Western Evergreen offers intermediate and large growing conifers for the most part as well as some smaller dwarves. A big part of Jason's offerings are liners of various species that can be readily used for grafting or mass planting, at remarkable prices. Though Jason generally doesn't have time for in-person visits, my trip also uncovered a very large number of new and unique cultivars. Drake's Crossing Nursery(Christmast tree farm) has fields and fields of conifers growing for the Christmas tree business and one huge advantage for Jason is this provides a massive amount of plants and irregular seedlings that Jason finds, observes and occasionally introduces. Thuja plicata 'Whipcord', Abies procera 'Delbar's Cascade', and Acer palmatum 'Hupp's Dwarf' are just some of the more well known introductions by the family over the year.

Jason is a collector and plant lover himself, and a tour around his 1/2 acre garden displays a few dozen completely unique and interesting conifer cultivars. A nice blue fluffy white pine(strobus), a very unique small weeping noble fir, wildly variegated Bosnian pines and highly irregular/unusual seedlings of several other species are present. As a collector, this presents something of a 'back-stage' pass and for me, easily justified the 5+ hours of driving. I'll highlight some of the cooler newer plants in the 'Abies procera' gallery I hope to get started in the next few days.

Most of the newer plants Jason has found are still under observation though expect to see some introduced in the near future. The nursery still has some great offerings, and as highlighted in my online nursery review page, the prices are excellent as well. Naturally because it's a shipping process and largely a one-man operation, Jason appreciates larger/bulk orders, but if you could only afford a half dozen trees, Jason may still be able to accomodate you. Jason primarily sells gallons and 'liners', which are one-year plants usually. I've included a few shots to give you an idea what to expect. Whether you need 100 small giant redwood seedlings or a few dozen conifer cultivars, Western Evergreen nursery should be an appealing option.

These are mostly one-gallon offerings. Like Coenosium Gardens and Porterhowse farms, Jason insists on selling older gallon plants, not one-year grafts in gallon pots.

The 'drool' area, Jason's stock plants include some real doozies! I tried to shoplift a few, but he's very organized and his cat prowls the nursery dutifully.

-Will

~Dave

We can swap some golden seedlings too. I have one put aside with your name on it Dave.

-Will

-Matt

~Tina

now.. did i miss it.. didnt you buy anything???

ken

Thanks,

Dan

I traded a few plants for some goodies, mostly plants that are under observation still. Most are noble fir cultivars, my favorite conifer but I'll post a few of the evaluation plants here.

Note the brackets instead of the use of an apostrophy, which designates these plants are not officially registered, released or named and are still under an evaluation period.

Picea pungens [Mint Julep]. A smaller, spreading Colorado spruce dwarf. Jason found the original plant in a neighbors yard. He's unsure if it's worth releasing to this point.

Picea abies [Dwarf Cupressina]. Noteworthy for it's very compact dwarf growth which resembles Picea mariana 'Blue Teardrop'. I've asked Jason for a photo of his plant. It was COOL.

-Will

I especially love the Mint Julip, I'm so drawn to the blues.

~Tina

Looking forward to his upcoming intros. He planned to add them as they became available so just check the list occasionally!

Will, btw is it tenatively Dwarf or Slow? I imagine its a dwarf/slower growing version of 'Cupressina'?

Abies procera [Tolines Farm WB(top)]. Another new plant under observation, this is a very dwarf witches broom from a field-grown Abies procera. The actual tree had what appeared to be two witches brooms, or rather a broom and then at the top of that broom, another smaller one.

Here is the broom in the field.

-Will

Dax

I was just oogling the images again, up at the beginning of this thread... What is the orangish conifer in the third image? If you happen to know? Just wondering as it leaps out of the image. :P

~Tina

:)

While there are some 'orange' conifers, this is usually a Winter color caused by the cold and is not present in the Summer.

The best I am aware of is Thuja orientalis 'Morgan'. Truely a wonderful Orange for months at a time.

-Will

Sad to think it's a dead one Will, ah well. :/ A few others in the mix are as well. But it does happen. As we all know!

~Tina

Nothing was done to the photos and things looked fine both in person and the photos. I wouldn't have driven hours to visit a tree nursery I thought had lousy offerings. Regarding the pots, Jason and I had a discussion about root systems and we both agreed that in many circles people overreact about root conditions, particularly in the case of very small plants. Nevertheless, I think you'll find the roots from Western Evergreen's nursery in fine shape.

Moving on, as this is the easiest way to deal with Trolls, here are a few photos of a potential future introduction:

Pinus heldreichii [Bosnian Sunrise].

Candles in May.

July.

Autumn.

Closeup.

I've asked Jason to share photos and more info about potential new releases, both to receive feedback and let collectors make wishlists.

-Will

Gotcha about trollin' ;)

~Tina

Dan

The search term Western Evergreen gives you the top hit though.

www.westernevergreen.com

mark

That's just Abies pinsapo 'Aurea'. It pushes new growth that is frosted gold by any sun exposure.

-Will