Photos from a small conifer-nut gathering in Oregon

11 years ago

I had the pleasure of making a brief visit with two great nurseries, a fantastic conifer garden and the honor of meeting and hanging out with five conifer nuts in Silverton, Oregon this past Monday. Dave Olszyk, Edwin Smits and Henk van Kempen spent four days visiting nurseries, gardens and fine beer-serving establishments, so their photos, stories and write-up of this event will be more detailed, but I can share what great times I had at least and some photos of conifers(of course!).

Driving the sleepy four hours to Silverton(thank goodness I get great mileage!), I arrived at a cold, misty-blown, windy Western Evergreen Nursery, owned and operated by Jason Hupp, of the Hupp family/Drakes Crossing Nursery/Christmas tree farm. Jason is a conifer seedling master in the industry, discovering, examing and introducing dozens of plants and simply ignoring hundreds more that aren't worthy to his attention. With literally unlimited seedling selections, new gold forms of Abies nordmanniana and tiny, miniature seedlings of Picea pungens are so common, he doesn't get too excited too easily. The four of us, me, perhaps more than most, starred excitedly at his many seedlings, unique cultivar offerings and other trade stock Jason has been stockpiling for future release. I pried five newer, not yet released plants that I'll display photos of once they are in the ground this Spring. Below are just a few photos Jason has shared with me over the years of plants he has discovered. Many have been selected for production and may be seen in his availability lists soon(but not soon enough for most of us!)

The weather was brutal, cold, or at least cool as you fellows in the Midwest would say, ceaselessly windy and very damp, a constant mist tried fruitlessly to dampen our fun. Jason showed us unique little dwarves from his garden that he's observing and we discussed many things coniferous as we huddled over a woodstove that had perhaps a little more flammable liquid sprayed into it than your local fire marshall might recommend.

We then traveled to Oregon Gardens, a great looking resort, right smack in Silverton that has an exceptional conifer garden as one of the many features. One of the primary curators, Doug Wilson showed us around as we wandered through this exceptionally designed, mature conifer garden. Many specimens here were 20-30 years old and perfectly spaced for maximum viewing pleasure. Mr. Wilson was a very courteous host and we shared information and short stories as the sun came out and heightened our mood. All of us came away with a new plant discovered by Doug, Picea engelmannii 'Wilson Park', a broom he discovered at a local University.

I didn't have the luxury of time as the others did and had to get home that evening so I headed over to Rare Tree Nursery where Richard(Dick Haslebacher showed me around before sunset and we exchanged scionwood and conifer cultivars. One of the greatest joys I have discovered in this great hobby is that once you have a collection and some friends, trading small pieces of wood and little grafts is very exhilirating and leads to meeting and trading with other collectors. It's a great, inexpensive joy to gardening and conifer gardening is not much different. I'll try and post some of the newer or rare plants that I came away with below and I'd love if any of the others would share their wares. Dave, in particular, had his car jammed full of goodies and looked like he was storing up conifers for some epic disaster/world plague type event. He acted twenty years younger than he was the entire time I was with him. :)

A few rarities Jason has spotted. I will try and post more photos if Jason shares more photos with me from his discoveries. The weather was just so miserable I left my camera in my car.

A slow growing noble. Rare to us, can of corn to Jason. Life's not fair sometimes!
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A creamy-white, stunning Abies nordmanniana seedling.
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A variegated noble fir. I believe this plant burned quite a bit, but boy is this photo a classic.
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Next, some photos from Rare Tree Nursery, the wholesale side of Conifer Kingdom, a great online source for some rare and larger sized conifers. (Link below)

Sam Pratt, the youngest conifer collector I've ever seen(or heard of), is now working at this great nursery alongside Dick and with the owner/operator Brent Markus.

Brent is dedicated to finding rare, unusual and beautiful plants of all types, but focusing mostly on conifers and Japanese maples. Walking through the nursery is a bit like Bill Clinton walking through a pressroom full of interns. The temptation is brutal.

Picea abies 'Soft Mountain'. There are many Picea abies witches brooms and seedlings out there, too many some say because most of them look alike. Fortunately this cultivar with it's unusual texture, hump like branch formations and unusual foliage make it a keeper and distinct from the masses. This cultivar was discovered by Dick Haslebacher. It's worth noting a few of the dead spots are from transplanting, and shouldn't be present in a mature, healthy specimen.
{{gwi:637968}}

Pinus mugo 'Suncrest'
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Pinus mugo 'Carstens' - WoW factor.
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Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Lutea' - A stunningly bright and beautiful plant. I have NO idea why I haven't grown this plant yet.
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Pinus parviflora 'Ron's Broom'
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Pinus cembroides 'Pina Nevada' - Very very rare!
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Pinus sylvestris 'Moseri'
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I didn't see a tag, but my hunch is that it's Thuja orientalis 'Franky Boy'. What a $@#*$& cool plant.
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Picea abies 'Susan' - A new plant with a very narrow habit.
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Picea abies 'Suncrest' - A stunning plant, moving into my top 25 favorites for it's color and slow growth.
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Picea glauca var. albertiana 'Daisy’s White'
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A few more photos from the canyard.
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Man...
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-Will

Here is a link that might be useful: Conifer Kingdom Nursery

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Comments (36)

PRO
David Olszyk, President, American Conifer Society
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for the prelude, Will. I'll try to add to the text later and add pictures when I get home tomorrow. The abysmal weather kept me from taking any on site pictures this week, so I'll only say that I've added some important plants to my collection and learned a lot about some of the cultivars.

Nice hanging out with you and all the rest this week.

Dave
zephyrgal
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Oh Geesh Will!

I wish I had known the conifer dignitaries were town as I would have been honored to meet and greet you and our fellow tree friends. Had you traveled on the Oregon coast you may have passed my gardens. I'm only 3 hours from the Oregon Gardens. Nonethelss, thanks always for your stories and photos.
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tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for kicking off the tour, Will.
I look forward to follow-up posts.

tj
monkeytreeboy15
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for the shout-out, Will.
Looking forward to your next stop. I will keep you updated on how the grafting of your scions goes!

Looking forward to hearing more from the rest of the crew...

-Sam
Garen Rees
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I feel like a little kid looking at pictures of Disneyland. Thanks! =)
Cher
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Always such fun to hear of these great outings. The photos are fantastic and I look forward to seeing and hearing from the others also.
Cher
sprucebud
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thank you for sharing this with us. So many great places to see in your part of the world it seems.
Richard
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
as we huddled over a woodstove that had perhaps a little more flammable liquid sprayed into it than your local fire marshall might recommend.

==>> thats hilarious ... lol ..

the can yard.. rare tree???

thanks for the tour..

ken
gardener365
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Love Hupp's creamy nordmann.
Thanks looking forward to more photos, stories, etc-

Dax
botann
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What a great trip Will! Conifers, friends, and beer around a hot woodstove. Doesn't get much better than that.
I'll be going down there this year for sure.
I visited Sandy and Boring last year while staying near Zigzag. (Whelches) Nurseries everywhere!
I used to buy all my sod when I was landscaping from JB Sod in Silverton, Oregon. They have the best around.
Mike, near Maple Valley, Wa.
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wonderful tour notes! Can't wait to see more.

Josh
Embothrium
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Where are the pictures of conifer nut gathering? I don't see anyone with pinyon or stone pine seeds.
brentm
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Will-

Thanks for posting the photos.

Picea abies 'Susan' was found by Susan Jones, who was the manager at Mitsch Nursery until it closed this past summer. It was a chance seedling beneath 40+ year old Weeping Norway spruces. We're hoping that as a cultivated conifer, Picea abies 'Susan' could be as stately as a Picea glauca 'Pendula'

Mitsch Nursery was one of the original dwarf conifer nurseries in the US and was on par with Iseli for years. During the 2000's (and likely in the 1990's as well) it was in major decline and a shell of it's 1960's-1980's size. Where the nursery once stood is being converted to additional acreage for the adjacent vegetable farm.

The Picea abies 'Soft Mountain' is a beautiful plant, but when the nursery moved from Salem to Silverton, and it was healed in as a B&B plant through irrigation construction, etc it declined. After this year, the Mother plant will be looking even nicer.

-Brent
brentm
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
And yes, those chia-pet looking things are Thuja orientalis 'Franky Boy' - if they get too unkempt (typically after 2-3yrs), they can be given a buzz-cut.
whaas_5a
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Nice pics, thanks for sharing. That Picea abies 'Suncrest' is a nice plant. My dog trampled on mine and it split in three. So nice I have to get another now!

Is that a sea of Pice abies 'Vermont Gold'? Another nice plant that surprised me with its season long gold that didn't burn in part sun.
brentm
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Yes, a sea of Picea abies 'Vermont Gold' - they're in 30% shade with Picea orientalis 'Skylands' in the distance.

Shade only goes over a few varieties.
PRO
David Olszyk, President, American Conifer Society
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Here's a montage of my scion collecting while on the trip. With the rain such as it was, I decided to lay everything out and let the scions dry overnight.

First an overview. 15 different and diverse cultivars.
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some of the more interesting specimens:
Pinus heldreichii 'Clumpleaf'
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Picea glauca 'Jake Harrison'
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Pinus thunbergii 'Ichiyo' another clumpleaf selection.
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Picea abies 'Capitata'
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Picea abies 'Krnak' What can I say, I have a think for clumpy conifers.
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The piceas and abies all got grafted yesterday. I hope for a solid take so I have a new batch of trading material.

While we were at Stanley and Sons, we encountered probably one of the oddest conifers I've ever seen. I know what it is as well as the story. Anyone care to guess what we're looking at here?
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closeup:
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This was an outstanding outing that I hope to repeat on a yearly basis.

~Dave
severnside
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
That is a truly bizarre, er...thing.
PRO
David Olszyk, President, American Conifer Society
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
good guess. I forgot to mention that this is the original plant and is roughly 15 years old. Its germination coincided with a celestial anomaly. (I hope I didn't just give it away).

~Dave
monkeytreeboy15
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
When you said "celestial anomaly," I immediately thought Picea pungens 'Ruslyn's Blue Moon'.. But that is obviously not what this is.

My guess is a Cryptomeria japonica.. perhaps a witch's broom from 'Cristata'?

-Sam
PRO
David Olszyk, President, American Conifer Society
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Sam,

it definitely looks like a Cryptomeria, but that's the wrong genus. You are correct in that it's in the Cupressaceae family. Keep going. LOL

~Dave
monkeytreeboy15
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My final guess, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana of some sort?

-Sam
PRO
David Olszyk, President, American Conifer Society
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
sorry, Sam. That's strike two.

not Cryptomeria.
not Ch. lawsoniana, although like Lawson Cypress, this is a cultivar of a North American species also in the Cupressaceae family.

Adding to the mystery, there are probably fewer than 20 of these plants in the hands of collectors.

Another clue -- it is a seedling selection, not a broom or other branch mutation.

~Dave
monkeytreeboy15
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
It couldn't be Cupressus vietnamensis, could it?

(Third time's the charm...)

-Sam
ishcountrygal
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Glaciers-End/Dave, your clues are intriguing.

"... is roughly 15 years old. Its germination coincided with a celestial anomaly."

The conifer sure looks like an anomaly. Not sure what qualifies as a celestial anomaly. Could it be a 1997 comet?

-m

Here is a link that might be useful: Hale-Bopp
tunilla
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I wouldn't know about it's identity, but if my eyes don't deceive me, this looks like a serious case of cristation... T.
bluespruce53
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'll have a stab in the dark that it's Sedum reflexum 'Cristatum' ...
botann
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I thought it was a fasciated sedum from the start, but when you said it was a conifer, I was lost.
I have a few Sedums that have fasciated, but not near as nice as that. Most tend to revert. I suspect the cause in some cases to be Roundup.
Mike
PRO
David Olszyk, President, American Conifer Society
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
IshCountryGal is on the right track. You are very close to the actual cultivar name.

~Dave
maple_grove_gw
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Then I think it must be Thuja plicata 'Haley Bop'.

Stanley and Sons description seems to fit the bill: A miniature variety of Western Red Cedar. No leaves, just a moss like velvet of green. Like a cocks-comb material but not in a straight array. Grows about 1/4 of an inch a year. Found in seedling bed in Weyerhaeuser tree farm by Dick North.

Alex

This post was edited by maple_grove on Mon, Jan 14, 13 at 10:54
gardener365
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
looks to me like a balsam fir with the outline of a Picea sitchensis.

Da
PRO
David Olszyk, President, American Conifer Society
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
. . . and Alex comes up with the correct answer. Well done!

Now the question for the ages -- if the comet's name is Hale-Bopp, why did Dick and Larry publish the name as, Thuja plicata 'Haley Bop?'

Dick North is no longer with us, so he can't be of any help. Perhaps I'll send an email to Larry to see if he was actually in on the naming process.

~Dave
Sara Malone Zone 9b
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Many people pay no attention to spelling. I sign my name 'Sara' to my emails and the vast majority of responses begin 'Dear Sarah..' I don't care, but then I don't have Edwin policing my email!
ogcon
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Nice to see you once again,Will and Dave.Thanks for bringing Henk and Edwin by the O.G.
Just for claification ,the Engelman broom is Willson Park
named for the park adjacent to the state capitol building in Salem where the broom was found.Its a tight midget for
sure.
ishcountrygal
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
How does one get from "Hale-Bopp" to "Haley Bop"? Well, you have to be of a certain age.

Bill Haley & the Comets was a rock and roll band and The Bop was a dance in the 50's.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rock around the Clock
ishcountrygal
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
A question. Are the terms "fasciation" and "cristation" interchangeable for conifers?

-m

Photos from a small conifer-nut gathering in Oregon

Comments (36)

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