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.
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’!
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’!
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!
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!
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!
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’!
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!
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!
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’!!!!
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!
