The other day I sat in the cab of my truck eating lunch. It was certainly warm enough for a picnic, nearly 60°. But the high winds were driving the rain vertically across the Northwest and across the garden where I was working. I listened to the 50-foot conifers dance in the wind, swing and heave and shatter. Our native Doug fir is notorious for the amount of debris they shed even in the gentlest of breezes. You can imagine the disaster after gale force winds.

So I gathered truckloads of fir branches from lawns this week. I should have a wreath factory.

I did save one beautifully arching branched with lots of cones for our Christmas tree. We decided no to buy a tree this year, we’ll be gone most of the Christmas week and have no parties planned. It nice having a little extra time over the holidays, and crossing the tree off the list, though at first making me a little sad, gave me a great sense of relief.

As a child each Christmas Eve after church my siblings and I would go our grandmother’s house. By her request we would sing “O Tannenbaum” in German, she was German, before her tree. I think I was the only kid who mastered German enough to sing the whole song along with her. The German version of the song is very pagan and only mentions Christmas tangentially. The song is about the tree, and winter not the holiday we Americans associate it with. I have to admit, that song and that Christmas Eve ritual has had a strong influence over me.

At this time of year though I can get a big thrill bringing a tree into the house and decorating it, I have been trying to start a tradition of just appreciating the conifers in my life, like when I was sitting in the truck the other day eating a liver sausage sandwich and watching those huge trees lunge and wobble and sway.

We have quite a few conifers on our property. Western Red Cedar, Doug Fir and Sitka spruce all grow naturally here. We have added a few more Sitka spruce, cedars and Doug firs, but we have also added other native conifers, grand firs and incense cedar, and a large amount of non-native conifers.

As part of my new conifer admiration ritual I decided to share some photos from our collection. Happy Solstice to all you tree lovers.

                                                      Thujopsis dolobrata ‘Aurea’, the golden elk horn cedar

Picea mariana, the black spruce. This is a seedling I collect from my parents property in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan.

                           Picea sitchensis ‘Aurea’, I bought this as P. sitchensis ‘Bentham’s Sunlight” from Bob Fincham down at Coenosium Gardens.

It is a cutting of the famous Golden Spruce of Haida G’waii off the coast of Northern British Columbia.

                                     Thuja occidentalis ‘Woodwardii’, a golden form of eastern arborvitae. I have a good collection of eastern arborvitae cultivars.

The photo that opened the post is Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Fastigiata’, the columnar Japanese plum yew.