Ultimate Ulmus Smackdown!

[Gabler]

The maple smackdown went well enough, so it's time for the Ulmus cultivars to enter the ring. Share your favorite cultivar (or wild type) of elm and tell us why your variety is the best. Like the maple thread, I don't want to see any cop-out answers. Your elm is the best, and the others can suck eggs. May the best elm win!

 

[Goodbrake]

Ulmus crassifolia must be a contender. Smallest leaves of the North American natives, good fall color even in hot climates, and you can get them with smooth plated bark, corky bark, or anything in between. Some of them grow wings like Ulmus alata, but others don't if that's not your thing. Plus, they're broadly more resistant to several diseases compared to Ulmus americana.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I've a collection of elm. If it wasn't for them coming with an ID. I can't personally say I could pick them from a lineup.

My Catlin Elm, a dwarf cultivar ... was my first elm. In 3 years time. You can see how quickly you can develop them. I was hooked.

I've then... a winged elm ROR. It needs to be unrestrained to grow wings. So I have slipped to clip and grow with minimal wiring. Understanding it was a winged elm. Changed my direction with clip and grow. If I hadn't known. I would have kept wire on it. Then...truly may never had known it's cultivar.


Vin sent me this Drake elm. For the neagari. It was a wee young thing. That I threw over a dragon leg.

I've...a mini forest on a slab. Chinese elm...

Another Chinese elm neagari I am using for my cosmic design.


Mother/daughter. I've not done anything with as of yet. But intend to keep it very feminine and... not overly manhandled in wire. A naturalistic composition is where my gerbil is landing.

* I love elm. But owning the small collection I have. None truly stands out above the other...other than, Catlin Elm has smaller leaves. I can't say I prefer any over the next.

 

[Shibui]

They all have individual positives and probably all have some negatives.
Personally, I use Ulmus parvifolia 'Seiju' quite a lot, especially good for smaller bonsai as it has small leaves, short internodes, corky bark and grows relatively quickly.
I love the tiny leaves and extremely crowded leaves of Hokkaido elm but the brittle branches and random die back makes it much more difficult to work with.

 

[Cadillactaste]

They all have individual positives and probably all have some negatives.
Personally, I use Ulmus parvifolia 'Seiju' quite a lot, especially good for smaller bonsai as it has small leaves, short internodes, corky bark and grows relatively quickly.
I love the tiny leaves and extremely crowded leaves of Hokkaido elm but the brittle branches and random die back makes it much more difficult to work with.

I've heard that on the die back. I'm glad you mentioned it. It's one elm I've avoided for that reason. But brittle branches...I wasn't aware of. Always love learning new tidbits.

I also felt that is a cultivar that...looks off to me. Maybe the extremely crowded leaves. Not seeing one in person... they just have me passing them over.

 

[Matte91]

Yatsubusa Elm. I got many different elm varities. But I like this one the most.

yatsubusa elm no. 1

This Yatsubusa Elm is roughly 60-100 Years years old from the Japan and is potted into a Byron Myrick ceramic. The tree's form in this iteration is a Harmonious.

bonsaimirai.com

 

[Cadillactaste]

Yatsubusa Elm. I got many different elm varities. But I like this one the most.

yatsubusa elm no. 1

This Yatsubusa Elm is roughly 60-100 Years years old from the Japan and is potted into a Byron Myrick ceramic. The tree's form in this iteration is a Harmonious.

bonsaimirai.com

View attachment 584863

I much prefer the overall bones of yours. The one in the link... eh. I get the age,okay... I love the texture of bark. But...I won't lie. I expected a nicer specimen from the link source. I was slightly...disappointed. I think...mentally I expected more.

 

[Shibui]

I've heard that on the die back. I'm glad you mentioned it. It's one elm I've avoided for that reason. But brittle branches...I wasn't aware of. Always love learning new tidbits.

Hokkaido elm is so brittle I've stopped trying to wire and bend. I've had broken branches when a bird perched in the tree. Even very careful movement can snap a branch so exclusively clip and grow for Hokkaido here. It's also a genetic dwarf cultivar so very slow to grow.


Seiju is great for shohin


But even standard Chinese elm or the Corky bark variety can make good shohin. This one grown from root cutting. The root already had the bends so much more natural than I can do with wire and bending.

 

[Wood]

I much prefer the overall bones of yours. The one in the link... eh. I get the age,okay... I love the texture of bark. But...I won't lie. I expected a nicer specimen from the link source. I was slightly...disappointed. I think...mentally I expected more.

That's the tree that Ryan Neil showed at the first Pacific Bonsai Expo. It's the sister tree to Sergio's yatsubusa elm. They've even got matching Byron Myrick pots. This seems like a very early photo of it though

Thread 'MIRAI YATSUBUSA ELM'

Aug 2, 2017

This elm was purchased from Mirai last year. Here is a little history:

Originally this tree came from the Willamette Valley in Oregon where for 85 years it grew in the ground alongside other elms that were used specifically for propagation. The land was subsequently bought to build apartments. Ryan somehow found them right before they bulldozed the field. However, in order to obtain the lot of elms, he had to pay a hefty price to another nurseryman who apparently had beat him to the trees! Since then, Ryan has created many smaller bonsai from these trees via air layering. He also took the...

• MACH5
• Replies: 338
• Forum: Elms

• 
• 

 

[Cadillactaste]

That's the tree that Ryan Neil showed at the first Pacific Bonsai Expo. It's the sister tree to Sergio's yatsubusa elm. They've even got matching Byron Myrick pots. This seems like a very early photo of it though

Thread 'MIRAI YATSUBUSA ELM'

Aug 2, 2017

This elm was purchased from Mirai last year. Here is a little history:

Originally this tree came from the Willamette Valley in Oregon where for 85 years it grew in the ground alongside other elms that were used specifically for propagation. The land was subsequently bought to build apartments. Ryan somehow found them right before they bulldozed the field. However, in order to obtain the lot of elms, he had to pay a hefty price to another nurseryman who apparently had beat him to the trees! Since then, Ryan has created many smaller bonsai from these trees via air layering. He also took the...

• MACH5
• Replies: 338
• Forum: Elms

• 
• 

Sergio's is way nicer! The branches aren't so poker straight. I don't know with age...and development...I would still find the other to faulted for my own taste or if ramification would distract from that issue I have with it.

Trees...have faults. That's clearly a solid fact. It's finding faults our personal taste can over look.

Appreciate the link to Sergio's ... that bark is mouth watering deliciousness.

 

[Ken Duncan]

I think that all Elms have good points and bad points such as growth habits and different types of pests but my favorite Elm to work with is Ulmus Alata, winged elm because they are easy to collect in our area at anytime of the year and propagate easily from large cuttings as well as root cuttings.
The leaves reduce well with leaf pruning and they grow like weeds.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Here's some Seiju elms I recently bought from a landscape nursery. You can tell they are grafts because of the inverse taper - so I am planning on air-layering all four. But it shows the incredible twigginess and cork bark of the cultivar.

I don't know how many Chinese elms I own, but the cultivars are so different they almost feel like different species to me. High on my list of favorites is seiju, yatsubusa and corticosa. Then I own a number of variegated cultivars that you can't really tell they are different until the leaves bud out.

 

[Apex37]

I love elms, so this is hard for me to chose. My vote is also for Cedar Elm (ulmus crassifolia) though. I think it'll end up being one of THE native elms to use here in a few years. Extremely resilient, great leaf reduction, and they have a unique growth pattern that is very much attributed to the species.

 

[Wood]

Sergio's is way nicer! The branches aren't so poker straight. I don't know with age...and development...

I think post #54 is Sergio's thread is an early picture of Ryan's yatsubusa elm, and the branching/ramification looks very close to the picture on his website. It's definitely had several years of development since then.

Here's a photo of the tree as it was displayed at the 2022 Pacific Bonsai Expo. It was the 4th highest ranked deciduous tree



taken from here: https://bonsaitonight.com/2022/12/05/deciduous-bonsai-at-the-pacific-bonsai-expo/

 

[MACH5]

I think post #54 is Sergio's thread is an early picture of Ryan's yatsubusa elm, and the branching/ramification looks very close to the picture on his website. It's definitely had several years of development since then.

Here's a photo of the tree as it was displayed at the 2022 Pacific Bonsai Expo. It was the 4th highest ranked deciduous tree

View attachment 584955

taken from here: https://bonsaitonight.com/2022/12/05/deciduous-bonsai-at-the-pacific-bonsai-expo/

I am surprised it was "only" ranked fourth highest? It is a beautiful and impressive tree! I also saw that Ryan sold it.

The structure of mine is very different with a more spreading canopy. Ryan's has a more conical shape with stacked layers of branches rising up the trunk. I like both for different reasons.

Here is a pic I took last year in the fall. Nao made a new pot for it that I will use this spring. The current Byron pot is very nice but now looks a bit too small.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Though you can't tell right now (because the trees are dormant) yatsubusa has (in my opinion) very pretty leaves. They are more elongated and narrower than other Chinese elm cultivars.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I am surprised it was "only" ranked fourth highest? It is a beautiful and impressive tree! I also saw that Ryan sold it.

The structure of mine is very different with a more spreading canopy. Ryan's has a more conical shape with stacked layers of branches rising up the trunk. I like both for different reasons.

Here is a pic I took last year in the fall. Nao made a new pot for it that I will use this spring. The current Byron pot is very nice but now looks a bit too small.

View attachment 584959

Thanks Sergio... yours is absolutely a fingers kiss. I can't imagine standing before it. The presence it brings...and well... bark fein here as well.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I think post #54 is Sergio's thread is an early picture of Ryan's yatsubusa elm, and the branching/ramification looks very close to the picture on his website. It's definitely had several years of development since then.

Here's a photo of the tree as it was displayed at the 2022 Pacific Bonsai Expo. It was the 4th highest ranked deciduous tree

View attachment 584955

taken from here: https://bonsaitonight.com/2022/12/05/deciduous-bonsai-at-the-pacific-bonsai-expo/

That's lovely in leaf. Would love to see it dormant now that is developed further. As a deciduous gal. I always crave that dormant image.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[MACH5]

Though you can't tell right now (because the trees are dormant) yatsubusa has (in my opinion) very pretty leaves. They are more elongated and narrower than other Chinese elm cultivars.

I agree. The leaves a pretty distinctive from other Chinese elms. And these are true deciduous as opposed to some others that are semi-evergreen.

All in all, I like working on most elms. Cedar elms are also quite nice with some impressive specimens with great character being collected down south.

 

[MACH5]

Thanks Sergio... yours is absolutely a fingers kiss. I can't imagine standing before it. The presence it brings...and well... bark fein here as well.

Thanks Darlene! I really like your elms particularly your winged ROR elm! Very nice!