Some Flowerhouse natives

[Flowerhouse]

In order of collection:
Yardadori Picea pungens. I dug this from a bad spot in my yard in 2020. It was too close to my willows, so shaded, choked by roots, and deprived of rainfall. It's in a big pot that I begged off my neighbors The new growth is at the same stage as the successful blue spruce in my yard, so I'm happy with that. Proposed plan: Stay in the current pot this year. When the new growth has hardened off, start some branch selection, reduce the height of the tree. Shape-wise it's a hot mess.


Yamadori Pinus edulis. Collected in 2020. I'm very happy to see this little guy pushing out candles. Proposed plan: Stay in the current pot. When this new growth has hardened off wire the crossing branch so it isn't crossing.


Yamadori Pinus ponderosa. Collected in 2020. Needles extending. This isn't spectacular growth, but is it proof of life and it's consistent with how this little tree was growing in its mountain home. Proposed plan: Stay in Anderson flat, fertilize, hope for current "root shoe" to become more of a root ball. To that end I make sure to water the whole flat as if roots were filling it.


Yamadori Pseudotsuga menzeisii. Collected 2021. This is pushing out new growth maybe a week behind the one in my landscape. Proposed plan: No changes for this year, just lots of water, sun, and fertilizer.


I need to create an outdoor photo space so that I can get full tree shots without doing contortions. Task for another day

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

You are having some fun digging and better still, success in keeping the fruits of your labor alive!

I’ll look forward to seeing those better photos.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Flowerhouse]

My first tree, the blue spruce. I dug this up from my yard last summer and popped it into a big plastic pot, just using what was available at the time. As situated in the ground, the left side of this view was facing north, and the bottom straight section of the trunk was vertical. As the tree grew, or tried to, it leaned to the south and put on all that fluffy growth on the top right.
Here are some more views:



The tree is about 3' tall and wide, and I can almost kind of move it with a hand truck.
If it's OK to reduce the top AND repot in and Anderson flat, I'll do both. If it can only sustain one insult this summer, I'll reduce the top. A few of the little previously north-side branches didn't put on extensions, but otherwise growth was well distributed. I am open to suggestions.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Next up, little Pinus edulis I collected in 2020.

Its tallest branch reaches around from the back. The only thing I'm planning to do this year is wire that branch so it isn't crossing. I'll wait until the new growth is hardened off.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Pinus ponderosa 1. Collected in 2020.

In this view the trunk is leaning slightly toward the viewer.

Trunk leans slightly away from the viewer, and the right side curves toward the viewer. The original root mass is under the two little fert covers. The brown tip farthest left is deer damage from an April snow.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Pseudotsuga menzeisii, Doug fir. This guy was just collected in April, so the only thing happening for now is water and fertilizer. There's a potential future twin trunk in there.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Potentilla fruticosa (Dasiphora fruticosa). Collected at the same time as the little Dougie above. I hadn't planned to get a potentilla, but the person I was collecting with insisted that it was a ninebark so I dug it up. Where I got this guy there are bazillions of them, but no danger of finding one with any "wood." This one had a dozen dead canes that I clipped out. It has low budding on several of the canes, and I wonder if I could clip it way back and have just a small companion pland rather that trying for a tree. About 12" tall currently.

 

[Flowerhouse]

I collected this little cache grouping thinking they were blue spruce. Blue, single needles, not too far from mature blue spruces.... They were growing in duff under a ponderous ponderosa, 13' circumference, with long low branches.

A few days ago I noticed that 4 of the 5 seedlings had the beginnings of branches.

This morning I noticed that a couple of the little "spruces" had popped out a few 2-needle bundles.

So not spruce. Pinus edulis?? That's my current ID guess. The three on the left are almost braided, so I guess I'll untangle their trunks. None of them are straight, very flexible right now. I think if I wired them now, other than what's needed to untangle the 3, it would be a long time before they would hold the shape. O-pinyons on that??

Here's the Pinus edulis I collected a year ago, with its new little needles all extended.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Ponderosa #1, collected in 2020. This tree has filled the Anderson flat with roots and every little twig has a wee candle. These are not going to candles for big growth, but they will increase the plumage on the little tree.

I think this will be the front. The trunk exits the soil moving slightly toward the viewer. Most of the growth reaches toward the viewer, and this is the best view of the trunks.

Again.

Maybe the back of the tree. It is planted in this position in the flat because of the original roots, which extend toward the left front corner in this pic.

Given my extremely dry conditions and severe watering restrictions this year, I am planning to keep this tree in the Anderson flat. This fall I will take away the fertilizer, hoping for short needles next year.

 

[Colorado]

Good looking native conifers

Have you considered just utilizing the left trunk on that ponderosa in the Anderson flat? Seems to me that left trunk has nice movement while the right trunk is a little straight. Just something to think about

 

[Flowerhouse]

Good looking native conifers

Have you considered just utilizing the left trunk on that ponderosa in the Anderson flat? Seems to me that left trunk has nice movement while the right trunk is a little straight. Just something to think about

I like this idea! It would be easier to imagine this little tree in a pot without the long right extension. I think I would chop at the red line, which would leave the little stub branch marked in blue. Is there a right time of the year to make such a chop?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Good idea folks!
I’ve got a similar Ponderosa abs have been thinking the very same thing.
Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Flowerhouse]

Mountain Mahogany - Cercocarpus montanus, collected in 2021 in Colorado.

This will be the first summer of its life that is has adequate water, pest control, and no grazing. For this year my plan is to just let it grow. I'm happy to see it blooming!

 

[Flowerhouse]

My triple trunk aspen, collected in 2021.

Again, its first summer with adequate water, pest control, and no grazing. For this one also its first summer in full sun I have removed a few crossing twigs, otherwise just letting it grow for this year.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Quercus gambelii, collected in 2021. Not a spectacular specimen, I know. Where I collect, there is a nice dense stand of these growing in a rock shelf. They are regularly browsed. There are some rugged trunks, but would be impossible to collect. This one was in the grass about 100 yds away from the parent trees. The top never leafed out and appears dead down to where I chopped it. The trunk has sent out sprouts in the same location before. I reduced the number of sprouts, hoping a couple of them will take over and thrive. Maybe I should take the middle one out too?

Nothing for scale in the pic, but that's a 1 gallon nursery can.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Ribes cereum, Wax Currant. Collected in Colorado in 2021. This guy was growing in a depression in a granite boulder, was easy to dig up. It spent the winter without protection, against the north side of my house. This spring it bloomed profusely, though only a few blooms were fertilized. This is what it looked like this morning:

Growing well, branching nicely, roots peeking out of the drain holes in that pot.
I decided to repot into a size "B" hex from Weigerts, a little smaller and more shallow. Also pruned it up. After these initial efforts:

I decided that branch on the left with the long bud-less section had to go. What it looks like now:

I think the branch nearest the center needs to go next. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[Flowerhouse]

I wired 4 branches into lower positions, clipped back as many.

This is the buggiest tree in my small collection! I gave it another spray of insecticidal soap and popped it under the bench for a few days of shade.

 

[Flowerhouse]

A sneak peek at Ponderosa #2, collected in 2021.

Its root situation dictated planting at this angel. When it has fully recovered I would like to plant it at the angle at which it was growing in the rock. Tipped a little towards the viewer and to the right, so the foliage is mostly parallel to the horizon. The little tree has fat white roots escaping from the bottom of the flat. This year it put on 5-10 little needle bundles on each growing tip. That's normal growth for these stunted pines; it has grown to this size on that plan. I hope to repot next year.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Aspen Update:
May 4 in bloom.



Today.

It's a girl!

Base of the little tree. The branch to the right will be the first to go.