American Hornbeams

abugoogoo

Yamadori
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South Florida
USDA Zone
10
Hey there boys n girls,
I swung by my favorite bonsai nursery today to look at some stuff. They have some American Hornbeams in stock, (which I specifically went looking for) but they are in god awful shape, not doing well at all. The owner showed me the few that he had and told me that I could take any or all of them for free. We talked about why they looked so ratty and the owner blamed it on the heat of South Florida, but i'm not quite sure, because to be honest, it seems like some of the nursery is kinda starting to get away from them. So my question is, are the hornbeams worth it? Can they thrive here in zone 10, or is it really too hot for them and I'd be wasting my time? Also, does it make a difference if they're American or korean variety? Appreciate any input, thanks.
 

JoeR

Masterpiece
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Korean have prettier foliage in my opinion, and maybe nicer bark as well. But I also really like American hornbeam in different ways, its easy growing here though. South Florida is outside of its natural range but as understory trees, if you grow in shade in summer and give it an adequate dormancy should be fine
 

Forsoothe!

Imperial Masterpiece
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Take them and trade them to us Yanks for something that will live in Hell. What the Hell's wrong with that? For instance, I have a couple 'Tiger Eyes' Sumac that I might be persuaded to part with... Ehhh?
 

abugoogoo

Yamadori
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Take them and trade them to us Yanks for something that will live in Hell. What the Hell's wrong with that? For instance, I have a couple 'Tiger Eyes' Sumac that I might be persuaded to part with... Ehhh?
I just looked those up.... You sure they will make it down here?? They look awfully dainty for this far down into Hades. If it doesn't have some sort of armor on it, I get suspicious about its chances of survival. Seriously though, that's a solid idea. I'm gonna go back tomorrow n pick them up, and then put up some pics. No reason to leave them there to die.
 

Forsoothe!

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So, did you grab them?
 

abugoogoo

Yamadori
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Indeed. Picked them up the next day, but it's been raining non stop here for a week. We just finally got a break today, so I snapped some pics. Only took three of them from him as the rest were bone dry/dead. Gonna clean them up and repot them this week, the only thing I've had a chance to do so far is to pull out the weeds that were built up so thick and high in the pot that you could barely see the tree. Incidentally, with the newly aerated roots from literally tearing them up by pulling the weeds, and all the rain and shade they've gotten this week, they're already looking a thousand times better. The first and last pics are 2 sides of the same tree. Tell me what you think!
So, did you grab them?
 

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