Grocery store parking lot Rosemary

[caffeinated]

You know how we all, at least in the beginning of our bonsai journey, would always be eyeballing the shrubs and trees in parking strips and medians, etc. I saw this plant on the corner of a parking lot, next to the sidewalk, several years ago, and was immediately taken by the trunk line. I would go into the store and on the occasions that I remembered, and had the time, I would ask for a manager and ask whether I could dig up a shrub out there and replace it with something the same size, or something like that. Each time they replied with something along the lines of we'd rather you didn't dig up something we planted. I finally sent an email to the "contact us" on their website, essentially asking the same thing with the offer to replace it or buy it. Bam! 4 months later, I have a voicemail saying you can have it, just replace it with something else similar. Dug it up this morning. The lower trunk is appx 3-4 inches across with a bit more twisting and turning than the photos seem to convey. The extended long curving apical branch will likely be removed after I know it's growing well again. This thing has beautiful light blue tiny cascading flowers in the early fall.

 

[Colorado]

Cool tree and story!

 

[Shogun610]

Cool man will be a sick literati

 

[DonielDoom]

Awesome material! Gnarly! I love the shaggy and shedding bark of rosemary - I absolutely love seeing styled rosemary.

Love to hear the story. It's an inspiration for me to be a bit more bold in the world and (respectfully) ask.

There was a time this last summer when I would drive past a sidewalk strip planting of boxwood. It was on my commute to work and the grocery store, so I'd see them regularly. Almost every other day. One of the ~10 in the strip had a very nicely tree-like trunk and great looking bones. I'd look at it each time, thinking "I wonder if I could be lucky enough to stumble upon them replanting or something, to then ask about making a deal" and never made a move. Well, one day that strip was bare. No more boxwood, just pond stones and river rock.

I'm sure I could've respectfully struck a deal with the property owners or management company. I'll never know now!

On an aside, I'm predominantly happy they removed the boxwood. It was not in a space designed for it to do much of anything but suck resources. I'm a bit sad that there's less green to break up the concrete, too.

Really cool tree you've got there! I'm excited to see it come along in the future. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ruddigger]

Good luck with it, it’s a cool tree, but Rosemary can be finnicky, especially when being dug. Did you keep a large intact rootball? I find that helps.

 

[caffeinated]

Good luck with it, it’s a cool tree, but Rosemary can be finnicky, especially when being dug. Did you keep a large intact rootball? I find that helps.

It was actually a surprisingly small rootball. Didn't really have to cut much to get it in the container. I kept the existing soil around the roots and just filled in around the edges with the bonsai substrate mixed with the soil it was growing in, so fingers crossed.

 

[minkes]

I need it for my steak!!!

 

[Joe Dupre']

Great find! Love the character of the tree and the story.

 

[Ruddigger]

It was actually a surprisingly small rootball. Didn't really have to cut much to get it in the container. I kept the existing soil around the roots and just filled in around the edges with the bonsai substrate mixed with the soil it was growing in, so fingers crossed.

That’s the best you can do.