Picea

This black spruce broom Picea mariana ‘Sand River’ was discovered while maneuvering through a bog to harvest Picea mariana ‘MinneHaHa’! This broom had numerous small cones. Seeds from the broom cones were germinated and we saved the seedlings that exhibited a miniature growth rate. The broom scions also grafted well! One of the ‘Sand River’ specimens is on display at the beautiful Oregon Garden arboretum in Silverton.

Picea mariana 'Sand River' broom
Picea mariana ‘Sand River’ broom
Close up of black spruce broom 'Sand River'.
Close up of black spruce broom ‘Sand River’ showing small growth rate.
Picea mariana 'Sand River' cultivar on display at the Oregon Garden Arboretum.
Picea mariana ‘Sand River’ cultivar on display in the Davison collection at the Oregon Garden Arboretum.

Picea

7 summers of growth, Picea mariana 'MinneHaHa'
Picea mariana ‘MinneHaHa’ graft, 7th summer, understock still attached!

This black spruce broom with tiny needles and a miniature growth rate was the first Picea mariana broom that we discovered. This tiny broom was located in a wetlands bog in Upper Michigan along the shore of Lake Superior near Marquette Michigan. It was so small that it was difficult to graft and we have only a few surviving specimens. Since it was along the Shores of Gitche Gumee (Lake Superior) near Hiawatha National Forest, and because of it’s miniature size, we named this cultivar ‘MinneHaHa’!

Tiny scions of black spruce broom 'MinneHaHa'
Tiny scions from Picea mariana ‘MinneHaHa’ in February 2014
Tiny graft of miniature cultivar Picea mariana 'MinneHaHa'
Picea mariana ‘MinneHaHa’ graft

Pinus

This Pinus banksiana broom cultivar was found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan along the shore of Lake Superior in Marquette County. Cheryl was all excited and jumping up and down when she found this tiny cute Jack Pine broom! Therefore, the name became ‘Jumpin’ Jack’!

Jack pine broom cultivar 'Jumpin' Jack' with numerous buds and tiny needles.
Pinus banksiana ‘Jumpin’ Jack’ new cultivar with lots of buds and tiny needles!

Pseudotsuga

Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Cooper’s Torch’ holds up well in full sun! June 2022
Golden Doug fir with golden cones
Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Cooper’s Torch’ is producing golden cones! 2023

This beautiful golden douglas fir tree was planted by Mr. Harold Cooper as a seedling in the 1970’s. It was one of numerous Pseudotsuga menziesii seedlings that were planted to reforest the land for his logging company. Mr. Cooper, who is now in his 90’s, noted that the tree has been a golden color since it was planted. Mike spotted the tree on the hillside in Morton, Washington while traveling back from a visit with Bob Fincham at the Coenosium Gardens in Eatonville. Mr. Cooper’s son graciously provided a tree climber to harvest cuttings for grafting. The cuttings of this new cultivar ‘Cooper’s Torch’ were obtained in January 2019, and they pushed vigorously and beautifully, retaining their intense golden color! Interestingly, one can observe a slower growth rate of this golden tree than the other Douglas fir trees planted at the same time on the hillside, presumably because this specimen with it’s golden color, has less chlorophyll. This “outstanding” golden Douglas fir tree can be seen from Google Earth!

Pseudotsuga menziesii, Douglas fir, chance seedling on a hillside in Morton, Washington!
This Pseudotsuga menziesii, Douglas fir, chance seedling was observed by Mike on a hillside in Morton, Washington!
Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Cooper's Torch' from the ground.
A view of Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Cooper’s Torch’ from the ground.
Douglas fir chance seedling 'Cooper's Torch' is an intense golden color!
This Douglas fir chance seedling ‘Cooper’s Torch’ is an intense golden color!

Abies

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!

Abies procera 'Mt. Hood Summit' high up at the "summit" of the noble fir tree.
Abies procera ‘Mt. Hood Summit’ cell phone photo.
Don’t try this at home! (Or in the woods!) Scary Scary Scary!!!
Aerial view of Abies procera 'Mt. Hood Summit', drone photo.
Harvest time, day 2! Aerial view of Noble fir broom, Abies procera ‘Mt. Hood Summit’ with Mike & Cheryl bottom center piloting the drone!
Close up of Abies procera 'Mt. Hood Summit'
Close up of a branchlet of Abies procera ‘Mt. Hood Summit’! Ready for grafting, Fall 2019!
Close up of Abies procera 'Mt. Hood Summit' with numerous buds buried within tightly packed needles.
A close up of Abies procera ‘Mt. Hood Summit’. It has numerous buds buried within tightly packed needles. Almost has an Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir) appearance.
dark buds on Nobel fir new cultivar 'Mt. Hood Summit'
Freshly grafted Abies procera ‘Mt. Hood Summit’
Close up, freshly grafted scion, Abies procera 'Mt. Hood Summit' new cultivar
Close up of the new cultivar Abies procera ‘Mt. Hood Summit’
Noble fir new cultivar scion, 'Mt. Hood Summit' with dark buds.
Abies procera ‘Mt. Hood Summit’ new graft with dark buds.
Abies procera "Mt Hood Summit' 1 year old graft
Abies procera ‘Mt Hood Summit’ 1 year old graft

Picea

This intense blue Engelmann spruce broom was found in the Cascade Mountain range of the Pacific Northwest, between Yakima and Mt Rainier, on a forest service road. Must have driven past it 50+ times before discovering it one day when the light was hitting it just right!

Beautiful Engelmann spruce broom perched on a branch waiting to be discovered.
‘Shades of Blue’ Engelmann perched nicely on a branch and waiting to be discovered!
Mike harvesting Picea engelmanni broom 'Shades of Blue' in November 2019.
Harvest time 2019…elk hunting season, orange required !
Cheryl admiring and photographing freshly harvested Engelmann broom.
Engelmann spruce broom cultivar waiting to be grafted!
Beautiful Engelmann spruce broom has dense growth pattern and intense shades of blue.
Picea engelmannii ‘Shades of Blue’ resembles a sitka!

Abies

Abies lasiocarpa 'Stampede Pass' with tiny new growth
Abies lasiocarpa ‘Stampede Pass’

About Abies lasiocarpa ‘Stampede Pass’: Mike & Cheryl found this cute subalpine fir broom, while picking huckleberries in the Stampede Pass area of the Cascade Mountain range of Washington in August 2018. The Abies lasiocarpa tree was struggling and the only healthy looking part was the fir broom. It was oblong with a dense growth pattern, measuring 16x13x10 inches in dimension. The annual growth on this cultivar is less than 1/2 inch and the needles are tiny and bluish green. We took a few scions as an experiment in the fall of 2018 and they pushed beautifully, and some even had a second push! Since the tree is struggling, we took the broom in November 2019 (not accessible after snowfall), and named it Abies lasiocarpa ‘Stampede Pass’!

Subalpine fir broom 'Stampede Pass'
Abies lasiocarpa ‘Stampede Pass’ broom discovered in August 2018, surrounded by Abies amabilis trees!
Cheryl picking huckleberries in the Stampede Pass area.
Abies lasiocarpa ‘Stampede Pass’ was found while picking huckleberries in August 2018! Fun day!!!
Nice bowl of huckleberries, future huckleberry pie!
Huckleberries! Yum! Huckleberry pie!
Abies lasiocarpa 'Stampede Pass' with purple buds in the spring!
Purple buds, color coordinated to match the huckleberries growing beneath the lasiocarpa tree!

Remarkably, the new buds are shades of purple, similar to the huckleberries, in the patch where it was discovered! Maybe the name ‘Huckleberry’ would have been more fitting!

Mike harvesting Abies lasiocarpa 'Stampede Pass' broom from the struggling subalpine fir tree, November 2019.
Abies lasiocarpa ‘Stampede Pass’ harvest November 2019, measures 16x13x10 inches in dimension!
Tiny Abies lasiocarpa scion with small needles!
Tiny scion, ‘Stampede Pass’ 2018
A single tiny Abies lasiocarpa broom scion pushing with multiple buds!
Starting to push! Spring 2019!
Abies lasiocarpa 'Stampede Pass' looking promising!
‘Stampede Pass’ scion from Autumn 2018, pushing in the Spring, 2019.
Abies lasiocarpa 'Stampede Pass' scion with second push, multiple buds, during the summer of 2019.
‘Stampede Pass’, September 2019, multiple buds, second push!
Subalpine fir new cultivar with purple buds, 'Stampede Pass'
Abies lasiocarpa ‘Stampede Pass’ May 2020, pretty in purple!
Subalpine fir 'Stampede Pass' spring push 2022
Abies lasiocarpa ‘Stampede Pass’ starting spring push, 2022

Abies

Pacific silver fir 'White Pass' cultivar with horizontal growth pattern.
Abies amabilis ‘White Pass’ grafted specimen 2023

Abies amabilis ‘White Pass’ is a columnar growing Pacific silver fir broom found up in the White Pass area in the Cascade Mountain Range of Washington on Labor Day weekend in 2018. We used our snow-shoes to access and harvest the broom in January 2019. The upright growing broom was dense and measured about 4 by 2 feet in dimension. This new Abies amabilis cultivar grafted well with nearly 100% take! Surprisingly, the new cultivars so far have a horizontal growth pattern. Time will tell if the growth pattern becomes more vertical like the broom!

Cheryl finding cool columnar Pacific fir broom!
“Eureka! I have found it!”
Close up of Abies amabilis 'White Pass' upright broom.
Close up of Abies amabilis ‘White Pass’
Cheryl excited to harvest the Abies amabilis 'White Pass broom in January!
Successful harvest of Pacific silver fir broom ‘White Pass’! It landed on it’s feet (trunk)!
Abies amabilis 'White Pass'
Abies amabilis ‘White Pass’
Abies amabilis 'White Pass'
Abies amabilis ‘White Pass’

Abies

Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ is a beautiful Pacific silver fir broom! It was discovered on a mountain hillside densely covered with relatively young 10-15 ft tall Abies amabilis trees. The broom, perched near the top of the tree, shows off silvery undersides and multiple upright “shooting” leaders! The broom measured 30 inches tall, and 18 inches wide! It was extremely difficult to access the broom, while maneuvering a 16 foot pole saw uphill, around heavily branched trees that seemed less than 2 feet apart!… Look out ‘Spreading Star’!… Here comes ‘Shooting Star’!!!!

Beautiful Pacific silver fir broom
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ is a beautiful Pacific silver fir broom!
Pacific fir broom ‘Shooting Star’ harvest time November 2019
Harvest time November 2019
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ with silvery undersides and multiple upright “shooting”   leaders!
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ showing off silvery undersides and multiple upright “shooting” leaders!
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ Pacific fir broom measures 30 inches tall, 18 inches wide. And very heavy!
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ measures 30 inches tall, 18 inches wide. And very heavy!
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ grafts in the Spring of 2019
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ grafts in the Spring of 2019, from our first attempt, harvesting a few scions in the Autumn of 2018.
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ grafts pushing in Spring 2019
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ grafts pushing in Spring 2019, from first attempt, harvesting a few scions in the Autumn 2018.
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ new Pacific fir broom cultivar Spring push  in 2020
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ grafts pushing in Spring 2020
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ new Pacific fir broom cultivar  in 2020
Abies amabilis ‘Shooting Star’ in 2020

Abies

We were up in the Mt Hood region with our goal to obtain a piece of Abies procera ‘Mt Hood Summit’ but the weather was not cooperating, with rain and high winds! After several unsuccessful attempts to retrieve some scions, we decided to travel the side roads while waiting for the weather to settle down, and found 2 new brooms! An Abies amabilis ‘Sweet 16’, and this cute Abies procera ‘Anew Blue’! Cheryl was excited because competitive Mike missed it, and she found it! Truly a rarity in more ways than one!

Abies procera  Noble fir broom 'Anew Blue' in the tree!
Abies procera ‘Anew Blue’ in situ in the tree!
Noble fir broom, posing for future landscaping
Abies procera ‘Anew Blue’ a new and rare Noble fir broom, posing for future landscaping! What a camera hog! (Take my picture!!! This is my best angle!!!)
Close up of Abies procera 'Anew Blue'  Pacific fir broom
Close up of Abies procera ‘Anew Blue’
 Close up of Abies procera  'Anew Blue', Noble fir broom
Close up of Abies procera ‘Anew Blue’, Noble fir broom
numerous buds on Abies procera new cultivar 'Anew Blue'
Successfully grafted Abies procera ‘Anew Blue’ developed numerous buds during its growing season, 2020!