Every Crop Starts with a Seed....

Many of the native crops that we grow at the Charles E. Bessey Tree Nursery are found within the Rocky Mountain region of the United States since this is the area that our particular nursery serves. Because the trees, shrubs and grasses are localized to this region and will be sold to clients for planting within the same region we are required to find local seed sources that are well adapted to the area and this can be accomplished in a few different ways.

First, the US Forest Service employs teams of experienced seed and cone collectors within each National Forest whom scout the forests, select superior trees for seed harvest, track the crops and harvest the seed when it has reached peak maturity. This seed is then sent to us here at the nursery where we use highly specialized equipment to extract and clean each seed lot.

Pinus ponderosa/Ponderosa Pine seed orchard

There are also specialized seed orchards located across the country where specific species of trees and shrubs are grown and cared for in an orchard type setting solely for the production of high quality seed.

Another way we get seed is by going out into the surrounding areas ourselves and hand collecting seed from local species of plants and this is the premise of this

Prunus besseyi, Sand Cherry

particular post.

One of the many species we grow is Prunus bessyi, or Sand Cherry (Pictured at Left). It is a low lying shrub native to the midwest and Rocky Mountains that produces small red, cherry like fruit that are an important source of food for local wildlife.

Each July when the fruit has reached maturity we set off in our truck with buckets in tow to scour the local hills and collect as much fruit as possible. The seed from the collected fruit will be planted at the nursery the following spring. After we have filled our tubs full of fruit it is brought back to the nursery where it is processed, cleansed, dried and stored in a refrigeration unit until it is needed.

It's a labor intensive process but is one that ensures us high quality seed with good vigor that will produce a nice crop of locally adapted sand cherry for our clients.