Last tree of the year, 2019 edition

[Carol 83]

4" purple bougie, which is on it's way.

Got it today, thankfully the seller included a heat pack, so no damage done by the freezing temps. I think it's a good candidate for the purple pot, and definitely my LAST tree of the year. I was pushing it, having this one shipped from FL in November.

 

[Schmikah]

Got it today, thankfully the seller included a heat pack, so no damage done by the freezing temps. I think it's a good candidate for the purple pot, and definitely my LAST tree of the year. I was pushing it, having this one shipped from FL in November. View attachment 271094View attachment 271095

"my LAST tree," sounds like me.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Japanese White Pine, Pinus parviflora 'Azuma'
also known as 'Pentafolia Azuma' and 'Azuma Goyo' I don't know what the registered cultivar name is, I've seen it several ways. All names seem to refer to the same JWP cultivar. It is a cultivar imported to North America from Japan.

Grafted plant probably 3 or more years post grafting. The graft is still ugly from 3 sides, but the angle where the tree leans toward the viewer, the graft is relatively smooth. Should heal with time.

Azuma is my favorite JWP - it is a yatsubusa type, in that it does tend to have short internodes with multiple buds at each node. Foliage develops a very nice blue color. Produces cones on small trees. Needles become quite short as ramification increases. It is a good bonsai cultivar. It will resist every effort to air layer or root cuttings. Just won't happen.

So I just got one form Singing Tree. Kinda late, but I had decided I needed a new 'Azuma' as I lost my previous 'Azuma' a few years ago.

The final tree is probably one of the branches in the first or second whorls of branches. It was sent out of pot, from a one gallon nursery pot.

 

[oddirt]

Not quite the last trees of the year but the last yamadori for sure. One is a vine maple (Acer circinatum) and the other is a Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia). Native trees from the Bay Area northward, collected in Oregon. They’ll sit tight for a few years to recover while I figure out a future design. Huge thanks to @RKatzin for a wonderful weekend of collecting these in great company!

 

[BunjaeKorea]

The only late day of the year is the last day of December. 366 days a year are good for bonsai. Yes 366, trust me with bonsai you can find that extra day. Hahaha

 

[bluone23]

This collected fagus sylvatica

 

[sorce]

Bought this fer this thread!



Down to here ASAP!












Sorce

 

[It's Kev]

I haz an stick, a Japanese maple.
I loved all the branch opportunities and the low graft.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Bought this fer this thread!

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Down to here ASAP!
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Sorce

The only thing this tree is missing is buck teeth. You can fix buck teeth.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I haz an stick, a Japanese maple.
I loved all the branch opportunities and the low graft.
View attachment 272599

A graft is a graft is a graft is a graft. Is and always shall be un-ignorable. It's like a tree goider. It never, ever gets better with age.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Sez you. Never is such an absolute word. Most Japanese white pine owners will debate you on this point. Some grafts, even a grafted maple, can and do heal up to become invisible. The one pictured by @kevinlovett86 is low, and not too ugly, it may heal up enough with time.

If you live in the USA, you have sources of cutting grown JM, like Evergreen Gardenworks. Kevin does not live in the USA, his options are the same.

 

[Forsoothe!]

The problem with grafts is that the scion grows at a different, slower rate, smaller than the understock (usually less), so that the difference only becomes more and more apparent. Add to that the very substantial difference in bark as in JWP and JBP and that aggravates the situation. Unfortunately, that means that after you have put in your time and effort, years down the time line, you get what you get. You have little or no control over what that is, but the odds are not in your favor. Are you feeling lucky? Shoot the moon. Me, I don't have time to waste on trying to beat the odds. These are never the cheap stock, either.

How about all of you out there in bonsailand show me photos of a "good" graft on a tree with some age! Finished trees. Hmmmmmm? SHOW ME! Prove me wrong as many times as you can. There will be lucky trees out there, but with thousands and thousands of people on this post the numbers will tell the tale.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Forsoothe! - the poster showed a tree they already have. Why do you feel the need to take a crap on it?
It would be different if they were asking advice BEFORE purchase. Then I would be with you on the anti graft campaign. But this is not the case. They already decided they can deal with the graft. It is not @kevinlovett86 first tree, he already has experience and feels the graft can work out.

When I get home to my laptop I will show you a graft or two that are pretty much invisible. It is not common, but happens often enough that an ordinary Joe like me can find them.

 

[Forsoothe!]

You're absolutely right: what's done is done and OP will have to live with it. He might also look at it with a jaundiced eye now instead of doing two hurtful things: 1.) Buy more grafted trees without studying them very, very closely and making a judgement about whether or not he's buying a pig in a poke, or a pig that will be acceptable, to the OP, with the amount of lipstick he's willing to use. And, 2.) Abandon this tree in 3 years instead of spending 10 years on a tree and then abandoning it. If the OP, or anyone else reading this forum is a little more market-wise as a result of this exchange, then it's worth it to me.

Are you here to just tell people what they'd like to hear? Or to impart knowledge that you obtained the hard way? Tomorrow I will post a picture of a A.p. "Shaina" that I spent $50 on 20 years ago that had a classic graft. It's in my landscape now, but I spent five years beating my head against the wall until I figured out what the future would bring. Knowledge gained on the forum costs the reader nothing.

 

[It's Kev]

wow, I missed the fireworks. Thanks for backing me up there @Leo in N E Illinois .

suppose I could clarify a bit, I’ve been hunting around for a JM for a year or 2 now, and they don’t come ungrafted over here.

Luckily there are thousands of vendors online on the chinese version of amazon or eBay or whatever. Some just say that they have trees and they give you a price for those who don’t give a damn about what they’re getting (I bought my hibiscus like that since nobody would bonsai those).
However, if you do buy an actual bonsai starter tree the page is littered with pictures so you can choose the actual tree you buy. Look at the bottom pic, I bought number 55

so since my options were grafted or grafted, all I could do was choose the one with the least ugly graft. My requirements were, low graft, several branch options and trunk movement. The trees that had movement had bigger uglier grafts higher up, so clearly I had to choose what to make a compromise on.

 

[leatherback]

So.. You made a concious choice to take the grafted one over the.. ahum.. grafted one. Good pick

Now the question is.. What to do about it..

I would say: Layer it off. I had been looking for a while for a decently coloured AP 'seigen'. They are rare as Geese with gold eggs it seems. (well.. nearly). In any case, when a commercial grower all of the sudden notified me they had some new grafted seigens in stock, I did not hesitate, spent the 10 bucks and got me a grafted whip. 2 months later :



(Note: I am not convinced of the cultivar. It seems to have too little pink. But I will wait to spring to get to judgement day).

In the end, what I am saying is.. You have a young plant and decades of development ahead. Start by putting it on its own roots. Then look forward and forget is was ever grafted. It is not the end of the world to have grafted starters.

 

[sorce]

low graft

I look for high grafts with a good regular J. branch growing below it!

Toss the fancy cultivar!

Sorce

 

[Forsoothe!]

Or, if you can't find one with a nice graft, look for a nice pink tutu for a girly tree!

 

[Forsoothe!]

Of Course, if you have a more manly tree with a crappy graft, there's an answer for that, too.

 

[Djtommy]

Or, if you can't find one with a nice graft, look for a nice pink tutu for a girly tree!
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I guess that will work if you are in the hunt for peoples choice awards.