Chickasaw Plum Pre-bonsai

tmmason10

tmmason10

Omono
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Location
North Attleboro, MA
USDA Zone
6b
I thought I would just start a thread with probably my only tree purchase for the year. Looking forward to working with the species and hopefully in a few years I can show some flowers. It was mailed last week and I potted it up on Saturday. Really happy with the base, some of which is under the soil right now. Thought I'd include a picture of it in leaf as well.
 

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Nice. :)

I believe my Plum is also a Chickasaw but it is grafted and a cheap boxstore purchase. :D
 
A chickasaw plum in Mass.?

Be careful! That is several USDA zones north of its normal range -- Maryland. It will need a LOT of protection in the winter.

It grows in North Carolina (but not at MY elevation) and was very common in North Florida. I had several small P. angustifolia bonsai in Tallahassee and love them. Left them behind when I moved uphill.

Personally, I think it was irresponsible of the seller to have sold it to you up there.
 
jkl,

While I appreciate the info...it is not uncommon for people to grow tropical bonsai up north. I then think this is no worse. It is not the seller who is to blame if ever, but the buyer if they do not know what they are getting into. I would assume Tom is aware of it's needs but if not...I am sure some of us southerners would gladly adopt his tree. ;)
 
This is NOT a tropical tree. It is 100% temperate zone species. Its range is Md to Central Fla., and west to TX.

It will NOT grow indoors as it needs quite a bit of cold (but NOT frigid) dormancy; it will need heavy protection in Massachusetts. If he knew this, fine and dandy; if he didn't know, then he does now.

ALL reputable sellers of trees should -- and most do -- at least alert buyers about plants that may be unsuitable for where they live.

I don't need a smarmy lecture.
 
Looks like their native range goes into Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas. It's apparently hardy to usda zone 6A. Tom, this is no tropical tree, and it appears to be fairly cold hardy. I bet it will do just fine in eastern MA with the typical winter protection other cold hardy trees would require.

Fwiw, Revere is USDA zone 6B.
 
Last edited:
jkl said:
This is NOT a tropical tree. It is 100% temperate zone species. Its range is Md to Central Fla., and west to TX.

It will NOT grow indoors as it needs quite a bit of cold (but NOT frigid) dormancy; it will need heavy protection in Massachusetts. If he knew this, fine and dandy; if he didn't know, then he does now.

ALL reputable sellers of trees should -- and most do -- at least alert buyers about plants that may be unsuitable for where they live.

I don't need a smarmy lecture.
Click to expand...

Did I say it is tropical? I said even tropical can be grown up north...BIG difference.

Translation...if a tropical can be growth up north what more with this more cold hardy specimen (than a tropical). Understand it better?

BTW, from the pics, it looks like he has a green house to protect it.
 
Hi all, thanks for the input. This tree is being kept in the temperate greenhouse at NE Bonsai which stays at 55 degrees. My plan was to keep this above freezing during the winters as Dave said, seems to be rated zone 6-9. I did make sure to check the zones before I purchased it.
 
iant said:
Interesting little hole in the base.
Ian
Click to expand...

Yes, I would actually be more worried about that feature than the weather. It would seem a natural area for rot, and barely above the root system ! I would consider sealing the wood on the inside and then filling it with something.

ed
 
edprocoat said:
Yes, I would actually be more worried about that feature than the weather. It would seem a natural area for rot, and barely above the root system ! I would consider sealing the wood on the inside and then filling it with something.

ed
Click to expand...

I bet it's already rotted all the way through. I doubt it's a big deal, and would actually consider carving it to add even more character to the lower trunk.
 
Good ideas Dave and Ed. It's pretty much all the way through but maybe I'll help it so it will at leaf drain and not pool water.
 
tmmason10 said:
Good ideas Dave and Ed. It's pretty much all the way through but maybe I'll help it so it will at leaf drain and not pool water.
Click to expand...

Tom that would be a good idea, if you could just open it out towards the viewer in the pics would be best instead of tunneling down through the roots underneath and injuring a needed root.

ed
 
I have been halfway playing with this species for several years. What I have found is that repotting is a huge issue! About 8-9 years ago I collected several....they are weeds all along my property line...tried to put them directly in pots and they all died...a couple did sprout and survived on the strength of the plant for a short time before expiring. They tend to grow off of roots from larger plants...very much like sparkleberry. The next year I collected just a couple and put them right back into the ground....They survived...touch and go first year but eventually seemed to adjust...started sending roots all through my growing beds...2-3 years later I moved them into containers and all but bit the bullet. It has managed to survive in the pot for several years now but has not thrived. On a positive note, I just noticed this is the first year it has actually set flower buds...so maybe there is hope.

Last summer, the farmers that tend the agricultural fields next to my house bulldozed up a larger area of plums. The trees were laying in huge piles waiting to be burned so I thought what the heck, I'll give it another shot. Collected 2 larger stumps...they were beat up pretty bad and had few small roots but they did send out new buds and made it through the rest of the growing season (in containers) but its too early to tell if they made it through the winter.

My suggestions would be to only repot when absolutely necessary...and certainly do nothing else to the tree while it is recovering from repotting...even if it starts growing well give it a full year. My only real success at repotting came in the early spring...but even that was a very low percentage of success.

I would like to think that this speces has great potential for bonsai...like Ume it does bloom before leafing and gets pretty attractive old bark. The leaves are small and it responds to pruning well. I guess the big question is whether it can be successfully containerized.

I wish you the best of luck!!
John
 
Thanks John, I should have gotten a picture of the root system as it was well developed from the seller. He collected it two years ago and had it in a box, as you can see in my first set of pictures. I'll certainly just let it get acclimated this year.
 
Nice, I have one of these in a grow bed, so I'd be interested in updates. I also didn't know they were so hard to repot, I may consider going ahead and moving it out of the grow bed and into a grow pot.
 
John . . . I hope you nurture those weeds along your property line. The fruit makes the absolute world's BEST jam!

Down in Tallahassee, the Chickasaw plums were the first trees to bloom in the spring; easy to spot in the bare woods. We'd take careful note of the location, then try to beat the birds and raccoons to the fruit. They do tend to make thickets; you can't just have one.

jim
 
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