About Abies grandis ‘Grandiose’: We have always had a fascination with variegated conifers, always on the look out for sports, and the even more elusive trees, that show color variegation. The coloration is usually easiest to identify when the conditions are overcast or at dusk. We found this young Grand fir tree in the backroads of the Cascade Mountains of eastern Washington in November 2020 during our expedition to harvest other specimens. We were on our way home in the late afternoon, just after harvesting Abies amabilis ‘Little Star’ when this colorful conifer was spotted.
This is the second Grand fir variegated tree that we have found. The other, Abies grandis ‘Grand Prize’ was discovered a few years ago, and the grafted cultivars of ‘Grand Prize’ are doing very well, even in the eastern Washington high desert conditions. We are hoping for the same results with this new cultivar, Abies grandis ‘Grandiose’ as the coloration is more diffuse for this specimen.
Abies grandis ‘Grandiose’ scions were grafted immediately after harvest, in November 2020, and the buds and cambium looked very healthy!
