Deciduous literati!

[Joe Dupre']

I went out and walked about 2 miles through my regular bonsai collecting woods mainly looking for a potential literati specimen. I normally go out several times during summer so I can identify potential trees while the leaves are on them. I didn't find one tree that I thought had enough going for it to become a decent literati. At first glance, literati seems like it would be an easy style. Evidently I was wrong. I did find a few decent trees that I may dig in spring. I found a killer American Beauty Berry clump that I will surely collect this coming spring. Anyone have experience with deciduous literati?

 

[GGB]

have been working with a freeman's maple, obtained as a seedling. I'll wire the first 5" and let it grow out 4' from there. Then cut back to the wire and repeat. It's really fun and super forgiving in comparison to my pine literati, and much faster to develop. Unfortunately I may never get small leaves because I chose a weird native but I think it's fun to develop with a deciduous tree because they develop so fast. If anything work the bugs out on whatever you have that's young. Learn what you need to and sell the tortured stick off on ebay for 3x what it's worth and start again on a better species. I'll snap a pic of mine once I get home

 

[Joe Dupre']

Thanks, GGB. I was trying to cheat and find one that was "almost" ready to go. I saw some fairly straight green hawthorns that might work with the clip and grow method. They tend to "muscle up" pretty quick and the bark looks fairly mature after a few years.

I had a really nice black cherry on it's way that was about 30" tall, curvy, and with a clump of branches already in the top third. I collected it, put it in the ground this spring and had to dig it up this May when we moved. It sulked for a couple of months and gradually declined and died.

 

[Zach Smith]

Thanks, GGB. I was trying to cheat and find one that was "almost" ready to go. I saw some fairly straight green hawthorns that might work with the clip and grow method. They tend to "muscle up" pretty quick and the bark looks fairly mature after a few years.

I had a really nice black cherry on it's way that was about 30" tall, curvy, and with a clump of branches already in the top third. I collected it, put it in the ground this spring and had to dig it up this May when we moved. It sulked for a couple of months and gradually declined and died.

Don't waste your time with black cherry, Joe. They invariably are attacked by fungus and die off in ugly stages. It's truly a shame, I love them as mature trees in the wild.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Thanks for the head's up, Zach. Truly a shame, because this tree was BEGGING to be a literati.

 

[ABCarve]

Don't waste your time with black cherry, Joe. They invariably are attacked by fungus and die off in ugly stages. It's truly a shame, I love them as mature trees in the wild.

I’m giving one a try. Sorry to hear this. Did fungicides help?? Did you try systemics?

 

[Maros]

This is my Oak/ Quercus pubescens which is sort of literati appearance.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Yes, I tried a triple action/neem oil based Fertilome product with no results. The tree basically withered gradually from the top down. Before I moved it, it was growing vigorously with no problems whatsoever. Didn't have much choice........either move it or lose it.

 

[bonhe]

Hi Joe Dupre,
You might take a look this post to get more information.
https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/literati-training.25926/#post-576516
Thụ Thoại

 

[Hartinez]

I had a pale wolf berry that I had dug sometime back. Beautiful flowers in spring and fruit come summer. Long main snaking trunk with great bark and a small amount of foliage towards the end. It was beautiful and different. It blew off my bench during a wind storm one hot summer. I didn’t get to it till late that evening. It never recovered and finally died. RIP pale wolf berry literati. Wish I had snapped a good pic. It’s been several years. I WILL have another.

 

[Hartinez]

This is at the pacific Bonsai museum. What is it? Anyone?

 

[jimib]

This is at the pacific Bonsai museum. What is it? Anyone? View attachment 210927

Looks like Tiger Eye Sumac. Kind of an odd tree. I had a small one. Branches are fuzzy and the smaller ones fall off in the winter and grow back in the spring.

 

[Zach Smith]

I’m giving one a try. Sorry to hear this. Did fungicides help?? Did you try systemics?

No, so it's definitely worth a try. You'll need to treat prophylactically. The damage seems to appear overnight, and it doesn't get any better after that.

 

[ABCarve]

No, so it's definitely worth a try. You'll need to treat prophylactically. The damage seems to appear overnight, and it doesn't get any better after that.

I’ve kept it 3 years now. It looks fine until mid-August and yes, it happens overnight. Seems like a weird time of year for a fungus to raise its head. Gonna get vigilant with the fungicide. Not giving up yet.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Thanks, bonhe. I'll check it out.

Oh, didn't mean to to put an exclamation point in the heading. Bad proofreading, I guess.

 

[Coppersdad]

Looks like Tiger Eye Sumac. Kind of an odd tree. I had a small one. Branches are fuzzy and the smaller ones fall off in the winter and grow back in the spring.

Sumac is deciduous in our Seattle climate, even when the winters are very mild. We had a large clump as a specimen yard plant for almost 30 years. As you can see, in the Fall the leaf colors are magnificent. In Winter, the mature plants, at over twelve feet tall, show torturous trunks and gnarly bark. In the spring, that initial fuzzy growth sort of announces the tree is waking from Winter slumber and all will be beginning again.

 

[BobbyLane]

Dont have this one anymore. guess it could come under literati, its a birch
IMG_2349 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[Joe Dupre']

I've since done some research on American Beauty Berry and have changed my mind on trying it as a bonsai. The long, leggy growth, straight stems and the growth of the berries on the long new growth stems make it unsuitable for bonsai. I might just collect the large clump and plant it in an unused portion of my yard for fall color.

 

[rockm]

Don't waste your time with black cherry, Joe. They invariably are attacked by fungus and die off in ugly stages. It's truly a shame, I love them as mature trees in the wild.

I agree, but if you find an excellent trunk, might be worth the heartbreak. I ran across one with a heck of a nebari and aged pine-like bark a couple of decades ago. I collected it and it became a pretty nice (if unstable) bonsai. It hated pruning. Died back on developed branches, threw suckers from its base and produced extremely strange threadlike roots in a dense mat once in a container. It also drew borers, tent caterpillars, aphids, wooly adelgids, you name it all through the growing season.

It was a complete hassle but during the two months in the spring when it was presentable, it was a great bonsai. Gnarled and black barked --closely resembled the ume in Japan.

After 16-18 years or so in a bonsai pot (and numerous apex replacements), it finally died because of fungus and other nasty stuff. I'd collect another one if I could find one with a similar trunk. I won't touch the smooth gun metal grey trunk this species usually has though. Not worth the trouble.

 

[Zach Smith]

I agree, but if you find an excellent trunk, might be worth the heartbreak. I ran across one with a heck of a nebari and aged pine-like bark a couple of decades ago. I collected it and it became a pretty nice (if unstable) bonsai. It hated pruning. Died back on developed branches, threw suckers from its base and produced extremely strange threadlike roots in a dense mat once in a container. It also drew borers, tent caterpillars, aphids, wooly adelgids, you name it all through the growing season.

It was a complete hassle but during the two months in the spring when it was presentable, it was a great bonsai. Gnarled and black barked --closely resembled the ume in Japan.

After 16-18 years or so in a bonsai pot (and numerous apex replacements), it finally died because of fungus and other nasty stuff. I'd collect another one if I could find one with a similar trunk. I won't touch the smooth gun metal grey trunk this species usually has though. Not worth the trouble.

I admire your stick-to-itiveness, Mark. In the wild the specimens are awesome. I have some on my property. The bark is beautiful and when you take one down the firewood puts off an amazing aroma. I think if I see a nice one I may sign up for some frustration again. It's been 15 years since my last ride.