Champions

Bonsai Nut said:
Easily. More like 4' if they are in the ground in a good location. You can defoliate them twice per summer and they won't bat an eye.
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Mine only grew about 6-8" in their first year. I'm hoping for some better growth. I may have to transplant one or two into the ground.
 
A few more from the NoBoGards.
When I lived in Virginia, the wife and I would go walk there a few times a week.
If you’re ever in the area I recommend it.
Their Japanese garden is mature and very well done.

I forget the species…
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This stump was an osage orange that predated the revolutionary war, the remaining one has also dated to that same period. It was 1977 state champ.


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050 Osage Orange - TreesCharlotte

treescharlotte.org treescharlotte.org

Since I have quite a few small Osage trees going I have been really tempted to go plant one inside the huge hollow stump.
 
Here was a cool one. I visited Carter Hall in Millwood VA and saw a very impressive Eastern White Oak growing on a limestone outcrop. Not a state champion, but close and notable for its trunk diameter and its spread. Looked a lot like a Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) in habit!

Here are the dimensions:

20’ 6” CBH (circumference at breast height) and 76.5” DBH (diameter at breast height)

Height 75’

Spread: I did not attempt to calculate an average or to make an accurate plot, but I measured the length of several of its large branches. These were in 70.5’, 70.5’, 67.5’, 55.5’, 71.5’, there was one very long branch I couldn’t measure because it extended over a wall and over adjacent private property. This branch appeared to be longer than the others. The maximum spread was probably in excess of 147’.

The diameter of the lowest branch about three feet from the trunk was 30" Several other branches appeared larger.

Here are some pictures that I took:
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Here are some that were taken by someone else, but have a person in there for size reference:
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markyscott said:
Here was a cool one. I visited Carter Hall in Millwood VA and saw a very impressive Eastern White Oak growing on a limestone outcrop. Not a state champion, but close and notable for its trunk diameter and its spread. Looked a lot like a Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) in habit!

Here are the dimensions:

20’ 6” CBH (circumference at breast height) and 76.5” DBH (diameter at breast height)

Height 75’

Spread: I did not attempt to calculate an average or to make an accurate plot, but I measured the length of several of its large branches. These were in 70.5’, 70.5’, 67.5’, 55.5’, 71.5’, there was one very long branch I couldn’t measure because it extended over a wall and over adjacent private property. This branch appeared to be longer than the others. The maximum spread was probably in excess of 147’.

The diameter of the lowest branch about three feet from the trunk was 30" Several other branches appeared larger.

Here are some pictures that I took:
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Here are some that were taken by someone else, but have a person in there for size reference:
View attachment 559653View attachment 559654View attachment 559655View attachment 559656
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I love those trees that somehow made it. Beautiful,
I like to think that someone a few hundred years ago was a tree lover, planted it and refused to cut it down for firewood. Seems common nowadays but back then, then whole east coast was stripped of most old growth trees.
 
Forrestford said:
I love those trees that somehow made it. Beautiful,
I like to think that someone a few hundred years ago was a tree lover, planted it and refused to cut it down for firewood. Seems common nowadays but back then, then whole east coast was stripped of most old growth trees.
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We have a bit over 150 acres in Virginia. 70 of it is wooded and 80 of it is pasture. We dug up an aerial photograph from 1937 - at the time, about 145 out of the 150 acres was pasture. It was the same on all the neighboring farms - nearly all the wooded areas have grown since the early 1900s.

- S
 
For the past few years I've been visiting and documenting monumental, historical and champion conifers (mainly, but also deciduous trees, and the gardens they grow within) here in Scotland and the UK. I decided to start writing up articles to post on substack with history I've dug up about these trees and my experiences.

I'm still working my way through my records and journals but here is something I posted earlier this year:

The Ancient Yews and other Conifers of Dirleton Castle

I will update this thread with links to new articles if that is allowed/appreciated?

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Thanks

E.L.L
 
Lara_Ericacious said:
For the past few years I've been visiting and documenting monumental, historical and champion conifers (mainly, but also deciduous trees, and the gardens they grow within) here in Scotland and the UK. I decided to start writing up articles to post on substack with history I've dug up about these trees and my experiences.

I'm still working my way through my records and journals but here is something I posted earlier this year:

The Ancient Yews and other Conifers of Dirleton Castle

I will update this thread with links to new articles if that is allowed/appreciated?

View attachment 616536

Thanks

E.L.L
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Anything involving champion trees or serious contenders would be very welcome. Lots of veteran trees in the UK for us to gawk at and enjoy. Seeing old trees in nature is a great way to make our bonsai trees look old also!

Scott
 
This thread is a goldmine for bonsai reference photos, I'll have to come back to comb through and save everything for my reference folders.
For now I'll contribute this ancient Wisteria, from the world's oldest botanical garden, in Pisa, Italy, where I lived from 2017-2021. Its branches spread from the tree it's leaning against in this photo to another to the right of the frame, which is quite tall and when the wisteria blooms you can see the flowers all the way at the top of that tree. Not my own photos cuz I was too stupid to take my own when I lived there even though I visited the garden every week. There was also a Magnolia with an incredible snaking web of surface roots
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hemmy said:
Moreton Bay Fig, Ficus Macrophylla, Santa Barbara, CA, US

Apparently not a nominated champion and slightly smaller than same species in Glendora, CA.

But at 140 years old with a score of 622, 498" circumference, 80' height, and spread of 176'; it is a very impressive tree!
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I was looking to see if anyone had posted this yet! I saw this 10 years ago when I had other things than bonsai on my mind, but it still left an impression, just wish I'd taken more photos myself
 
markyscott said:
Virginia state champion Cedar of Lebanon.
Circumference: 217 in. Height: 53 ft. Crown: 96 ft. Points: 294

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That over in Orange County? (Yes. non Virginians there is an OC VA. Named for William IV Prince of Orange The Orange Order was a Protestant fraternal organization not citrus related)
 
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