Can you dig it?

[Si Nguyen]

... between the 2 of us we can find a happy medium

2? I need 2 of me to equal to 1 of you!

You picked best crab! Perfect taper! Next time you stay home.

 

[Dstar]

4MAAT is jealous - is was between 24and 29 degrees here this weekend.. But Ian, I am may an offer you cannot refuse in April.... stay tuned....


Rich

 

[ianb]

Hey Rich,

Good to see you here, hope its not too cold and bleak out there. Like I said I don't miss the snow but it just doesn't feel like winter here so its a bit odd. Plus I have to water all year round now too.

Sounds intriguing, whats going on?

 

[bonhe]

Thanks a lot Si. I really had a good time today. I really thank you because you went straight to the dig site from your hospital and met me there. We spent almost 90 minutes just to find a right tree for me!! We had so many choices. Finally we got this one. Actual time to get it out of its house was about 5 minutes!! and thanks again Si because you dug it out for me . That's why I said I really had a good time today . Si was too tired and hungry after got a tree for me, so he didn't take one or two for him. We went to eat pho in an Vietnamese restaurant nearby. We knew pho here couldn't be compared to the ones in Little Saigon, but who cared since we were too hungry.
I got home and found a temporary pot for it. It was placed into the soil component: pine bark, akadama, turface, pumice and scattered charcoal, granulated humic acid, peat moss and some catus mix!!! Bonhe

 

[bonhe]

Sorry, it is Chinese quince.
Bonhe

 

[ianb]

If I knew Si was digging for everyone, I would have come today too It would have been nice to meet you too Bonhe.

Ah well maybe next time.

 

[bonhe]

Hi Ian, maybe next time. Bonhe

 

[ianb]

You've got some beauties there. Great material! Crab apples take FOREVER to gain any taper, even though they may be fast growers.

Where is this nursery?
I am itching to go there this weekend, since I live in your area as well.

Attila,

Sorry I never got back to you on this, I must have skipped over your post. Maybe this will give you a clue:

 

[Attila Soos]

Attila,

Sorry I never got back to you on this, I must have skipped over your post. Maybe this will give you a clue:

Thanks Ian. I appreciate it.
I just came back this morning from the place, I got a crab and a quince, probably the biggest trunks I could find. I wasn't really looking for the largest ones, since the shape to me is more important, but it just happened that the biggest one had a great shape as well. The lady of the house was very generous, I actually paid her much more than what she asked for, since the trees I dug (actually the workers dug them for me) were rather large. I told her to consider it as a tip, for great service. She was very gratious about it.

It's a fabulous place, there is so much stuff there. The good news is that there is plenty of stock growing in the ground, and plenty of field-grown material for all of us, years to come. The trees in the ground look very vigorous, they will probably add at least one inch to the nebari every year. I will be probably going back there year after year. I don't buy quantity anymore, since I have so much stuff already, but I love to dig a couple every year.

I am looking forward to work with the material I got. I cut them back hard, and planted them in those large Italian clay pots. The crab apple has a little buldge on one side, due to the graft, so I will do some carving there to create a scar tissue that will hide the graft mark.
The quince will also need some carving to improve a slight reverse taper at one section of the trunk.

But I see them as great potential (nice movement and spectacular nebari), and in 4-5 years, bonsai that is ready to be shown, probably a foot and a half tall. It's nice to know that I don't need to spend any more time fattening the trunk, and just focus on design issues.
(BTW, this is a great time to dig and re-plant, since the trees must love this rainy weather and moist air)
Thanks again,

 

[Attila Soos]

This reminds me that the after this rainy week is over, it will be the beginning of the season for collecting our California junipers.
I got a brand new Toyota pick-up truck for off-road use, so if any of you have a collecting expedition in mind, and would like some company or help, shoot me a PM.

 

[alonsou]

Attila,

Sorry I never got back to you on this, I must have skipped over your post. Maybe this will give you a clue:

Ha, Ha, so this is where you guys go..... mmmm nice, yeah Vicky is such a nice lady, they have some great quality established bonsais, but the real gems are laying on the floor, takes a while to go thru the whole place, she even helped me pick up my first bonsai a couple of years ago.

ianb,SI,Attila,

Have any of you been on San Gabriel Nursery before? LOTS of good stuff there too

 

[Attila Soos]

Ha, Ha, so this is where you guys go..... mmmm nice, yeah Vicky is such a nice lady, they have some great quality established bonsais, but the real gems are laying on the floor, takes a while to go thru the whole place, she even helped me pick up my first bonsai a couple of years ago.

ianb,SI,Attila,

Have any of you been on San Gabriel Nursery before? LOTS of good stuff there too

Yeah, I go there to buy my bonsai supplies, it's the closest to me.

 

[ianb]

Then I tackled potting up the crab apple, shortened the large roots by a lot and cut back the top. There are still a couple of large branches that need to go but I think I'll let it go for now.

Got a bit of sunburn (75 F and sunny last weekend - this is weird, I'm starting to miss winter - not really) and a hell of a backache but it was worth it.

Just a little follow up to update the progress on these trees as of this spring. Here's the apple now

 

[Bunjeh]

I am past jealous.

 

[ianb]

Here is the quince I picked out just dug and potted. I didn't get any shots of the nice one Si picked out, maybe he can add them here.

...and the quince slowly building branches, top few inches will go this year and I'll start building the crown.

 

[ianb]

Quince is loaded with new buds, even on the trunk

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I know where you went I just picked up some of those nice Chinese pots that she bought a full container load of... She said the guy is going out of business and those are probably the last she will be able to get.

She is pretty funny. I was asking her about her shimpaku and why we don't see any larger specimens. I started to say something about my shimpaku and she cut me off. "I don't want to hear about your trees." LOL. Can't fault her for a lack of honesty

Have you ever gotten a bloom off that quince?

 

[Si Nguyen]

All alive and well I see. Well done Ian! Although that colander is a shame for such a nice tree.

Nice old thread! Forgot all about these. All of mine are doing ok too. Here's what one of my Chinese quince looked like last month before I chopped it back hard again. It was over 8 ft tall. Will submit some pics of my repotted trees in the morning.

 

[Si Nguyen]

Just a little follow up to update the progress on these trees as of this spring. Here's the apple now

View attachment 67644View attachment 67645View attachment 67646View attachment 67647View attachment 67648

That's an awesome sumo apple! I still think you got the best of the bunch.

 

[sorce]

Crab gets a deleted word.

Quince gets another.

Beautiful!

Sorce