Alligator juniper
- Thread starter markyscott
- Start date
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Alligator juniper is native to west Texas, Arizona and New Mexico extending far south into central Mexico. I believe this was collected in New Mexico.
River's Edge
Masterpiece
Similar color to Sierra Juniper . Very unique deadwood! Neat!
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
Wow!
Looks like a burl......never see a burl on a juni before....!?
Looks like a burl......never see a burl on a juni before....!?
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
It has nice bluish scale foliage (a bit prickly) and dark furrowed bark. It was potted in some kind of basket and almost pure pumice. Half bare root, minor root pruning and into a training pot. Here’s a picture from the front I like.
S
S
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Junipers will create a knot where the throw a lot of shoots. The knot will swell over time if it’s left unchecked. I’m guessing that’s what that is.
S
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Living large in Houston. Love that blue foliage. It looks strong, so I’ll do some styling work this winter. Looks like the Crepe Myrtle is reaching out to grab it.
S
S
Hartinez
Masterpiece
Love the size of this tree!! I feel like I only see monster junipers collected and used. It’s refreshing to see a shohin size collected juniper. Can’t wait to see the magic you work on this one.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Very difficult to find a small yamadori juniper with good movement and deadwood. I think I mentioned above that this one was originally from @arcina (Cho Bonsai) who seems to have a real good eye for finding such trees.
Very glad to finally have one of yours, Alvaro. Missed you at the Houston convention. If you were there, I’m sorry to have not said hi - I was pulling out my hair most of the weekend. If you have any early pictures of this one, I’d be very interested.
S
Nice. It is a really nice little alligator. I couldn't go to the convention (work travelling got in the way). These junipers love our weather, they really get very strong and blueish. I'm happy to see that you are working on it.
punsai
Sapling
Deadwood 
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Styling work. Before and after.
Mellow Mullet
Masterpiece
You are right, Scott, that blue foliage is fantastic. Nice job on the styling!
John
John
AaronThomas
Omono
Love Alligator Juniper… Bark and foliage are amazing.… Always wanted to give it a shot.
At the moment it’s burning in my fireplace.
At the moment it’s burning in my fireplace.
Colorado
Masterpiece
Very cool. I saw a bunch of these when I was down in Arizona last fall.
The bark almost looks like a pine!
The bark almost looks like a pine!
Mark, great job.
I sold a tree to Mark Ackerson in Alb and he has done an amazing job moving the tree forward. It shows the potential of this type of junipers. This one is all about bark
Original Tree
Styled tree
I sold a tree to Mark Ackerson in Alb and he has done an amazing job moving the tree forward. It shows the potential of this type of junipers. This one is all about bark
Original Tree
Styled tree
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Nice bonsai Alvaro. Looking forward to continue learning about this species. I really liked styling this one and am interested in seeing how it responds to increasing foliage density.
S
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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- USDA Zone
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@arcina
How cold a winter do you think J. deppeana would tolerate? I can winter a medium to large juniper in zone 6 with -10 F to -15 F. being typical coldest temp in winter. Usually when the farm gets that cold, snow is quite deep. Usually. This year has been very mild.
I do have a frost free well house, but to access it, I physically have to take the tree down a flight of stairs, and crouch down to get into a low below grade space, meaning shohin size is pretty much all I want to carry down there. Big heavy trees either cope with the cold or die.
So how cold can they go? What sorts of elevation do they occur at, and how cold is winter at that elevation?
Inquiring minds are planning future acquisitions.
How cold a winter do you think J. deppeana would tolerate? I can winter a medium to large juniper in zone 6 with -10 F to -15 F. being typical coldest temp in winter. Usually when the farm gets that cold, snow is quite deep. Usually. This year has been very mild.
I do have a frost free well house, but to access it, I physically have to take the tree down a flight of stairs, and crouch down to get into a low below grade space, meaning shohin size is pretty much all I want to carry down there. Big heavy trees either cope with the cold or die.
So how cold can they go? What sorts of elevation do they occur at, and how cold is winter at that elevation?
Inquiring minds are planning future acquisitions.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
@arcina would probably know better than I. According to Wikipedia, it’s a moderate elevation plant - up to about 8000 ft. If I read the climate zone and native range map right, the coldest zone it’s native to appears to be 5B. I’ve been up in the mountains around Riudoso and Taos many times - it can get pretty cold there in winter.
- Scott
