This weekend, my friend Janet and I went to a plant sale at the fairgrounds in Canby, OR. We bought a few plants, and visited with nursery owners that we knew. On the way out, we found the mother of all Douglas fir brooms. It has to be about 50 feet across.
Here's a view from underneath. The trunk of the broom is probably 18 inches in diameter where it comes out of the main stem of the tree.
As I've said before, Doug fir brooms are a dime a dozen. This one is kind of handsome, though. I will have to ask around and see if someone has already propagated it. If they haven't, I'm not sure how I'm going to get to it. I would have to get permission to climb it, most likely.
As always- the moral of the story is that mutations are all around us. You just have to remember to keep your eyes open!
