About Pinus resinosa ‘Packerland’: This beautiful green and yellow variegated red pine was discovered along a country road north of Green Bay! It was found among a row of Pinus resinosa that appeared to have been planted for a windbreak. We returned on Superbowl Sunday to grab a few scions, along with cuttings of Pinus sylvestris ‘Platinum Ridge’ and Picea glauca ‘Tillie’.
This variegated Pinus resinosa tree also produces beautiful variegated cones! We have a few successful grafts in Michigan that are starting to show their color!
About Picea glauca ‘Tillie’: This coniferous conifer broom was discovered while visiting Mike’s parents who live in Green Bay, Wisconsin. On a trip to Fleet Farm with his dad, the broom was spotted on a lonely mature White Spruce tree in a field across the street. Of course, Mike insisted on his dad making a U-turn to check it out!
White spruce tree hosting ‘Tillie’ the broom!
It was quite easy to climb the tree, other than the rain, and much to our surprise, the Picea glauca broom hosted copious quantities of cones.
Picea glauca “Tillie’ with numerous cones!
Fortunately, we were able to harvest scions and cones before the tree was removed. This new Picea glauca conifer cultivar was named after Mike’s mom, whose nickname is Tillie.
Tillie’s ‘Tillie’!
A few of the seeds were germinated and produced 4 ‘Tillie’ seedlings, and they were named after her 4 children. After several years of growth, the seedlings from the broom are globose with tight compact growth, and the foliage is somewhat similar to an Alberta spruce.
Tillie and her 4 tykes!
A new Meijer superstore now stands where the lonely tree once stood.
Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Tribble’ 9 months after grafting2 year old ‘Tribble’4 year oldPseudotsuga menziesii ‘Tribble’ Spring 2022 (pretty slow growth rate for a tribble!)
About Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Tribble’: This cute little broom was spotted in the distance while Mike was up on a ladder harvesting another Douglas fir broom. The tiny growth habit and appearance reminded us of the small fictitious furry lovable species, “Tribble”, on the original series of Star Trek.
‘Tribble’ broom
“The Trouble with Tribbles”
The grafted cultivar is maintaining the cute characteristics and growth pattern of the parent broom. We are hoping that it will eventually purr! Then it will be Purr-fect!
About Picea abies ‘Froghair’: This new miniature Norway spruce cultivar was found in Yakima Washington as a witches broom at the Fisher Golf Course near one of the greens! “Froghair” is the term used to describe the very short fringe of grass around the green. It also means “extremely fine and delicate”, and so we chose the name ‘Froghair’ due to the cultivar’s diminutive size and growth habit, along with the broom’s location on the golf course! Two other brooms were discovered in the same golf course, including one of our favorites, an Abies concolor, ‘Hoop-dee-doo‘!
About Larix laricina ‘Chia’: This tiny tamarack broom was found along the Lake Superior lake shore, on the campus property of Northern Michigan University. The tiny Larix laricina broom was high amongst a natural stand of mixed conifers, and it’s silhouette could be seen in the sky at dusk. This larch cultivar ‘Chia’ is keeping the tiny growth habit of the parent broom. ‘Chia’ was the second broom we found on the NMU campus. The other was also a small, tight fir broom, Abies concolor ‘Wildcat’!
Larix laricina ‘Chia’ silhouette against the sky at duskPhoto op at harvest time, January 2015, Larix laricina ‘Chia’Larix laricina ‘Chia’ broom, harvested in January 2015
Just add understock …
Ch Ch Ch Chia!
Davison Larix collection in the early fall 2020Larix laricina ‘Chia’ autumn color change 2021!
About Larix laricina ‘Cone-ucopia’: This interesting tamarack broom was harvested at dusk in January 2016 in a larch grove in the center of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on a road trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin. The broom silhouette stood out in the evening sky! No photo of the harvest because it was too dark to photograph well! This conifer broom was one of 3 that were harvested during our road trip that day! The other two larch brooms were ‘Fuzzball’ and ‘Victory’!
Much to our surprise, there was a vacated bird’s nest in the center of the broom and the broom had a copious amount of cones! Thus, it’s name! ‘Cone-ucopia’!
We were thrilled to see this display as it’s first push!
First push!
This new cultivar of Larix laricina has a beautiful display of deep rose colored female inflorescence in the Spring!
‘Cone-ucopia’ with beautiful female inflorescence
Larix laricina ‘Cone-ucopia’ is a nice addition to the landscape!
Larix laricina ‘Cone-ucopia’, with 5 years of growth
About Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Christmas Candles’: This beautiful illuminated Douglas fir tree was spotted a week before Christmas, all decked out for the holiday season, lights included! We traveled a road in the Cascade mountains on the west side of White Pass Ski Resort. The road was still navigable, not yet explored, or closed, or filled with snow. The Pseudotsuga menziesii tree was on a rocky hillside, with moss covered loose rocks on the incline. We slipped and slided but managed to acquire a few scions! It will be fun to see if this new cultivar saves it’s color for the Christmas season, or maybe we will have ‘Christmas Candles’ illuminating the yard all year long!
Slipping and sliding to get the ‘Christmas Candles’ scionsDoug fir scions for future ‘Christmas Candles’ cultivar grafts‘Christmas Candles’
About Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Cow Pie’: We were driving a neglected dirt road in a forest of Grand fir and Doug fir on the south side of Rimrock Lake in search of conifer oddities. Instead we ran in to a woods roaming bodacious bovine! But in fact, that is not really an uncommon sight in the forests of the lower Cascade mountains of Eastern Washington, where we have encountered cute cows on numerous occasions. What made it special this time, was a nearby broom in the shape of a cow pie!
That wasn’t me !!!How did that Cow Pie get up in that tree???A Cow Pie (broom) in the front yard
We harvested Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Cow Pie’ in late November 2020, and we are anxiously awaiting to see if the new grafts will push this coming Spring! That will really stink if they don’t take!
Success! Spring push, 2022! (second push for ‘Cow Pie’)
Abies concolor ‘Wildcat’ is an interesting white fir broom discovered on the Northern Michigan University campus, home of the “Wildcats”! The broom itself was the size of a soccer ball, with dense powdery blue foliage. It grows less than 1 inch per year.
Abies concolor ‘Wildcat’ broomAbies concolor ‘Wildcat’ new cultivar with Spring push!Abies concolor ‘Wildcat’ new cultivar with Spring push!Abies concolor ‘Wildcat’ new cultivar with powder blue foliage and dark buds
Close up of colorful variegated branch, Abies grandis ‘Grandiose’
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.
Harvesting a few scions of this variegated Grand fir, ‘Grandiose’
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’ has diffuse variegations throughout the fir tree
Abies grandis ‘Grandiose’ scions were grafted immediately after harvest, in November 2020, and the buds and cambium looked very healthy!
Freshly grafted scion of Abies grandis ‘Grandiose’
