SU2
Omono
I'd collected these guys years ago, mistaking them for BC's on one of my first collections, and grew them w/o knowing ID.
I looked into it recently and seems(/is!) that they're Nyssa trees, the problem is I cannot discern whether they're Nyssa Aquatica, Sylvatica, or Ogeechee.... Is Sylvatica "the best"? I'd initially thought so, considering it was the one mentioned most-frequently in-context of bonsai, however when trying to discern which cultivar I have I realized that Sylvatica has a MASSIVE natural-range, compared to Aquatica or Ogeechee, so now I'm not so certain Sylvatica is "Better" but am curious for people's thoughts on these 3 Nyssa cultivars insofar as bonsai suitability! No Nyssa has small leaves, thankfully both of mine have large trunks so forcing perspective shouldn't be that big an issue, both of them are about 3/4ths done closing their chop wounds and, sadly, for one of them that I wanted to flat-top (not BC-type flat topping, I mean more Baobab style, like a straight trunk with a bunch of branches coming from the top of it), and - having setup the branching years back - I erred and didn't leave any actual primary-leader so the thing doesn't really know what to do
[yes I know a jin is unlikely to be appropriate on top of this guy I just tend to keep whatever deadwood I'm able to, figure it lets me have as much options as I want down the road....can always remove it!]
[may be hard to tell but ALL of these radial primaries are originating within 2" of the top of the trunking, you can see how a couple of them have low-on-branch secondary branching that is trying to become apical-tip for the tree, though I will say I'm "impressed"/surprised at the lack of apical dominance considering what tall specimen these things become!]
These were living in standing water, though it seems that all 3 suspect Nyssa's can live in water. I'm in Tampa Bay, which seems a bit too far south for **either** Ogeechee or Aquatica, so far as "habitat range" graphics, but I've found anecdotes of Ogeeche's in my area (although the Ogeechee's are the "ogeechee lime" ones, known for putting out lots of fruit - to the point of being 'messy'....neither of mine has ever fruited, although the %odds of just having two male Nyssa's isn't that high :/
Thanks a ton for any insight as to which cultivar these guys are!! Also, any advice on how to work a flat top, that is without a dominant leader, would be greatly appreciated --- best guess I have is to simply let one of the near-to-base secondaries on my horizontal primaries become the leader, would be kind of weird looking and 'twist' the canopy but I can't grow anything from the deadwood-center of that trunk's top, and the top inches of the trunk are filled with horizontally-radiating primaries (too-thick to just bend one upwards to make it a leader..)
I looked into it recently and seems(/is!) that they're Nyssa trees, the problem is I cannot discern whether they're Nyssa Aquatica, Sylvatica, or Ogeechee.... Is Sylvatica "the best"? I'd initially thought so, considering it was the one mentioned most-frequently in-context of bonsai, however when trying to discern which cultivar I have I realized that Sylvatica has a MASSIVE natural-range, compared to Aquatica or Ogeechee, so now I'm not so certain Sylvatica is "Better" but am curious for people's thoughts on these 3 Nyssa cultivars insofar as bonsai suitability! No Nyssa has small leaves, thankfully both of mine have large trunks so forcing perspective shouldn't be that big an issue, both of them are about 3/4ths done closing their chop wounds and, sadly, for one of them that I wanted to flat-top (not BC-type flat topping, I mean more Baobab style, like a straight trunk with a bunch of branches coming from the top of it), and - having setup the branching years back - I erred and didn't leave any actual primary-leader so the thing doesn't really know what to do
[yes I know a jin is unlikely to be appropriate on top of this guy
I just tend to keep whatever deadwood I'm able to, figure it lets me have as much options as I want down the road....can always remove it!][may be hard to tell but ALL of these radial primaries are originating within 2" of the top of the trunking, you can see how a couple of them have low-on-branch secondary branching that is trying to become apical-tip for the tree, though I will say I'm "impressed"/surprised at the lack of apical dominance considering what tall specimen these things become!]
These were living in standing water, though it seems that all 3 suspect Nyssa's can live in water. I'm in Tampa Bay, which seems a bit too far south for **either** Ogeechee or Aquatica, so far as "habitat range" graphics, but I've found anecdotes of Ogeeche's in my area (although the Ogeechee's are the "ogeechee lime" ones, known for putting out lots of fruit - to the point of being 'messy'....neither of mine has ever fruited, although the %odds of just having two male Nyssa's isn't that high :/
Thanks a ton for any insight as to which cultivar these guys are!! Also, any advice on how to work a flat top, that is without a dominant leader, would be greatly appreciated --- best guess I have is to simply let one of the near-to-base secondaries on my horizontal primaries become the leader, would be kind of weird looking and 'twist' the canopy but I can't grow anything from the deadwood-center of that trunk's top, and the top inches of the trunk are filled with horizontally-radiating primaries (too-thick to just bend one upwards to make it a leader..)
