SPRING

[rollwithak]

Nice trees I am yet to attempt Japanese maple in the past I did not have the capability for winter storage zone 4 here but it’s o. My bucket list

Super easy to grow from seed and there are sites that will sell you seedlings, that way you can start from young age and shape them. Very fun trees, and absolutely beautiful throughout the seasons.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Nice trees I am yet to attempt Japanese maple in the past I did not have the capability for winter storage zone 4 here but it’s o. My bucket list

Yeaaaah... they don't do good HERE...(USDA Zone 5a) (AHS Heat Index 2/3)

I was able to overwinter a Bloodgood.. in a coldframe in a coldframe..

Just go Acer Tatarican... try Tatarican Ssp. Ginnala if you can.. but they're ALL good.. gotta grow them yourself.. because using ssp. Ginnala in trade situations is illegal in many areas.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Not exactly that easy to get here . Seeds yes . Since Covid importing trees is a different story Canada Bonsai has some nice cultivars . Grown from cuttings But only nursery stock in warmest parts of Canada . Asked a nursery that gets conifers from USA west coast. If I could pre order some stuff he laughed said . He will be lucky if he had anything to sell in the spring

 

[HorseloverFat]

Aaaand (In Addition to Acer Tatarican)

Acer Pseudoseiboldianum has pretty sweet cultivars and is hardy to zone 4.. so in containers by you, would just need light protection.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Acer Truncatum is ALSO hardy to 4a... and VERY groovy.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Yeaaaah... they don't do good HERE...(USDA Zone 5a) (AHS Heat Index 2/3)

I was able to overwinter a Bloodgood.. in a coldframe in a coldframe..

Just go Acer Tatarican... try Tatarican Ssp. Ginnala if you can.. but they're ALL good.. gotta grow them yourself.. because using ssp. Ginnala in trade situations is illegal in many areas.

I have Amur seeds this year it’s planted everywhere in the city . Never grown it . What’s illegal . The silver maple and red maple on my front yard are 45 feet high along with several others on my street . You can collect seeds with a shovel . Have grown in the past and will again. . I get unique crosses from seeds . Have a soft spot for both . Silver is underrated Very aggressive growth . I even have some sugar in the ground . And yes I know there not good for bonsai . But I am Canadian

 

[HorseloverFat]

I have Amur seeds this year it’s planted everywhere in the city . Never grown it . What’s illegal . The silver maple and red maple on my front yard are 45 feet high along with several others on my street . You can collect seeds with a shovel . Have grown in the past and will again. . I get unique crosses from seeds . Have a soft spot for both . Silver is underrated Very aggressive growth . I even have some sugar in the ground . And yes I know there not good for bonsai . But I am Canadian

It's illegal here due to it's invasive quality.. (This is JUST ssp. Ginnala.. not ALL
Tatarican) I observed 300-400 Native and naturalized Acer seedlings last year.. culled down to 30-40ish.. rabbits finished off 10-12.

So I'm left with Reds, Silvers, Norways, and freemanis.. (Bust MOSTLY Freemani and Rubrum)((and crosses betwixt) all selected for short internodes and leaf size/shape/color.

I too, enjoy Silvers... but I'm guessing the soft wood can make rot an issue regarding wounds on larger trees...

Rubrum, Freemani and Platenoides specimens with good qualities for Bonsai DO exist... you just have to wade through a lot more.. "crap" to get them.

 

[HorseloverFat]

. But I am Canadian

I know, bud.

I LOVE Canada... (I'm close enough to know)

Love those indigenous folks, too, boys.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Acer Truncatum is ALSO hardy to 4a... and VERY groovy.

I know, bud.

I LOVE Canada... (I'm close enough to know)

Love those indigenous folks, too, boys.

silver is considered bad as a street tree based on its habit of growing from a crotch or multi stemmed and week wood easily breaks in a storm . But none of that matters in bonsai . Plus if it’s so week why are there multiple 100 year old ones in the town I live in . I have a unique situation live 40 miles from and work in Ottawa . Being the country capital . The National Arboretum is here part of the experimental farm . Started by the government 160 years ago to study crops abs plants for the country . In the arboretum there is a huge collection of trees native and not native to the country . Multiple rare trees over 100 years old . Conifers Maples oaks rate crab apple . The oldest largest choke cherry you have ever seen seed source fir mine . Protected trees in a park setting but seeds are free to pick . I have seeds from strange multi stem eastern red cedar listed as one of 150 remarkable trees in Ottawa Only found out yesterday somewhere there is a bristle cone pine 60 years old . Trees donated and planted as gifts from other countries . Some massive old trees seed collectors paradise . Even plagues to identify trees

 

[HorseloverFat]

silver is considered bad as a street tree based on its habit of growing from a crotch or multi stemmed and week wood easily breaks in a storm . But none of that matters in bonsai . Plus if it’s so week why are there multiple 100 year old ones in the town I live in . I have a unique situation live 40 miles from and work in Ottawa . Being the country capital . The National Arboretum is here part of the experimental farm . Started by the government 160 years ago to study crops abs plants for the country . In the arboretum there is a huge collection of trees native and not native to the country . Multiple rare trees over 100 years old . Conifers Maples oaks rate crab apple . The oldest largest choke cherry you have ever seen seed source fir mine . Protected trees in a park setting but seeds are free to pick . I have seeds from strange multi stem eastern red cedar listed as one of 150 remarkable trees in Ottawa Only found out yesterday somewhere there is a bristle cone pine 60 years old . Trees donated and planted as gifts from other countries . Some massive old trees seed collectors paradise . Even plagues to identify trees

Agreed to most of the things you said.

I did not mean "weak"... I said "soft".. this is just density and physics.. And plays a large roll in pest/varmin susceptibility... also in how a tree HEALS the wounds.

And yes, obviously there would have to be very old trees of EACH specie, existing everywhere through their native and naturalized regions.. this HAS to be the case... or else... it WOULDN'T be the case, y'know? That's how we CHART those ranges.

I love seed collection and documentation/"breeding equations".. the fact that you know your cross-polls and regard them with special consideration means that, in my opinion, all your thoughts/knowledge and eagerness when it comes to seeds and plant RNA is SPOT ON! I perform similar experiments, and think/feel the same way.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

I get your point about the silvers . I. There case nature must likely thinking . I’ll just outgrow injury and disease . My interest in native trees . Is based on I have access to them and I think that’s what works . Something I feel is not thought about by many . I understand we all want what we don’t have . The guy in the tropics wants cold hardy trees . And has a fridge to over winter . But the fact is bonsai thrives with native trees . Most should take note the trees . Used for bonsai in Japan are native to Japan

 

[HorseloverFat]

I get your point about the silvers . I. There case nature must likely thinking . I’ll just outgrow injury and disease . My interest in native trees . Is based on I have access to them and I think that’s what works . Something I feel is not thought about by many . I understand we all want what we don’t have . The guy in the tropics wants cold hardy trees . And has a fridge to over winter . But the fact is bonsai thrives with native trees . Most should take note the trees . Used for bonsai in Japan are native to Japan

Exactly, friend!

There exists here, a large number of enthusiasts, who believe this same way.. and are working to construct the parameters of North American Continental Miniature Tree art.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Koto hime and trident maples saying hello. I want to give a special shout out to Mr. Valavanis. In my craziness, I purchased "some" younger trees from a number of vendors as I did not know what's what. I can safely say Valavanis's were the best material of the lot. Each little tree was something I was excited to start working on, they are each unique and, best of all, they are strong and healthy. Don't kid yourself, Valavanis can squeeze a ton of fine feeder roots into small pots - great reference point for what roots should look like. As a bonus, the "double trunk" arakawa I got from him turned out to be 2 separate arakawa - WIN. I'm not sure what kind of anabolic steroids he is feeding these trees, but keep up the good work and I look forward to getting more from him. As the trees continue to fill the yard, the wifey may have a different opinion of Mr. Valavanis. Just saying.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Just curious how do you purchase from him . I know who he is but no idea what the name of his business is

 

[Tums]

Just curious how do you purchase from him . I know who he is but no idea what the name of his business is

Available young seedlings, specifically chosen to become specimen or forest style bonsai.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Exactly, friend!

There exists here, a large number of enthusiasts, who believe this same way.. and are working to construct the parameters of North American Continental Miniature Tree art.

If you took the top 100 bonsai masters in Japan . Gave them . North America to collect in and start all over . From the desert junipers I. Southwest Tropical sun Florida . Alpine trees in the Rockies . Massive amounts of species Conifers dicid . Swamps bogs . Massive forests . The harsh struggle for life in the desert and the cold north . Add Europe with the alps . And trees like olive propagated . For thousands of years . Those 100 Japanese masters would . Sell every pine maple and juniper they had . To anyone that was willing to pay anything . And have big smiles on there faces . As looked at each other . And dated where do we start

 

[Potawatomi13]

If you took the top 100 bonsai masters in Japan . Gave them . North America to collect in and start all over . From the desert junipers I. Southwest Tropical sun Florida . Alpine trees in the Rockies . Massive amounts of species Conifers dicid . Swamps bogs . Massive forests . The harsh struggle for life in the desert and the cold north . Add Europe with the alps . And trees like olive propagated . For thousands of years . Those 100 Japanese masters would . Sell every pine maple and juniper they had . To anyone that was willing to pay anything . And have big smiles on there faces . As looked at each other . And dated where do we start

Indeed suspect much correctness here. USA, Euro have still largely untapped supply of Yamadori trees now largely gone in Japan.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

But if there throwing there trees away . I’ll take one several hundred year old pine

 

[dbonsaiw]

Just curious how do you purchase from him . I know who he is but no idea what the name of his business is

Internationalbonsai.com