Larix laricina 'Mighty Mushroom'

Pinus strobus 'Brule'

Larix laricina 'Tree Hugger'

Larix laricina 'Tree Hugger'

Larix laricina 'Winter Surprise'

Larix laricina 'Winter Surprise'

Picea glauca 'Josh's Ornament'

Picea mariana 'Pisew Falls'

Pinus strobus 'Josh's Ornament'

Pinus strobus 'Josh's Ornament'

Populus tremuloides 'Dark Forest'

Nice pics Joe (or is this Josh?)!

Do you happen to have any pics of a propogated Populus tremuloides 'Dark Forest'? Also curious as to wheather it has the typical yellow fall color.

Thanks!

Sweet brooms........

Dax

Very nice indeed ..

They are all really nice brooms. Good finds.
Jeff

I applaud the efforts of your sturdy band of broom hunters. I hope that you will eventually find as many new cultivars as that Jerry Morris guy.

Do finished plants or scionwood ever become available for sale? I already have 5-6 Edelweiss cultivars, but somehow feel that I need more of them.

Keep up the good work,
~Dave

This post was edited by Glaciers-End on Mon, Jan 21, 13 at 17:11

This is Josh, I can't imagine Joe will ever get on here. ;)

I have personally found and marked 500-550 brooms, across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and UP Michigan.

There will be several brooms avaliable for sale in the next year or two, Joe and I collected a pile of brooms last year, and they are on the way now.

Populus tremuloides 'Dark Forest' was collected last year for the first time, we will collect more in the next few weeks, and send it out for propagation. It has the normal yellow fall color.

Very nice stuff, Josh. You and Joe keep up the good hunt.

tj

Josh, shouldn't that area where you collect stuff really be turned into the world's largest open-pit iron ore mine? Just looks like a waste of land...all those trees and nothing else!

+oM

Hi Josh,
Looking at your pics makes me feel that I had some of these brooms in my own hands.
Isn't that strange? ;0)

I forgot to mention that this post was written by me.
Coniferjoy.

Hi Josh, love the two little strobus WBs especially the moss mound form of 'Brule', always sweet on them cause when I was a kid it was the first tree I ever planted. Currently have Angel Falls, Sea Urchin and Louie, that covers quite a lot of colors and forms but there's always room for another! Keep me posted. ps, your strobus portrait would make a great Christmas card next year! ;-) Cheers,

Thanks for posting these, Josh. I especially like the Picea mariana 'Pisew Falls'. I'll have to get my hands on that one soon. Do you have pictures of Abies balsamea 'Josh's Ornament' or Abies balsamea 'Frozen Fingers'?

Tom, the giant open-pit mine in the middle of pristine wilderness is a great idea! Perhaps the toxic chemical waste that will inevitably seep into the environment will cause a large amount of genetic mutations and therefore more brooms!

Matt

Josh, would you be so kind to send me a mail for personal conversation?
Zsolt

Awesome finds! I too love P. strobus and its cultivars. From your posted brooms, I particularly like L. laricina 'mighty mushroom'.

You mentioned that your selections will be available at some point in the next year or two. Please share who to contact about getting our hands on these grafts!

Tom, Walker is already trying to turn NE WI into an open pit mine... :-/

Pinus strobus is ~2' thick and 7-8' long, its a beautiful broom.

Matt, I didn't have a good camera when I found Abies balsamea 'Josh's Ornament', and the broom is now dead, but I know that Gary Gee, Dennis, Joe, and a couple growers in the west have it going, so there should be pictures in the next year or two of nice specmines. It was a perfict sphere about 2.5' in diameter, with 1/2-3/4" annual growth.

If anyone has any contacts in Manitoba, I would LOVE to get some of Pisew Falls, but its almost 7 hours north of Winnipeg... North west side of the parking area.

http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/parks/popular_parks/northeast/pisew.html

Dennis Hermsen, Gary Gee, Joe Breau should all have plants avaliable in the next year or two of many of our collections. Some of the very special selections may be a little farther out, due to limited scions.

Good, then you got my reference. That was, of course, what I was getting at. For those that would like more info, read up on proposed changes to mining regulations in Wisconsin. This is looking real bad.

But that's off topic. I'm not much for brooms and such but I did find it interesting to see you guys finding them on tamarack. Don't hear much about that.

+oM

You guy are making me mad!Not at you,at me! I should of started 25yrs. ago! seeing you climbing those trees is a young mans game.getting old just sucks!Great hunting you have done and happy hunting in the future.looks like great mission you are on!Stay safe!Would love to see more.Thanks for the pics!
Rob

"Band of Broomhunters"...I like that title very much!
This make's me more proud to say that I'm one of them :0)

Here's a link to the story (with audio) of what the guys were up to in the north woods -- very inspirational. I really want to join in on the fun next winter.

Kudos go to Joe, Josh, Dennis, Gary, Rich, Bill, Henk and Edwin (and probably a few other friends I haven't met yet). Thanks for adding to the richness in variety of collectable conifers.

~Dave

. . . via Minnesota Public Radio

Here is a link that might be useful: an account of the broom hunt

I was driving to work listening to Minnesota public radio when the piece on witches broom came on. Was FANTASTIC!, some excellent P.R. for the hobby

23 hits, nice work!

Thats a sad but inspiring story about Josh continuing to pursue his passion.

Thanks for the link. Can't believe there is a broomer up in Hayward. We have a cabin up on the flowage.

Did you guys encounter any bobcats? Looks like Joe was prepared with his shotgun shown in the pic, lol.

Coniferjoy,
I think we should call owerselfs the Brotherhood of Broomhunters (International). Ha Ha
Dennis

Dennis, you're right, we're the Brotherhood of Broomhunters, from now one we're gonna use this name for us fellow broomhunting guys!
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We found quite a few brooms on tamarack (Larix laricina), here are some:

'D.B.B.'
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'Filip's Nice 'n Tight'
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'Sweet Baby Joe'
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'Rich Damn Fool'
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'Winter Surprise II'
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Piece of 'Winter Surprise II'
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That fascinates me that 'D.B.B.' appears to be dominant over the tree's natural crown. A quick chainsaw amputation of that crown and you have one giant cultivar, on its own roots no less! It must be beautiful when fully "needled out".

Is this one being propagated as well? As opposed to many collectors, I enjoy the medium to large brooms/cultivars as much if not more than the dwarf and mini ones.

Evan, all these brooms are propagated by Gary Gee, Dennis Hermsen and Edelweiss Nursery.
You can inform there in fall if they have plants availlable of these beauties...