Hello there, sure missed y’all. I am slowly graduating from Tree Planting and even got a Real Job, which is a big deal in my country. I still have a couple small jobs to plant next Spring, season #32 I think, but after that I finally have to say No when the phone rings. I will probably still occasionally plant a few trees, but that will be for the creation of seed orchards - I am now a full time Seed Collector. Yes, year-round. My first species is usually Quaking Aspen around May 1 and I am still currently on the hunt for American Bittersweet to pick though also still busy on a Pre-Commercial Thinning job right now.
Anyhow the nursery where I work grows 200 species already and we are going to increase that number. So I am looking for any information on a couple species I have been working on this year.
Labrador Tea / Rhododendron groenlandicum - I collected this one for the first time this year though I was a touch late on some sites as I was super busy with lots of species simultaneously. I did manage to produce about 3 grams of clean seed and we are going to grow it, but ‘the literature’ is not encouraging. 4mm in height in one growing season, whoa. Today I found an entry for this species in a compendium of potential species for tar sand reclamation in northern Alberta. This made me think growing it and planting it -might- have been attempted up that way. ?? So just looking for any experience with the species.
Heartleaf Birch / Betula cordifolia - this has been an interesting project. This “White Birch” has only been given species rank relatively recently and many Dendrology type reference material will call it a variety of Betula papyrifera. But there is now no doubt it is a species; is actually older than papyrifera, which evolved from it. I have collected it but identification is quite a detailed Botany task. It hybridizes easily with other Birches so am looking for any experiences here too with any knowledge of anyone growing it and how that turned out…were the seedlings pure cordifolia?
I can definitely recommend Seed Collecting to anyone who stuck with tree planting. There is always more to learn and is never boring. If you ever need seeds from the USA, I probably know where they can be found.
I might think of a few more you fine folks might have experience with, we’ll see.