Palo Verde - Unique Deciduous

[milehigh_7]

My best guess at this point is Texas Ebony, BTW.

TE are easy to ID due to the presence of a tiny pair of thorns by each leaf petiole. This is one of mine from several years ago.

 

[milehigh_7]

On the bright side, we had a cultural exchange of sorts with friends who moved out to Phoenix. They introduced us to bouldering and we introduced them to bonsai. So there will be some Palo Verde seeds germinating and developing into bonsai, just maybe not by me. If they dare rub it in my face, they should expect many pics of snow-covered Japanese Maples.

I took the attached seed pods as well. Once again, I thought I got acacia, but maybe not. Last time I thought I had acacia it turned out to be Vachelia Caven. I fear I missed the acacia mark again and have Fabaceae surprise. These seeds were hard as a rock even after soaking and I may have damaged them in the scarification process.

100% those pods are Texas Ebony.

 

[milehigh_7]

Just got back from Arizona. Truly a wonderful environment with some awesome flora. As a lover of deciduous trees, I couldn't help but take some Palo Verde seeds. Not sure I can grow them, but will try. They are truly unique - first, they are deciduous not because of the cold, but because of the heat and arid conditions (cool!!). It seems they are leafless most of the year in Arizona. Which brings me to an even cooler fact - Palo Verde will photosynthesize from its trunk and branches - no leaves needed.

You may be surprised. Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) actually does really well indoors treated like a trop and they grow together. Now that I think about it, I had blue palo verde indoors at one point several years ago and it did just fine. You have to remember that the season that they actually do grow here it is VERY hot AND humid our monsoons are no joke. You are correct they will go summer dormant but most desert plants do. (this is why we have 2 distinct growing seasons) About 80% of a Palo's photosynthesis is from the trunk and branches!

 

[dbonsaiw]

TE are easy to ID due to the presence of a tiny pair of thorns by each leaf petiole. This is one of mine from several years ago.

two of seeds sprouted and that's what they look like.

 

[dbonsaiw]

I moved some shelves into the grow tent so the seedlings can be closer to the light. They are clearly appreciating this and I will begin to fertilize with some watered down fert. Will post pics.

 

[dbonsaiw]

And some pics

 

[dbonsaiw]

Not too shabby.

 

[Eckhoffw]

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Dug up a big old maple. Wish me luck!

Wow. Look at that root spread! I wish you the best of luck in its recovery!!

 

[MHBonsai]

Wow. Look at that root spread! I wish you the best of luck in its recovery!!

Ack! I put the post in the wrong thread. I’ll see if I can get it moved. Sorry!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

It was amazing! It was beautiful!

But it was in the wrong thread so it was moved

 

[dbonsaiw]

Look at that root spread! I wish you the best of luck in its recovery!!

And I got so excited that the tree had a root spread and there was recovery in my future. Oh well.

 

[dbonsaiw]

The Palo verde are growing and are losing their cotyledons. And to the right are the Texas ebony.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Hard to gauge the trees. They seem to be growing but the leaves yellow and fall off. Not sure if that’s what it’s supposed to be doing or what. And the Texas ebony “kusomono” are doing fine. Still some weeks before I can bring them outside.

 

[milehigh_7]

Hard to gauge the trees. They seem to be growing but the leaves yellow and fall off. Not sure if that’s what it’s supposed to be doing or what. And the Texas ebony “kusomono” are doing fine. Still some weeks before I can bring them outside.

Palos spend most of the year leafless. Most of their photosynthesis is the trunk and branches.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Palos spend most of the year leafless. Most of their photosynthesis is the trunk and branches.

Exactly. Makes it very confusing to tell if the tree is healthy.

 

[milehigh_7]

With all the talk about these lately, I decided to grab a pic of them in bloom. This is obviously a little fella.