Mission: American Elm

[GroveBonsai]

Bonsai is so much cheaper in Florida than NJ soooo, naturally i bought an American elm and told my mom to ship it to me. There was some confusion at the post office and they were going to charge my mother $120 dollars to ship it. The tree cost $25 dollars...

I gave up on the idea but it became my moms mission to get it up to me. She had a trip already planned so she decided to smuggle it in her luggage (she’s actually allowed to have it. I just wasn’t sure if it would end well) I told her she could remove the pot if she wanted to. She somehow packed it and all her clothes in a small suitcase. To give you an idea, the tree is 18” tall, 18” wide and 18” in depth. The woman is a genius. I waited for her with a new pot and soil ready to go, expecting to try to salvage a pile of sticks but She did it! Not a single leaf was lost. And the tree is now settling into its new pot in the great north.

I did do some light pruning


In Florida

Just off the airplane

In her new home.

 

[Jcmmaple]

Moms are awesome, yours just got some serious points.

 

[Alexmacrophyllum]

Pretty awesome little tree and kudos to your mom for the delivery. Haha

 

[rockm]

FWIW, The airlines don't care about stuff like this. You'd think they would, but Uh Uh. I brought a newly-collected three foot tall, 6 inch diameter chopped cedar elm with a 15 inch root mass back on a Southwest flight from Texas. It was packed in a long box stuffed with sphagnum moss...I thought I'd get the stink eye or confiscation at TSA and at the gate. After it was x-rayed (no one cared there either) at the security checkpoint, I brought it as carryon....

 

[GroveBonsai]

FWIW, The airlines don't care about stuff like this. You'd think they would, but Uh Uh. I brought a newly-collected three foot tall, 6 inch diameter chopped cedar elm with a 15 inch root mass back on a Southwest flight from Texas. It was packed in a long box stuffed with sphagnum moss...I thought I'd get the stink eye or confiscation at TSA and at the gate. After it was x-rayed (no one cared there either) at the security checkpoint, I brought it as carryon....

Wow, that’s bold AMAZING!

 

[GroveBonsai]

I did some initial styling on the American Elm. The Nebari isn’t awesome so i plan on doing a ground layer later this year. Also, it has starting popping buds and I’m a little nervous that this tree will wake up too early.....we’ll see what happens.

 

[vp999]

You are allowed to fly with live plants within the country. While I was vacationing in Fort Lauderdale last July, got bored and went to visit some bonsai nursery and a whole sale bonsai place that sell trees pots for really..really cheap. We flew Southwest so I was able to bring back 6 more plastic totes that I bought from Walmart full of bonsai trees and pots lol, I think about 16 trees and 20 pots. The TSA opened and search my luggage when we flew there but not one single tote was opened and searched. Florida is a great place for tropical bonsai.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Next time put it in a box as small as possible, fill all the empty space with foam peanuts and ship regular ground UPS. It takes 3 or 4 days. I've done it to myself many times in the dead of winter with Boogies, no problem. If you bare root it and put the whole thing wet in a plastic bag, it's cheaper. I always reduced the roots and dusted with hormone so it was ready to repot out of the box.

 

[Zach Smith]

If you plan to transport trees from Florida to DC ask the nursery for a "tag" or other certificate that will pass agricultural inspection if the agent asks about it. You could end up having your trees confiscated otherwise.

 

[rockm]

I did some initial styling on the American Elm. The Nebari isn’t awesome so i plan on doing a ground layer later this year. Also, it has starting popping buds and I’m a little nervous that this tree will wake up too early.....we’ll see what happens. View attachment 281205View attachment 281206View attachment 281207

This tree has already "woken up" It is very vulnerable to frost and especially freezing. You'd better have place where it can be placed where it won't freeze. Low temps that freeze the entire rootball could kill the plant at this point.

Once buds open (and the photo shows buds with leaf edges emerging) trees lose 95 percent of their winter hardness. That protection has been replaced by the plant transferring its resources into growth. It cannot be reversed...

 

[GroveBonsai]

This tree has already "woken up" It is very vulnerable to frost and especially freezing. You'd better have place where it can be placed where it won't freeze. Low temps that freeze the entire rootball could kill the plant at this point.

Once buds open (and the photo shows buds with leaf edges emerging) trees lose 95 percent of their winter hardness. That protection has been replaced by the plant transferring its resources into growth. It cannot be reversed...

Thank you. It is in my unheated sunroom that i keep a close monitor of the temps. It usually stays 44-34 even though it’s been hard to keep it cooler on these warm days we’ve been having.