Abies procera ‘Mt. Hood Summit’ is a new cultivar from a lovely noble fir broom discovered along the White River, next to a hiking trail with dramatic views of Mt. Hood! The broom is at the summit of the tree enjoying views of the summit of the mountain! Harvest time, day 1, lots of wind and rain! First attempt was close to a disaster, almost got the drone stuck in the tree! Since we were more or less rained out, we decided to explore the back roads and discovered 2 other nice brooms, both much easier to reach! Abies amabilis ‘Sweet 16’ and Abies procera ‘Anew Blue’! So day 1 turned out well after all! I guess Mike’s ulcer was worth it! But we were determined to get a piece of that elusive ‘Mt. Hood Summit’ and returned, day 2, for another try! After several hours of challenges, we were able to finally harvest only a few scions from the broom! The harvested branches have numerous buds hidden within the tightly packed needles. The annual growth of Abies procera ‘Mt. Hood Summit’ appears to be about 1 inch. The branchlets and scions that were collected for grafting have an appearance of an Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir)! How cool!
