On the trail of the infamous Cal juniper

Dwight

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Just got back from Cal where I spent a couple of days searching for a cal junie that a) was for salw , b) I could afford and c) could be shipped.

Found these everywhere I looked ( Fuji , Kimura Bonsai and Chikugo-En ).
The trees at Fuji are incredable. All have been grafted with Shimpacu so were of course more than a non grafted tree. They were ALL way over of my budget. Hell , they were way over Harry's budget. Found some ungrafted trees at Kimura. In fact they had some real nice finished and near finished trees that were priced much better than Fuji ( understandable ) but still out of my range. They did have three " raw " stock trees that had been acclimated and had initial wireing that were priced right but they don't ship and we were in my wifes Corvette. Damn !!!!! Gary at Chikugo-En has a bunch of Cal junies but they were mostly too big and all were beyond my means so I basically gave up. After talking to the folks at Kimura and to Gary at Chikugo-En I was pretty discouraged about the chance of being able to take care of one that wasn't really well established. I don't feel I have the experience and accumilated instinct to do this so I started looking at Garys grafted prostrata and San Jose and found one absolute gem in the rough. The tree is about 24" tall , twin trunk with incredable movement in the 3" + trunk so I droke down and sorta spent my entire budget plut a bit.

I'd post pics of the tree in the juni section but unfortunately its whereabouts are currently unknown. Gary shipped it out yesterday and it's in the wind somewhere within Deltas system. Now I'm just a little upset but Gary does a mean job of packing so if the tree gets here today or tomorrow it should be fine ( hope , hope , hope ). I'll kiip everyone posted.
 
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cal. junipers etc.

hey Dwight

out of curiosity how much were they asking at each nursery you went to ?
and also, have you checked with Jason on acquiring a reasonably priced collected juniper ?

art r.
(former fellow el pasoan & chicos tacos lover)
 

greerhw

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Just got back from Cal where I spent a couple of days searching for a cal junie that a) was for salw , b) I could afford and c) could be shipped.

Found these everywhere I looked ( Fuji , Kimura Bonsai and Chikugo-En ).
The trees at Fuji are incredable. All have been grafted with Shimpacu so were of course more than a non grafted tree. They were ALL way over of my budget. Hell , they were way over Harry's budget. Found some ungrafted trees at Kimura. In fact they had some real nice finished and near finished trees that were priced much better than Fuji ( understandable ) but still out of my range. They did have three " raw " stock trees that had been acclimated and had initial wireing that were priced right but they don't ship and we were in my wifes Corvette. Damn !!!!! Gary at Chikugo-En has a bunch of Cal junies but they were mostly too big and all were beyond my means so I basically gave up. After talking to the folks at Kimura and to Gary at Chikugo-En I was pretty discouraged about the chance of being able to take care of one that wasn't really well established. I don't feel I have the experience and accumilated instinct to do this so I started looking at Garys grafted prostrata and San Jose and found one absolute gem in the rough. The tree is about 24" tall , twin trunk with incredable movement in the 3" + trunk so I droke down and sorta spent my entire budget plut a bit.

I'd post pics of the tree in the juni section but unfortunately its whereabouts are currently unknown. Gary shipped it out yesterday and it's in the wind somewhere within Deltas system. Now I'm just a little upset but Gary does a mean job of packing so if the tree gets here today or tomorrow it should be fine ( hope , hope , hope ). I'll kiip everyone posted.

I'm excited, can't wait to see it, like my sign off says......

keep it green,
Harry
 

Dwight

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hey Dwight

out of curiosity how much were they asking at each nursery you went to ?
and also, have you checked with Jason on acquiring a reasonably priced collected juniper ?

art r.
(former fellow el pasoan & chicos tacos lover)

Art , I didn't know you were from EP ! That makes two bonsai folk from/in EP. BTW , Chicos is having trouble and only has one or two locations left. Damn shame.

Prices ...... Fugi , grafted C.j. start at $3000 ...Kimura , finished or semi finished ( very nice trees ) start at about $1500 and raw stock was $300 .....Gary didn't have anything under $2000 but most of his were pretty large. A small one at Chukugo-En would have a 5" trunk and be 3' tall.
 

mcpesq817

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Too bad you weren't in DC a couple of weeks ago. There was an auction for a collected california juniper styled by Harry Hirao at the spring show at the National Arboretum last month. They don't do well here because of the climate, so nobody bid on the tree.

You'll hate me for saying this, but I think the starting bid for the tree was only $300 for the 750 yr old+ tree :)

Sounds like you got a nice tree though - hope it arrives safely. I visited Gary and Mas last fall (incredibly nice people), and came home with a nice kishu shimpaku grafted on I think prostrata stock - graft was so well done you wouldn't even know it's a grafted tree. One of my favorites in my collection -- which is not really saying all that much :)
 

greerhw

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Too bad you weren't in DC a couple of weeks ago. There was an auction for a collected california juniper styled by Harry Hirao at the spring show at the National Arboretum last month. They don't do well here because of the climate, so nobody bid on the tree.

You'll hate me for saying this, but I think the starting bid for the tree was only $300 for the 750 yr old+ tree :)

Sounds like you got a nice tree though - hope it arrives safely. I visited Gary and Mas last fall (incredibly nice people), and came home with a nice kishu shimpaku grafted on I think prostrata stock - graft was so well done you wouldn't even know it's a grafted tree. One of my favorites in my collection -- which is not really saying all that much :)

Lets see a picture.........

keep it green,
Harry
 

mcpesq817

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Lets see a picture.........

keep it green,
Harry


Picture of my juniper or the california juniper? I've never posted photos on here, but I can try to figure out how to do so tonight from home.
 

Dwight

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Good news. Delta found the tree and it arrived in EP last night around 9:00. I was whipped so I went this AM and picked it up. It took me two hours to unpack ( damn styrafoam ) but the tree looks fine. I'm letting it rest for a while in the shade and will get some pics soon if my camera is still working.
 

JasonG

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This thread is useless with out pictures..... :)

Dwight, the tree would have been fine in the box for more than a week. I am pretty sure a few days is not stressful to a tree:cool:

NOW SHOW PICTURES OR QUIT POSTING!!! haha
 

greerhw

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I hate styrofoam peanuts !!!!!!!!!! Andy Smith uses wadded up newspaper on his bigger trees, much easier to deal with.

keep it green,
Harry
 

Dwight

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This thread is useless with out pictures..... :)
NOW SHOW PICTURES OR QUIT POSTING!!! haha

Damn onrey kid .....HERE : oops , forgot the coke can. The base of the twin trunks is a little over 6" and the mother trunk is right at 3" if that helps. I'll try to get a better pic this week end
 

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irene_b

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Nice stock to play with!
Suggestion I have: White bar towel wrapped around that black pot (keep from frying the roots here)..
Irene
 

Dwight

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Irene , I'm trying to find a terracotta pot about the same size as that nasty nursery pot so I can just slip pot it for now.
 
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Dwight,
There are other sources of Cal Junipers. You need to contact David Nguy at West America Imports
(323) 223-9102 cell or (323) 223-9125 office. David has Cal Junipers and he can put you in touch with a guy named Henry who has lots of trees.

Finally, I've heard that Cal Junipers can live back east if you have a very fast draining soil, but don't hold me to that.

Hopefully that helps.

Juniperus Californica
 

mcpesq817

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Dwight,
Finally, I've heard that Cal Junipers can live back east if you have a very fast draining soil, but don't hold me to that.

I don't think it's the soil that's the problem back east. I heard from a couple of people that it's the humidity here -- at least in the DC area, which has really nasty humidity in the summer (nice that DC was essentially built on swampland).
 

Dwight

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Thanks Cal juni. I'm not real worried about the climate here as were much like the mojave. Our humidity is a little higher cause we're in a city but 30% for us is pretty high. If they live well in LA they shopuld do well here. The problem now is that I spent my entire budget on the shimp ( and then some ).
 

rockm

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It is indeed the high humidity that seems to be the problem here in the MidAtlantic states and probably in Southern states. D.C. has a climate similar to that of Dallas, Tex. although we have much colder, wetter winters.

Relative humidity levels in the D.C. area can get to 90 percent with temps in the 90s in July and August. We average 41 inches of rain annually, although we've had record rains this year.

The Mojave, home to the Cal. Juniper, averages 40 percent relative humidity in the summer heat (even less in the winter) and THREE inches of rain a year. Cal. junipers are pretty hardy, but aquatic they ain't.
 
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Thanks for the info guys. What do they do at the National Arboretum to keep the Cal Junipers alive?
 
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