may have ordered 3 White fir from the nursery without seeing them and this is what they got. I'd ask them to commit to replacing the tree if it doesn't turn white in the next year or two (it won't). My guess is they are trying to delay long enough to get passed the warranty. You have a living tree through the warranty.

Or, did the contract call for a named cultivar of White fir? If so, I suspect these are different cultivars. However, many fir are simply seed grown and aren't listed by cultivar.
 
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