New Pondo

yenling83

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You might have seen me post this on Instagram already, but wanted to post here as i'm super pumped on my new tree.

Last week I drove from the Central Coast of CA to Converse County, WY to visit Dan Wiederrecht and Steve Varland from Back Country Bonsai. Round trip took me 5 days of driving, which is a whole hell of a lot... but well worth it because I came home with a new Pondo pictured below-collected by Steve Varland at the beginning of this year. We took great care in limiting all movement of the tree for the drive back, luckily everything went smoothly and I delivered the tree to Peter Tea's house in Norther CA where I plan to graft Black Pine and keep it there for the new several years. The tree was searched coming back into the CA boarder, but it passed inspection after presenting the proper Phytosanitary Certs.

Huge shout out to Back Country Dan and Steve for being such great hosts and the for the opportunity to purchase this tree. Those guys are doing it the right way, super hardworking, collect in an ethical manner and passionate about American Bonsai.

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PiñonJ

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You might have seen me post this on Instagram already, but wanted to post here as i'm super pumped on my new tree.

Last week I drove from the Central Coast of CA to Converse County, WY to visit Dan Wiederrecht and Steve Varland from Back Country Bonsai. Round trip took me 5 days of driving, which is a whole hell of a lot... but well worth it because I came home with a new Pondo pictured below-collected by Steve Varland at the beginning of this year. We took great care in limiting all movement of the tree for the drive back, luckily everything went smoothly and I delivered the tree to Peter Tea's house in Norther CA where I plan to graft Black Pine and keep it there for the new several years. The tree was searched coming back into the CA boarder, but it passed inspection after presenting the proper Phytosanitary Certs.

Huge shout out to Back Country Dan and Steve for being such great hosts and the for the opportunity to purchase this tree. Those guys are doing it the right way, super hardworking, collect in an ethical manner and passionate about American Bonsai.

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I met Steve in Denver at the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society’s annual exhibition - really nice guy! What a great and wild-looking Pondo! And what a shame to try and tame it with JBP foliage when it has the appropriate proportions to use its own foliage.
 

Colorado

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That trunk is nothing short of stunning.

I, too, would be interested in hearing your thought process behind deciding to graft JBP foliage *onto this particular tree.*

Your work certainly speaks for itself - looking forward to seeing this tree a few years down the road!
 

wireme

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I’ve been to Dans place once. It was great, the man makes a good coffee. It was a midnight visit so didn’t get to Steve’s. Just don’t ever walk around Dans yard in the dark and barefoot, I can tell you that. I just gotta ask, looks like you deboxed it for the trip? Helluva tree.
 

coh

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That looks like amazing material! Please post a better photo once you get it into a container (or at least into a better location for a photo).
 

yenling83

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Thanks all! The tree was boxed when I took it home. IMO the decision to graft or not is a subjective decision based on multiple factors. Personally, I love native Pondo foliage for Bonsai, however I also like the look of Black Pine. But the primary reason for grafting is that I don’t get a true dormant period on the Central Coast of CA. Black pine is super reliable where I live, so it’s more of a practical decision than aesthetics in this case, but I appreciate both types of foliage for Ponderosa.

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Brian Van Fleet

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That is a fantastic tree, Jeremiah! Eager to see it in Nationals one day. The old plated red bark twisting around the deadwood is amazing.
 
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Dude! You can't beat that trunk, this is one of the most beautiful Pondo's I have ever seen. Good job by Backcountry boys and what an effort on your part with 5 days of driving.

Curious, how confident are you that the JBP grafts will take? I want to like native Ponderosa foliage but I just can't get around those long needles, im ok with Thuja, which is another difficult foliage but much more compactable etc.
 

yenling83

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Dude! You can't beat that trunk, this is one of the most beautiful Pondo's I have ever seen. Good job by Backcountry boys and what an effort on your part with 5 days of driving.

Curious, how confident are you that the JBP grafts will take? I want to like native Ponderosa foliage but I just can't get around those long needles, im ok with Thuja, which is another difficult foliage but much more compactable etc.

Thank you Matt! Yah I owe it all to Dan and Steve, they are some of the best collectors in the world.

I’m very confident about the grafting process. I’ve heard Ryan Neil say that the best you can expect is getting a 50% take rate for Black Pine on Pondo. But the thing is, if one doesn’t take, you can always do It over and try again. I had one Pondo which I recently sold that Peter successfully grafted with Black for me. I know Boon, Peter Tea, Ryan Neil and Michael H all have had Pondos grafted w Black Pine. Parafilm scion grafts seem to be the way to do it.

I sure love your Thuja, please keep collecting and posting pics:) they do have nice foliage.
 
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Peter Tea Bonsai is a great blog. Can’t find anything he’s doing lately though.
 
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Nice score! Honestly though I don’t see how someone can stumble across something so spectacular in nature, then dig it up, manage to keep it alive.... and then sell it. People usually get rid of material when they have BETTER material to work with and need the room. I just don’t get it
 

River's Edge

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Outstanding Yamadori, glad to see it in your hands. The end result of JBP on Ponderosa can be a stunning show tree! Pass on my regards to Peter when you see him, please.
Can't wait to see this tree in five years, the change will be well under way!
 

PiñonJ

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the primary reason for grafting is that I don’t get a true dormant period on the Central Coast of CA. Black pine is super reliable where I live, so it’s more of a practical decision than aesthetics in this case, but I appreciate both types of foliage for Ponderosa.
Fair enough! Ryan certainly doesn’t hesitate to graft if he doesn’t have the branches he needs. The tree is a stunner. I hope it does well for you!
 

yenling83

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Nice score! Honestly though I don’t see how someone can stumble across something so spectacular in nature, then dig it up, manage to keep it alive.... and then sell it. People usually get rid of material when they have BETTER material to work with and need the room. I just don’t get it

Steve has a phenomenal collection, but I believe he’s into smaller sized trees, I think that’s why he decided to let this one go.
 

misfit11

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This is one of the best Pondo trunks I've ever seen. While it's size would allow you to keep the native foliage and have it still be in scale, I think your decision to graft Black Pine on it is right on. This is going to be an absolute show stopper in 10 years or so. Congratulations on your acquisition.
 
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