Alberta Spruce

[Aaron the Great]

Noob question here.
An Alberta Spruce had been on my wish list for a few years now. Because my lack of any form of a budget, I'm regulated to seeds and cuttings. No complaints though, seed and cuttings are fun when you get them.
Spruce is a completely new species for one, I don't have one and never have had one. Looking at all of the spruce bonsai they are nearly all alberta spruce. When I go to a home improvement store they carry a bunch of Alberta spruce. However I can't find Alberta Spruce seeds. I can find seeds for a bunch of other spruce but not Alberta. Is Alberta like a nickname for another spruce or am I missing something?

 

[Empty Mountain]

Dwarf Alberta Spruce is a cultivar of white spruce Picea glauca. It isn't propogated by seed, any tree grown from seed would be the regular white spruce.

 

[Aaron the Great]

Ok that explains it, so no going the seed route for this tree.
Thanks for the explanation

 

[Kodama]

I'll just add an opinion that if you are stretched on a budget, there might be possibly better options you can collect for free or dig up from someones yard (with permission). Alberta Spruce has some bonsai potential but really search the forums here and you'll find out why they can actually be difficult.

 

[Coppersdad]

In our area, "dwarf Alberta Spruce" are commonly sold in most of the big box stores, especially the "bargain" ones that may have less variety in their nursery department. At the end of the season, it's often easy to find the left over stock at huge discounts. This was ideal for me when I began as I had a very limited budget.
If you do acquire one or another for your collection, do keep in mind they are often "stubborn" when wired. That is, they may try to resume their former shape when you remove the wire. Reshaping the limbs and trunk may require more patience and more time with wire on that some other species.

 

[RobGA]

My local lowes had about 20 leftovers at 75% off.