Bristlecone Pine

Vance Wood

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Anyone who knows me is aware that I have been asking questions about Bristlecone Pines for many years. One of my questions is why are there none being shown that have been collected from the wild. I have posted a Bristlecone that is growing on the grounds of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on the walking path between the visitors center and the College campus. It is a natural tree and has not been planted. There were many others in the environment but this one was less than two foot tall, well within the range of reasonable harvesting.

The question remains why is no one harvesting these trees. It is not like there are none out there; this photo proves their availability. Until this year I did not realize how accessible this tree can be, it's not like they are hidden away in the clouds and mountain ridges. The really good and really old ones are around 10,000' to 12,000' but there are a lot more of them than most people realize.
 

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dick benbow

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They're on my search list. Recently I've downsized the home I raised my family in to a tiny lot in a gated community. Most of my collection had to go but I've turned to american trees
as my new interest.
The last three years I have been working with whitebark. Feeling comfortable with limber,
shore pine and lodgepole.
I've done some checking with folks in the club that have them ( all nursery no yamadori)
and find their needle replacement schedule of every 7 (instead of 3) years an interesting challenge.
I'd love to learn more about them and feel they'd make an excellent collection addition.

I found a nursery one dying that I cut off 2/3rds of it's top and put in the ground to reciver.
It's been two years and the blue color cast is coming back and the white sap becoming more prevelent. I need to dig it before I move.....

would love to find a yamadori one, none available here in the mountains of the northwest.....
 

M. Frary

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I started a thread on Bonsai Study Group before and there was some guy that had some bad ass bristle cone pines that he collected. Can't remember his name though Vance.
 

Vance Wood

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I started a thread on Bonsai Study Group before and there was some guy that had some bad ass bristle cone pines that he collected. Can't remember his name though Vance.

Thanks; I would like to talk to him.
 

Vance Wood

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They're on my search list. Recently I've downsized the home I raised my family in to a tiny lot in a gated community. Most of my collection had to go but I've turned to american trees
as my new interest.
The last three years I have been working with whitebark. Feeling comfortable with limber,
shore pine and lodgepole.
I've done some checking with folks in the club that have them ( all nursery no yamadori)
and find their needle replacement schedule of every 7 (instead of 3) years an interesting challenge.
I'd love to learn more about them and feel they'd make an excellent collection addition.

I found a nursery one dying that I cut off 2/3rds of it's top and put in the ground to reciver.
It's been two years and the blue color cast is coming back and the white sap becoming more prevelent. I need to dig it before I move.....

would love to find a yamadori one, none available here in the mountains of the northwest.....

Thanks for your feed back. If I were you I would keep looking. Start around 10,000 feet where the issue of other five needle Pines don't get in the way other than White Bark and Limber. Both incidentally exist in the same environment, most people just don't notice them unless they happen to be busted and blasted as we see in so many of the pictures.
 

aframe

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Pinus Aristata

Mr. Wood,
Bristlecones are great looking trees, wish we could see more: here's mine - collected as seedling in colorado; Pinus Aristata.
Only thing I would say, as you already know, Bonsai with American trees is still in its infancy (roughly 2 generations old, older for some) and it's likely the people who do collect them don't care to share. Much is known about these trees, the knowledge, however, is seemingly sparse.

Here's a fun fact: Needles of BCP at altitude have been documented to persist up to 45 years. You can see the needles on my tree's mid/lower trunk are well over 3 years old and showing no signs of dropping soon...
 

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M. Frary

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Here's what I know about these trees and have learned just keeping mine alive:
They like to be on the drier side. A good open well draining soil is a must.
One major operation per year.
Rootwork is probably going to be every 3 to 5 years.
They are fairly rubbery. Seems to take a while to set a branch.
Full sun. All day up here.
It can go a couple years without putting out buds if stressed.
Slooow.
Needles can last 30 years or more.
Very sloooow.
Very cold hardy.
Any slower and it would be going backwards.
I also believe it would be best to do repotting in the summer like a mugo pine. Not while it's dormant. I say this because that's around the time I did mine when I first got it. It was in a ball of clay when I bought it. It never looked back.
They will backbud. Mine put out one on the trunk and one on a branch. Just out of the bare wood. No needles near where they grew.
I think it's building up a head of steam though. I believe mine is still recouping from the initial assault on its roots. We'll see next year.
 

M. Frary

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Maybe the first ever "American Bonsai" in the works? ;)

Oh man. To be able to call it that would be like the best thing ever. I could put it in a red,white and blue pot with U.S.A. glazed on the front that would make it official!
 

wireme

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A bristlecone was among the first trees I ever played bonsai with. A 5 year old seedling started by my mom. Being so early on it was probably poorly transplanted and in poor soil. It lasted another 5 years without dropping a single needle or growing a single bud, then it died. No winter protection on the ground in zone 3 all that time. A few others from the same seed batch are still doing well as landscape trees, they are over 15 years old now I guess. One of those trees became infected by western gall rust (endocronartium harkenessii), the main stem died but the tree lives on.
 

Bonsai Nut

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I had a really neat Bristlecone for a couple of years here in Southern Cal that had been grown in a nursery for outdoor railroad setups. I had hoped that it would survive without a hard cold period, but it only lasted for a couple of years. First year it was really strong, second year it got weaker... etc. I did only minor trimming when I first got it and left it alone to see if it would survive Southern California weather. I am of the assumption that just like JWP it needs the cold.
 

Vin

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I wonder if any other nationalities are as obsessed with this notion as some Americans?

Of course you know I was only joking. To be honest, I never even thought about anything I've worked on in any other way other than "My Bonsai" until you mentioned it in your thread. I'll be happy the day I can make a believable presentation; that's my goal for now.
 

Eric Schrader

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I had a really neat Bristlecone for a couple of years...I am of the assumption that just like JWP it needs the cold.

I've had one in San Francisco, then in Ventura county and now back in San Francisco, I think I've had it about 5 years. No hiccups. It's small but grows fine without any sub-40 degree dormancy.

I did lose two good ponderosa while I lived in Thousand Oaks. They also do fine here in SF but didn't seem to like SoCal. I suspect that in many cases the problem is the poor water quality, not the weather.
 

Vin

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Oh man. To be able to call it that would be like the best thing ever. I could put it in a red,white and blue pot with U.S.A. glazed on the front that would make it official!

I like it! Hey, when you show it you can use a scroll with a Cowboy on a Bronking Buck.
 

Dan W.

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Giga

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don't know if I'll ever own a bristle cone, unless I order online which I don't like doing, but I would love to have the honor of having such a majestic tree.
 
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