Pachycaul
Mame
Thanks to AZbonsai for spurring me to document the development of this planting. Albuquerque was blessed/cursed by the introduction of Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila) by a former mayor, Clyde Tingley in the 1930s. His desire to recreate shady, tree-lined streets of the fine city resulted in what is known as "Tingley's Folly. " Every spring, blizzards of seeds collect in drifts with resulting seedlings emerging from every cracked sidewalk, vacant lot and any space left undisturbed for five minutes. As I was cruising a local nursery one fine autumn day I happened upon my find. Having been undisturbed for five minutes, a four inch nursery can was fulfilling the mayor's legacy.
Taking it to the lady at the counter I joked "If you give me five dollars, I will take this and keep it between us. No one else need know."
"Yes, they were really bad this year," she replied, taking it from me, popping the root brick out of the pot and throwing it into the waste bin.
"No, no, I really want it, you can keep the five dollars."
"You WANT this? For WHAT? It's a scourge. We can't keep the place for them taking it over!"
(It was, however, very shady and cool, especially for late August.) She reluctantly fished them out, plopped them back in the pot and shoved them my way.) 8/22/16
I returned home and did some root ripping, bare-handed surgery to separate the individual trees and rough cut-to-fit the resulting rootage, paying attention to ensure that sufficient mass was left to give them a chance. These were, after all, known for growing in asphalt parking lots, so some amount of delicate handling could be forgone.
A hastily arranged group based on the bare minimum of design principles, big tree slightly off center, next larger tree adjacent, with smaller trees in groups of 3-5 yadda yadda yadda... Ended up with slightly more yadda on the right, and less yadda on the left. We'll see if it survives this. 8/27/16
Since it made it through a winter outside on the south side of my house with occasional watering and minimal protection from the wind it proved a will to live. Before buds began to break but after they began to
swell it was time to wire. 03/04/17
Three weeks later they burst forth despite the ham-fisted transplant, winter neglect, and ham-fisted wiring
03/22/17
As it appeared slip potted into its "Sunday Go To Meetin'" pot for the Mothers' Day show at the Albuquerque Botanical Garden sponsored by the local club.
04/05/17
Looking forward to a repot this spring to balance the grouping and develop a better interrelationship between the individual trees. Some of them will need to rotate and a more thoughtful design worked out. More yadda on the left, less on the right.
04/17/17
Taking it to the lady at the counter I joked "If you give me five dollars, I will take this and keep it between us. No one else need know."
"Yes, they were really bad this year," she replied, taking it from me, popping the root brick out of the pot and throwing it into the waste bin.
"No, no, I really want it, you can keep the five dollars."
"You WANT this? For WHAT? It's a scourge. We can't keep the place for them taking it over!"
(It was, however, very shady and cool, especially for late August.) She reluctantly fished them out, plopped them back in the pot and shoved them my way.) 8/22/16
I returned home and did some root ripping, bare-handed surgery to separate the individual trees and rough cut-to-fit the resulting rootage, paying attention to ensure that sufficient mass was left to give them a chance. These were, after all, known for growing in asphalt parking lots, so some amount of delicate handling could be forgone.
A hastily arranged group based on the bare minimum of design principles, big tree slightly off center, next larger tree adjacent, with smaller trees in groups of 3-5 yadda yadda yadda... Ended up with slightly more yadda on the right, and less yadda on the left. We'll see if it survives this. 8/27/16
Since it made it through a winter outside on the south side of my house with occasional watering and minimal protection from the wind it proved a will to live. Before buds began to break but after they began to
swell it was time to wire. 03/04/17
Three weeks later they burst forth despite the ham-fisted transplant, winter neglect, and ham-fisted wiring
03/22/17
As it appeared slip potted into its "Sunday Go To Meetin'" pot for the Mothers' Day show at the Albuquerque Botanical Garden sponsored by the local club.
04/05/17
Looking forward to a repot this spring to balance the grouping and develop a better interrelationship between the individual trees. Some of them will need to rotate and a more thoughtful design worked out. More yadda on the left, less on the right.
04/17/17
