Tag: jean iseli

Something extraordinary

Published on by edremsrola6 Comments

Back in the day—the late 1970s and through the mid-80s—Jean Iseli encouraged his employees to stay alert, no matter what nursery chore they may be involved in, and be on the watch for unusual mutations growing on the hundreds of thousands of conifers being grown at any given time. That is precisely how many plants, which have come into the marketplace over the past 25 years were discovered, by the watchful eyes of the workers. Well known examples are Juniperus horizontalis ‘Mother Lode’ which was observed as a single oddity growing among thousands of young J.h. ‘Wiltoni’ plants. Picea glauca ‘Pixie Dust’ was discovered as a sport growing on Picea glauca ‘Pixie’ while P.g. ‘Rainbow’s End’ and P.g. ‘Jean’s Dilly’ were both discovered as mutations growing on Picea glauca ‘Conica’.

Picea glauca ‘Jean’s Dilly’ is truly something extraordinary!

One of those plants, Picea glauca ‘Jean’s Dilly’ had been spotted as a witches’ broom growing on a small plant in a #1 container and, as was the tradition, was brought up to the sliding glass door just outside of Jean Iseli’s office. New discoveries were brought to this location for further observation where Jean could keep an eye on them and show them off to any visitor who showed an interest. This mutation had been brought to the observation deck and caught the attention of the chief propagator, Paul Halladin, who began to propagate the mutation because of its desirably unique characteristics. After the death of his brother, André Iseli wanted to name a great new plant after Jean. During its years of observation ‘Jean’s Dilly’ was proving itself to be an extraordinary new, improved form of the old Alberta. Being grown under the name of ‘Paul’s Dwarf’ for the first years of its propagation, it was decided that the name would be changed to ‘Jean’s Dilly’ and the nursery would begin to market the plant.

‘Jean’s Dilly’ is overall a much smaller version of the Dwarf Alberta Spruce, with its annual growth of about one third that of its parent. It also has distinctively shorter, thinner needles which give the plant a finer texture and smoother appearance. ‘Jean’s Dilly’ begins its spring flush of new growth three to four weeks after ‘Conica’ which can be a handy natural protection against early frost damage. With only a couple of inches of annual growth, it remains a small plant for a great number of years and makes it a perfect candidate for growing in a mixed container with other miniature conifers or flowering plants.

Both, this great little conifer, and the memory of the man it was named for, are truly something extraordinary.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

A brilliant stunner!

Published on by edremsrola6 Comments

Having a close association with the good folks at Iseli Nursery, I have the opportunity to make regular visits to the Jean Iseli Memorial Garden which surrounds the main office. This garden was in the early planning stages near the end of Jean’s life and the full design and construction of “stage one” was completed shortly after his death in 1986. Since that time, the garden has matured and expanded as new areas are designed and built. One of the largest expansions occurred in 2008 when the “West Garden” was added. That was the time when I first took notice of the amazing dwarf fir which is the subject of today’s blog.

Native to the mountains of Japan, Abies veitchii is a forest tree with a long history of use in the creation of small tools and utility items as well as in construction, paper products, and occasionally as an ornamental tree in the landscape. Over the years, dwarf mutations have been discovered and propagated, making their way to conifer collectors and gardening enthusiasts around the world. The one I am featuring today is a cultivar called, ‘Heddergott’ which was discovered in 1970 by Heddergott Nursery in Germany.

Abies veitchii ‘Heddergott’ is a stunning, slow growing conifer with brilliant white foliage highlights – perfect for smaller gardens.

One of the features of Abies veitchii is its bright white undersides to the green needles, which accounts for one of the tree’s common names, Heddergott Veitch Fir. The dwarf cultivar, ‘Heddergott’ shows off this stunning feature quite readily due a number of its needles which turn or twist, exposing their brilliant, bright white undersides so that from whatever angle you might view the plant, there are rows of perfectly aligned needles shining brightly in your direction. This pattern repeats itself across the plant, in varying angles due to the low, irregular branching habit of this slow-growing, densely clothed plant.

When young, its form reminds me of a silver cloaked hedgehog, but with age it should develop into more of a vase-shaped plant. Occasional pruning of more dominant growth can help guide the plant to remain in more of a globe-shaped form if one desires. Rated as hardy into Zone 4, this stunning, small garden conifer performs best in moist, well-drained soil. In the Pacific Northwest, it is thriving in a full sun location, but in harsher climates with longer and higher-heat summers, it might be a good idea to provide some dappled shade to prevent sun scorch – at least until it becomes well-rooted into its new home.

Bright silvery-white undersides of the needles are exposed making ‘Heddergott’ a very desirable feature plant for containers, rock gardens, or anywhere a slow-growing plant with stunning features is desired – just be prepared for a lot of complements on your cool new plant!

I plan to get my hands on one of these beauties as soon as I can. Since it grows just four to six inches per year, I think I’ll start with a small one that I can grow in a container on my patio for a few years. I’m confident that it will inspire many oooos and ahhhs from our guests. Then, when it has some size, I’ll find a prominent location where it’s bright, shimmering presence will command attention – perhaps near a dark green dwarf pine and a deep red Japanese maple.

May your garden grow more peaceful every day!

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Raise your hand if you remember the ’80s

Published on by edremsrola8 Comments
Jean Iseli
Jean Iseli was a visionary with a passion to bring the world of the conifer collector to the everyday gardener.

The 1980s were a fascinating time for conifer lovers. It was the decade that saw the obscure conifer collectors and the nursery industry begin a kind of partnership that is very influential in the contemporary dwarf conifer movement. One of the early gurus of the movement, Jean Iseli, was a very good friend of mine and made a huge impact not only on my life, but the lives of many others before he passed in 1986. 

Some of those he influenced were the young men and woman that he gathered and inspired – the workers who dedicated their lives to growing and bringing to market premium dwarf conifers that earlier had only been known to collectors. Most of those same hard-working individuals are still the driving force behind the products grown under the Iseli name today.

I have had the pleasure of knowing these fine folks all these years. They are always kind enough to allow me to wander the gardens to learn about new and exciting discoveries long before they will ever make it to the marketplace.

Multiple conifers in one plant construct
'Rheingold' x 'Heather Bun' x 'Rhiengold' - imagine a "wall" planted in a checkerboard pattern of alternating orange and green - Just one of the creative constructs to come from the encouragement of Jean Iseli.

There was a time in the ’80s (and carried well into the ’90s) when Jean’s eccentric creativity and quirky sense of humor inspired the Art Form Division of Iseli nursery. Back in those days, employees were encouraged to create some extremely unusual creations through the technique of grafting several different cultivars onto a common, large, rootstock. Some of the more successful creations were combinations of dwarf or miniature conifers of different colors and or textures grafted either as a tiered construct or a multi-branched sculpture. These things were truly remarkable.

I have often wondered what happened to all of those hundreds and hundreds of unique works of art that were sold and shipped all across the United Sates. There were a few forms that were very popular and were created and shipped for a great many years. Did they survive? Were they cared for and maintained? Are they neglected and forgotten oddities, overgrown and ignored? Who knows?

Multi-generic constructs
Multi-generic constructs were the combination of cultivars of different genus and or species into one colorful conifer. In this case, a Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Lutea' floated above a Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star' which floated above a Thuja occidentalis 'Rheingold'.

What I do know is that those were amazing times in the world of conifers. We wouldn’t have the incredible selection of dwarf and miniature conifers available today, from many growers all over the world, if it hadn’t been for the inspiration and dreams of people like Jean Iseli. I miss him.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

The conehead’s big adventure

Published on by edremsrolaLeave a comment

The rain had stopped. I opened the door out to the back patio so that I could hear the birds sing their joyful morning songs. The sun (yes, the sun!) was just beginning to move past the grove of large Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) delivering its warming rays of life to my garden. It was a beautiful morning.

Then I saw the weeds.

Back in February, we had a dry stretch and I was able to weed the entire garden. It looked great. The rains returned and like guests overstaying their welcome, it settled in for weeks and weeks. Weeds love a constant supply of moisture and mild temperatures so new seeds germinated and now I have quite a job ahead of me.

I sat, drinking my morning tea, admiring my wife’s ability to make a delightful bran muffin, trying to come up with a way to enjoy this very positive change in the weather without crawling around on the ground pulling weeds. I thought about hiring a young helper, but the budget is still a little tight and youngsters seem to have much more expensive goals these days than they did when I was a kid. Stalling as long as I could, I finally got out of the chair, put on my boots, my vest and my hat when my phone rang.

“Ed here”

“Ed, I’m heading out to the fields today to see if I can get some new shots – wanna ride along?”

It was my photographer friend at Iseli Nursery – and he was asking me to join him on a photo shoot? Sounds better than weeding!

“I’ll be there in 30 minutes.” I said while calculating in my head that I was sure I could get there in at least 20. I kissed my wife and was off.

Mr. Smith met me at the door of the office and out we went.

“I’m looking for cones today, Ed. With all this rain, it’s been a couple weeks since I’ve been out there. I’m sure we’ll find some new developments.” He said with a big grin.

Pinus leucodermis 'Indigo Eyes'
A cluster of three tiny, indigo colored cones begin to develop surrounding an apical bud of this years new growth. These cones could be found on nearly every new shoot of Pinus leucodermis ‘Indigo Eyes’.

Over the next three or four hours we found dozens of treasures. We both got excited every time we spotted something we hadn’t seen before. 2010 appears to be a fantastic year for cones in the Pacific Northwest. We found cones so tiny that their details could only be seen with a magnifying lens (or my friend’s macro lens on his camera). Some cones were large and fat and were easy to spot from some distance. Others were camouflaged with nearly the same colors as their surrounding foliage. Some were green or pink or purple or combinations of all three. Some appeared like fat swollen nodules stacked one upon the other. Others had many long wings protruding from their textured outer skin. Some had openings as if to allow the pollen to enter, others were tight and solid looking making me wonder how the pollen entered at all.

Pinus leucodermis 'Indigo Eyes'
The larger purplish blue cones were last years tiny new cones. They will open to drop their seeds later this year. Next year at this time, they will be brown and wide open – some will have fallen from the tree.

It was an exhilarating experience and I was almost giddy. Near the end of our journey, we came across a small crop of Pinus leucodermis ‘Indigo Eyes’. These wonderful small trees were covered with cones. Old, dry, brown cones were the lowest on these three to four foot trees. Large, dark purplish blue cones adorned the whorls where this year’s new growth had emerged and tiny, indigo colored cones sat in clusters of two or three or even as many as seven surrounding the developing apical buds. This was a cone lover’s tree if I had ever seen one.

Pinus leucodermis 'Indigo Eyes'
Looking carefully, you should be able to see three generations of cones, from the tiny cones at the tips of each apical shoot, the maturing larger purple cones and a faded light brown older cone or two hidden in the foliage.

I told my host that I thought I was about to have cone-gasm. My friend glanced over at me with a combination of question and surprise on his face and then we both burst out laughing. It was one of those rare laughs that seems uncontrollable and goes on and on. I haven’t had an experience like that in quite a number of years. Finally the laughter subsided; we wiped the tears from our eyes and swapped Jean Iseli stories as we drove back to my car.

I didn’t get any weeding done in my garden, but I’ve got memories of a great cone hunting adventure in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Ps, I’ll ask Mr. Smith to post some of the other cone shots at our Facebook group – join us there to see more pictures from our great cone-hunting adventure (click the link in the right side menu).

It’s the ‘Mother Lode’!

Published on by edremsrola4 Comments

Imagine, if you will, you’re walking along one of the rivers or streams near the Mother Lode Highway 49 in the state of California. You can hear birds singing and a mild breeze rustles the leaves of the trees all around you. You deeply breathe in the calming aroma of the forest. Suddenly you see a glimmer of gold sparkling just under the surface of the water. Your heart jumps, you dash into the water and grasp that little shimmering nugget of gold!

Now, imagine that you are walking along a huge production of recently potted ‘Wiltoni’ juniper. Literally tens of thousands of identical clones of bluish green prostrate plants appear as a flowing river of conifers. Suddenly, you catch a glimpse of what looks like a small golden branch on one of the multitude of one gallon containers. Your heart jumps and you dash into the massive group of plants to grasp that little oddity with the one blue branch and one gold.

That’s what happened when Juniperus horizontalis ‘Mother Lode’ was discovered at Iseli Nursery in 1980.

Mature planting of Mother Lode with other great conifers.
Mature planting of ‘Mother Lode’ with other great conifers.

Jean Iseli always encouraged his employees to keep an eye out for unusual mutations on the plants growing at his wholesale nursery. A great many sports, witches brooms and other oddities have been collected, inspected and evaluated over the years, but few ever become something viable for the nursery industry. ‘Mother Lode’ is one of those selected mutations that has proved itself to be a winner in the garden.

Mother Lode featured in a hypertufa container.
‘Mother Lode’ featured in a hypertufa container.

Its bright golden yellow color is sure to attract attention and its prostrate habit makes it a valuable accent in the garden. Plant this beauty near any of the blue spruce or other dark green conifers for a terrific color contrast. Use it near other exciting garden plants like a deep red Japanese maple and the effect is stunning. The bright golden color becomes influenced by the same plum tones that make ‘Wiltoni’ turn almost purple giving ‘Mother Lode’ a unique pinkish orange color during the cold winter months.

‘Mother Lode’ is a great plant to use in containers, in the rock garden, in mass plantings for a dramatic color statement or even grafted on a standard to create a delightful golden cascade. Hardy to Zone 3, it will perform best in well-drained soil. Its best color will develop in full sun, but in harsh summer conditions, some shade may be advisable to prevent sunburn.

Ed-
Conifer Lover