Japanese Apricot, kumquat, and flowering plum

Carkybones

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I have Apricot, kumquat, and flowering plum on my list of "wanted bonsai" for my collection. Does anyone know where I can any of these? Looking for higher quality specimens.
 

bonsai45

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what is the difference between the first and third on your list? you know the latin names?
 

Carkybones

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Good call. It actually looks like they might be the same tree with different names. Referring to Japanese Apricot
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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Do you want live plants or seeds?
Prebonsai, bonsai or potted plant that you can turn into bonsai?
It all makes a difference ;-)
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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High quality to me is disease free and vigorous.
All other aspects of 'quality' are subjective, and I prefer to use the words 'refined', 'worked', 'designed' and so on.

I can get flowering plums for 6 euros a piece, of very high quality; healthy plants that have no issues, systemically treated for pests. They're not refined/designed/worked bonsai though, they're just sticks in pots, but the quality of those sticks is high.

High quality electronics are not automatically well designed. I see plants in a similar fashion.
 

Carkybones

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Can you tell this is my first post? Hehe

When I say high quality, I am referring to an older, refined bonsai. Looking for a tree that is already refined.
 

yenling83

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I'm guessing that the Japanese Apricot/Plum you are referring to is Prunus Mume, or "Ume." This tree flowers in late winter without leaf and is prized for the contrast in old rough bark, deadwood and beautiful flowers. The confusing part is that Ume is related to both apricot and plum and Bonsai professionals often either call it plum or apricot-depends on who you talk to. Hard to find nice specimens in the US as you cannot import them. Muranaka Bonsai nursery use to have some large trunks, but they don't anymore. I bought a nice sized tree from Omega Bonsai Nursery-one of the few places I've found them. You can also watch the Bonsai Auctions site on Facebook-they pop up every once in a while. You can buy young Ume-cutting grown from Evergreen Garden Works. If you ever visit Boon, he's got some nice specimens for sale, but I doubt he would ship. Here's a pic I took in 2015 of one of my favorite trees at Aichi-En in Japan. This tree is over 100 years old from seed.

16179071_1549251228422730_1697760348983762775_o.jpg

Japanese Dwarf Kumquat or "Kinzu" is another tough one here in the US, specifically because of the rules against transporting citrus. I really love Kinzu, they have tiny little orange fruit and grow vigorously in the right condition. I started many from seed, but I don't know if I can ever even show them, as they might get confiscated if I move them from my house. Pic from the phenomenal blog Bonsai Tonight of a Kinzu in the Gafu Ten.

kinzu-768x512.jpg
 
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Leo in N E Illinois

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For Kumquats - check Wigert's Nursery in Fort Meyer's Florida - their stock varies, email or call. You can ship citrus to NON CITRUS growing states. If the state has significant citrus agriculture, absolutely no citrus may be imported to the state. You are in Virginia, you should have no problem buying citrus plants. Florida, Texas and California are the states with big prohibitions of Citrus imports.


There is no bright line distinction between what gets called an apricot, almond, cherry or plum, at least botanically speaking. There are some 200 species of Prunus, many get called plum, the fuzzy skin fruit ones get called apricot. And some apricots are more like almonds. Some apricots you can harvest the kernel from the pit and use them as almonds.

Prunus mume is called Ume, and most often is translated as Japanese apricot.

Prunus armeniacum - is the culinary apricot - and actually is not bad at all as bonsai, like Ume, blooms before leaves, though a month or more later than P. mume. Very pretty. Also Prunus mandshurica - is the Manchurian apricot - can be used as either fruit or for almond like seed kernel. Also flowers before leaves, making for a pleasant bonsai that is very cold hardy.

Prunus dulcis - culinary almond - flowers a little later than P. mume, but earlier than most other apricots - not very cold tolerant, good only to zone 7.

Prunus glandulosa - Flowering almond, not a source for culinary almonds - Flowers before leaves, more cold hardy than P. dulcis, pretty, but as bonsai is a problem in humid climates, tends to be disease prone unless you have the right amount of arid weather, or a good spray program for diseases.

Then you could take the deep dive into cherries, the dungeon is so deep you need a "safe word" before you dive in.
 

R3x

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Good call. It actually looks like they might be the same tree with different names. Referring to Japanese Apricot
Ume (Prunus Mume) is classical species used for bonsai with many different varieties - see for example https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/prunus.htm However it is quite hard to get the cuttings root or airlayer. Jonas Dupuich over at Bonsai Tonight posted recently about Japanese Plum which is Prunus Salicina, which is easier to root: https://bonsaitonight.com/2019/10/11/fall-pruning-on-japanese-plum/
 
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I'm guessing that the Japanese Apricot/Plum you are referring to is Prunus Mume, or "Ume." This tree flowers in late winter without leaf and is prized for the contrast in old rough bark, deadwood and beautiful flowers. The confusing part is that Ume is related to both apricot and plum and Bonsai professionals often either call it plum or apricot-depends on who you talk to. Hard to find nice specimens in the US as you cannot import them. Muranaka Bonsai nursery use to have some large trunks, but they don't anymore. I bought a nice sized tree from Omega Bonsai Nursery-one of the few places I've found them. You can also watch the Bonsai Auctions site on Facebook-they pop up every once in a while. You can buy young Ume-cutting grown from Evergreen Garden Works. If you ever visit Boon, he's got some nice specimens for sale, but I doubt he would ship. Here's a pic I took in 2015 of one of my favorite trees at Aichi-En in Japan. This tree is over 100 years old from seed.

View attachment 271478

Japanese Dwarf Kumquat or "Kinzu" is another tough one here in the US, specifically because of the rules against transporting citrus. I really love Kinzu, they have tiny little orange fruit and grow vigorously in the right condition. I started many from seed, but I don't know if I can ever even show them, as they might get confiscated if I move them from my house. Pic from the phenomenal blog Bonsai Tonight of a Kinzu in the Gafu Ten.

View attachment 271485
Where is omega bonsai nursery?
 

rockm

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Can you tell this is my first post? Hehe

When I say high quality, I am referring to an older, refined bonsai. Looking for a tree that is already refined.
Um, do you know what kind of money you're talking about? I know of a few very high quality older developed ume bonsai in the area. If you can convince the owners to sell, the cost will be well over $6,000. That's for a tree very close to the character of some of the Japanese grown stuff. Seen them in person. Owners won't part with them.

If You don't have over five grand to spend, you can start with rough stock like the tree in the blog out of Houston, or with California sourced saplings/nursery stock. If you can get your hands on it before it is sold. Ume has become a "must have" for a lot of collectors. I've wanted one for a while, but haven't found a great opportunity to get what I want and I've been at this for a while.
 

Carkybones

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Um, do you know what kind of money you're talking about? I know of a few very high quality older developed ume bonsai in the area. If you can convince the owners to sell, the cost will be well over $6,000. That's for a tree very close to the character of some of the Japanese grown stuff. Seen them in person. Owners won't part with them.

If You don't have over five grand to spend, you can start with rough stock like the tree in the blog out of Houston, or with California sourced saplings/nursery stock. If you can get your hands on it before it is sold. Ume has become a "must have" for a lot of collectors. I've wanted one for a while, but haven't found a great opportunity to get what I want and I've been at this for a while.
Got it. Yes, I'd be willing to pay excess of $5k for a Japanese quality ume. I got your pm about about the place in VA. If you know anyone else I can reach out to, let me know. Thanks again.
 
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