Cable's Collection

[Cable]

A quick look at everything out of winter storage and on the benches. 21 pre-bonsai right now though I think 3 of them may not have survived. I'm holding onto hope before doing a scratch test!

 

[MissRomsMami]

Nice! Got quite a few good looking ones there! Fingers crossed you get some green!

 

[Cable]

Two of my latest junipers aren't looking so good.

 

[AZbonsai]

They look ok to me...maybe a couple of branches got broken over the winter.

 

[Cable]

I’ve only had them for about a week. They were from a workshop. Probably got worked too hard and they were kinda stressed to begin with.

 

[sorce]

I have a couple horizantalis that browned with no reason.

I am beginning to believe it may matter where these ground growing Juniperus are wintered...because I feel this is just an adaptation to conditions.

It seems a Very conscious decision on the trees part which foliage to eliminate.

I think this has something to do with the regularly snow covered low growing habit.
Full spreads of them in nature are super dense and Fully insulated themselves..

Where a pruned bonsai or even nursery containered tree is exposed to ICE differently....without the Dead Old Foliage below to insulate....

"Ice forms on bridges first"

Drivers Ed Cross Training.

Consider better winter protection.

Resorce

Sorce

 

[Cable]

Good advice but those two are from Florida and I got them last month. No winter protection this year! But they were through a workshop, shipping, and changing environment so they could just be super stressed.

 

[Cable]

Time for an update!

 

[Crizzi Questions]

Awesome collection you have. And your new to bonsai?
I’m trying to build a collection myself. So far mine are all Pre bonsai. Can I ask how you are obtaining your trees? I’ve been buying nursery stock. They are small and still in large pots for growth. Only my old ficus ginseng is adequate enough to start training.
I’m looking for collection building advice. I’m also in Ohio. Butler county between Dayton and Cincinnati. Zone 5B. Oh it’s been really hot here this past month~ not the greatest to be starting bonsai trees. ?

 

[Cable]

Awesome collection you have. And your new to bonsai?
I’m trying to build a collection myself. So far mine are all Pre bonsai. Can I ask how you are obtaining your trees? I’ve been buying nursery stock. They are small and still in large pots for growth. Only my old ficus ginseng is adequate enough to start training.
I’m looking for collection building advice. I’m also in Ohio. Butler county between Dayton and Cincinnati. Zone 5B. Oh it’s been really hot here this past month~ not the greatest to be starting bonsai trees. ?

Yep, I'm a n00b. I got my start last August and all of mine are pre-bonsai, too.

Fortunately for me, I work at Willoway Nurseries so that's where I get most of my trees. I also have 20+ years of experience in the hort industry. Even though that doesn't translate exactly to bonsai it is a good foundation and I have resources to lean on.

 

[Cable]

Quick update. Thoughts / concerns:

The air layer on the Acer tamukeyama is almost 6 weeks old and I still don’t see any roots. Starting to get concerned.

What started as a crack near the top of the trunk on the Acer bloodgood is now running most of the way down the trunk. Getting concerned.

Yeasterday I did a little pruning and wiring on the tall bald cypress.

The juniper pro nanas are all looking good, including the two I was worried about.

My little mugo doubled in size this year.

I’m guessing it will be a few years before I can do anything with the second bald cypress.

The juniper holger has put on a lot of growth and has runners going all over the place. I’ll probably stick to the plan and not touch it the rest of this year and then repot next winter.

My little birch seedling is doing great. Another 10 years and I might have something!

The burning bush is doing mostly well but I’m a little concerned that it is putting on color already.

I have to check my Acer ryusen every day for wire snugness. I’ve removed a lot that was starting to bite in. Trimmed some tips and opened up the canopy a bit yesterday.

My collected hemlock is doing great. Might try some wiring in the spring.

My collected buckeye is doing a lot better. I kept having issues with yellow leaves but moved it into deeper shade and it seems a lot happier. It had very little roots so my plan is to focus on root development for the next few years. But I’m hoping it backbuds next spring so I can start training new branching. For right now, no trimming or training.

That Chiananthus has me worried. Some of the leaves have shriveled and turned black. When my amelanchier did that it died. I’m watching the moisture and hit it with some diluted peroxide the other day.

That azalea is growing great. I’ve started reducing some of the branches. I really should put it in the ground but I just don’t want to!

Not pictured: the air layer on the tri-color beech seems fine. It is a couple of weeks younger than the Tammy and I don’t see roots there either.

End report.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Don't panic about air layer, they will root in their own time. For me, my JBP air layers took 30 months. My crab apple took 5 or 6 months. Relax, open it up and check end of September. If you have callus but no roots, just wrap it up and leave it all winter. No big deal. Don't change how you winter the tree because of the air layer, it will be fine.

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Is that a dwarf variety of bald cypress by any chance? I saw some dwarf varieties of bald cypress at one of my local nurseries recently... big trunks but with the most petite foliage. I was enamored immediately. They seem like they may take longer to build branching though as they like to throw foliage out all over the trunk it seems.

 

[Cable]

Is that a dwarf variety of bald cypress by any chance? I saw some dwarf varieties of bald cypress at one of my local nurseries recently... big trunks but with the most petite foliage. I was enamored immediately. They seem like they may take longer to build branching though as they like to throw foliage out all over the trunk it seems.

I’ll have to double check but IIRC the one on the ground is a peve minaret, which is a dwarf, and the one on the bench is Shawnee Brave which I don’t think is a dwarf.

 

[Mike Hennigan]

I’ll have to double check but IIRC the one on the ground is a peve minaret, which is a dwarf, and the one on the bench is Shawnee Brave which I don’t think is a dwarf.

Yea the one on the ground is what I was referring too. Very cool.

 

[Cable]

Another update. In looking at the older videos I find it interesting to see how much some of them have changed while others have changed very little.

 

[Cable]

Update on a few of my trees with before/after. Interestingly, the two junipers I was worried about earlier in this thread are both absolutely fine and growing like mad!



Tsuga canadensis after collection in 2018 and now two growing seasons later.



Gifted mugo pine with two growing seasons.



Acer bloodgood from May to today.



Juniper holger July 2018 and Oct. 2019. I'm still not sure what I want to do with this guy. One thought it to cut the whole top off, remove the branch on the left, and just keep the branch on the right. But part of me wants this as a big tree.



No before on this one, just posting for posterity this san jose juniper being planted root over rock.

 

[Cable]

My boss' boss initially styled this on in a workshop and then gave it to me. My plan all along was to keep the right side as a cascade and jin the left when it was big enough. Now I'm actually thinking of mostly doing that except to cut off the right where you can see trunk again.



Another juniper pro nana from the 2018 workshop. My original concept was "windswept cascade". My current plan is to lift the two "wings" and eventually jin them both leaving only the cascade.



My old friend the ryusen maple as acquired in early 2018 and today. Putting on growth and working on the cascade.

 

[Minnesota Madman]

I like that juniper holger. Very cool! I think you have a really good start for a large tree too, if you want it. I did a thing with my oldest tree this year, which is a 14" ficus. I do very little to it besides keeping it healthy, and I decided to throw some wire at it. I texted my wife when I was done and said, "Ever have one of those glorious days when you take a boring old tree, wire it, and realize you have a bonsai?!" That was a special day right there.

 

[Warpig]

Love the side by sides! Glad to hear the junipers pulled through from last winter. Btw were you planning on bringing anything to the swap this weekend?