Abies procera ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ is a new cultivar of a Noble fir broom. It was found by Mike & Cheryl Davison at White Pass in the Cascade Mountain range. Others have said that this cultivar rivals Abies procera ‘Blaue Hexe’ because of its beauty, vigorous nature, and it is more easily propagated. It is a vibrant powdery blue color with dense foliage, and vigorous budding along the length of the scions.
Most of the well known Noble fir cultivars in the industry arise from seedlings discovered in Christmas tree farms whereas the origin of this cultivar is from a bud mutation which formed a broom.
We snowshoed in uphill nearly 2 miles to retrieve the broom in February 2018, and the downhill trip back was much more enjoyable! We also retrieved more scions from a colorful Doug fir specimen, Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Harlequin’ on the same trail on the same trip. ‘Harlequin’ was also grafted successfully in the fall of 2017!
