Dwarf sand pine

[Dav4]

Only bonsai folks will know Rob kempinski...me thinks txhort is more into collecting plants then bonsai.

 

[ColinFraser]

I get one 8hr day a week, with 2hrs of drive time uncompensated. The only other curator I speak to on a frequent basis is Glen Lord at the Arnold Arboretum; he only gets something like 27 days a year. He's much better compensated, but my collection is in a non-profit botanical garden with a lack of funding.

Cool; good for you.

 

[Vance Wood]

Do you have the botanical name of the tree? Where do you live?

 

[carp]

Do you have the botanical name of the tree? Where do you live?

The tree is Pinus clausa. I'm willing to bet he is also in Florida.

 

[carp]

And I'm willing to bet that because of the Palms in the background and the sandy Bahamien Grass that Florida is cursed with.

 

[carp]

Cool; good for you.

Jack Sustic is at the National Arboretum, and I'm fairly sure they have him full time, but they are funded by the government. Glen Lord at the Arnold Arboretum is funded by Harvard University. Vlad at Morikami Japanese Garden in Del Ray Beach, FL gets something like 24hrs a week last I heard, on top of a $4 million expansion dedicated to their bonsai gardens. He is pretty well compensated, and has Boon out to the garden once a year to work on the trees. My professional opinion is, "no comment."

I'm funded by charitable donation and a $6 entrance fee that pays our 3 staff members, me being one of those three, and I have 106 trees to care for. When I took the job on last year, 10 of my trees were in broken pots. Some were not even in pots. With the help of Bonsai Societies of Florida, we was able to raise about $800 to buy supplies, and we also rounded up 6 pots, I contributed 4 of my own. The smallest of the pots that were donated was 18". A lot of the trees were sickly as well and I've got the collection turned around and headed back to where it once was. We were awarded "Best Tree in Show" at 2015 BSF Convention judged by Guy Guidry and David DeGroot.

 

[Vance Wood]

Jack Sustic is at the National Arboretum, and I'm fairly sure they have him full time, but they are funded by the government. Glen Lord at the Arnold Arboretum is funded by Harvard University. Vlad at Morikami Japanese Garden in Del Ray Beach, FL gets something like 24hrs a week last I heard, on top of a $4 million expansion dedicated to their bonsai gardens. He is pretty well compensated, and has Boon out to the garden once a year to work on the trees. My professional opinion is, "no comment."

I'm funded by charitable donation and a $6 entrance fee that pays our 3 staff members, me being one of those three, and I have 106 trees to care for. When I took the job on last year, 10 of my trees were in broken pots. Some were not even in pots. With the help of Bonsai Societies of Florida, we was able to raise about $800 to buy supplies, and we also rounded up 6 pots, I contributed 4 of my own. The smallest of the pots that were donated was 18". A lot of the trees were sickly as well and I've got the collection turned around and headed back to where it once was. We were awarded "Best Tree in Show" at 2015 BSF Convention judged by Guy Guidry and David DeGroot.

Do you have pictures of that tree?

 

[carp]

Aren't I cute?
Ficus salicaria.

 

[Dav4]

Well sure, but it ain't no dwarf sand pine...



nice ficus!

 

[Vance Wood]

Beautiful tree.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Hi Seth,
I know the Chicago Botanic Garden at least up until 2009 only had a 20 hour a week bonsai curator, and it is a very well funded garden. I don't know if the current curator of bonsai is full time now or not, they were trying to raise funds to make a full time slot, they do have staff that waters everything. So your position being only part time is not surprising at all. And congratulations on landing that gig. You really don't need to "justify" or "explain" your credentials. Txhorticulture is a new member here, and just hasn't been around long enough to recognize your name, you have been a member here for quite a while now. Most of us "old timers" remember who you are.

As to causal agents of witches brooms, in addition to the causes mentioned, there are non-biotic causes. Salt spray causes witches brooms in some sensitive species, as can herbicide over-spray or herbicide drift or other chemical contaminations. There are a few other non-biotic causes, but they escape me for the moment. Witches brooms from non-biotic causes have a high probability of reverting back to normal growth. The changes that control the witches broom growth pattern are not always genetic, rather frequently are epigenetic. Once genes are de-activated by methylation (one of several pathways of epigenetic controls) it can take many years (cell line generations) for the reversion to normal to occur. So some chemically or environmentally induced witches brooms remain quite stable, even though there was no change in the plant's DNA.

The end result of my babbling is, witches brooms usually retain the potential to revert to normal growth, though many have proven remarkably stable over the years. Everything you've said about sand pines rings true, but I am a "northerner" and have no hands on experience with P. clausa. I did have a friend with a P. elliotii which in Kenosha, Wisconsin was never going to be happy. He ran it as a windowsill house plant in winter. It lasted a few years, then faded away. The slash pine P. elliotii, seems to form nice bark even on a young plant, but the long needles really are a design problem.

 

[Txhorticulture]

And like you said, anyone with little experience can graft with 90-100% success rate, so what makes you believe this is an newly discovered cultivar?

Because a plant doesn't become a cultivar until a propagator produces a quantity for the trade and registers the name in accordance with a set of rules. The plant should be available in some sense, listed in a catalog or two, growing in an arboreta. The link you posted is just a nursery guy doing this for his amusement. If you want to introduce a plant you make several and evaluate it over time, send it to other specialty nurseries so they can evaluate it....

BTW no one in the trade tries to root or air layer a pine witches broom if it could be a cultivaTed garden plant. Pines in general do not root for beans and an airlayer is a waste of scions.

The broom this was grafted from appears stable so far. The pic suggests it's doing a few inches a year even on a super vigorous understock like slash pine.

There is a pent up demand for dwarf conifers in the southeast. Loblolly has one cultivar I'm aware of, 'nana'. And more people want it than can get it.

 

[carp]

Dude. Stop. It is readily available.
If you look and read the descriptions; each of these Florida nurseries has a grafted dwarf sand pine.
I've also seen them in small local nurseries.


https://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/pinus_clausa.htm

http://www.mckeithengrowers.com/Price_and_Availability.html

http://www.allnative.biz/trees.html

 

[Txhorticulture]

Dude. Stop. It is readily available.
If you look and read the descriptions; each of these Florida nurseries has a grafted dwarf sand pine.
I've also seen them in small local nurseries.

None list it with a cultivar epithet so all could be (have to assume they are) different dwarfs from different trees all the more reason for someone to do it the right way i.e., propagate a handful get them to some reputable nurserymen around the country. I noticed none that are on its own roots btw. No sense arguing about it.

I've bought a few plants from top tropicals over the years. I'll contact the guy see if I can get one.

 

[Vance Wood]

This sounds like the early days when we had similar discussions about Bristle Cone Pines. Who-da-thunk-it? that there were actually three different species of the tree.

 

[Txhorticulture]

Off the top of my head p. AristAta and p. Longaeva what's the third?

 

[Vance Wood]

Off the top of my head p. AristAta and p. Longaeva what's the third?

Pinus Balfouriana, AKA. Fox Tail Pine.

 

[carp]

Not to beat a dead horse; but today was our Multi-Club Picnic/Auction event and guess what I saw.....

 

[M. Frary]

Beating it. Kicking it. Driving over it with a tractor. Poor old horse.

 

[sorce]

While fishing for carp, we used to, "imagine" carps with human ____
You have added a whole new dimension to those thoughts.

Lord help me!

I'm glad you post, how you post.

I like watching when people can't pick intelligence out of funny!

Rock on young Brother!

Rock on!

Sorce