Rocky Mountain white pines...anyone working with?

[Vance Wood]

Thanks Dick, Chris and Vance. - Dick, I may have to try getting my hands on one of those white-bark's sometime.

Vance, I'd say the Limbers really start showing up around 7000' and up. They're generally the highest elevation pine around here. -- We start collecting in spring as soon as the roots are thawed out; which is generally late April to early May, but it's different every year depending on winter. (late may in the highest elevations - especially these Limbers) - As long as it stays wet and somewhat cool (but I think moisture is key) we can collect into June. July is always very hot, and VERY dry, and we have not had much success in these conditions, so we focus everything around the weather conditions. It starts raining and cooling off again in August and we're able to collect up through fall. - Anything collected late fall has to be protected for the winter though. -- Our success rate is easily 90-95%, it was less when we started out, but we collected a lot more junk then. We've gotten very picky and don't collect as many any more.

Your reply is most appreciated. I certainly miss digging trees but I am afraid that unless I can lose some weight my tree digging days are over. I had a high altitude incident last summer that just made me aware that I have to start being a little more careful about what I do at altitude.

We had talked about getting some of these trees at some point. If you have the time we could discuss this in a PM.

 

[wireme]

Ancient limber pine, maybe oldest living organism in Oregon. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C92haP82bXg&desktop_uri=/watch?v=C92haP82bXg

Or maybe not there is an armillaria fungus in oregon that may be much older, also holds the title of the worlds largest organism. Nice tree though.

 

[JudyB]

We were there backpacking and ran into the guys that were documenting this tree, was pretty cool. Lots of really old huge things there.
The pictures can't even begin to show you the actuality. Here is one on a pass, not the same tree in the video.

 

[Dan W.]

Thanks wiereme, great video! I found the same tree here too: http://ascendingthegiants.org/news/15/52/Limber-Pine.html

Great photo's Judy! Do you have any of the whole tree in those pics?

 

[augustine]

Dan,

Beautiful trees. Thanks for sharing

Augustine

 

[Dan W.]

Here's some good info I found. We certainly need to keep an eye on these ancient pines. It would be great if the bonsai community could contribute to the restoration of these species somehow! Even if it's only through preservation of the collected trees, I'd love to see us learn ways of protecting these trees from invasive threats.

http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/highelevationwhitepines/index.htm

 

[Dan W.]

And here are a couple of shots I took of an AWESOME bristlecone pine collected by a friend of mine. (I posted these on Vance's bristlecone thread too.)

 

[Dan W.]

Greg Brenden has an awesome Southwestern White Pine (Pinus Strobiformis) that he periodically updates on his blog. It's a great blog by the way! Last year I had the privilege of meeting Greg and touring his yard. He's got a lot of awesome trees, but this was my favorite by far. I may be a bit partial to the white pines though...

Here's a link to a recent update. https://brendenstudio.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/new-digs-for-an-old-pine/

 

[Dan W.]

The Gymnosperm Database
http://www.conifers.org/index.php

This is a great site for information on just about any conifer you could ever imagine. I'm compiling a small list of native American white pines here. -- I'm sure I'm missing a couple, so let me know and I'll update it. Thanks!


Bristlecones

Rocky Mountain Bristlecone - Pinus Aristata
http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_aristata.php

Great Basin Bristlecone - Pinus Longaeva
http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_longaeva.php

Foxtail Pine - Pinus Balfouriana
http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_balfouriana.php

Other White Pines

Limber Pine - Pinus Flexilis
http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_flexilis.php

Whitebark Pine - Pinus Albicaulis
http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_albicaulis.php

Western White Pine - Pinus Monticola
http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_monticola.php

Southwestern White Pine - Pinus Strobiformis
http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_strobiformis.php

Eastern White Pine - Pinus Strobus
http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_strobus.php

 

[Dan W.]

Oh yea! Here's a Limber pine that a couple of my friends styled out at Michael Hagedorn's this fall: http://crataegus.com/2014/09/21/the-helix-root-limber-pine-styling/

Steve, (the other half of Backcountry Bonsai) originally collected this tree several years ago.

 

[Giga]

All these crazy old pines is making my head spin!

 

[Dan W.]

lol... is that a good thing?

 

[Dan W.]

Well for some more amazing old gnarly pines... look here: http://bonsaimirai.com/bonsai

Ryan has some seriously awesome Limber pines listed!

 

[Vance Wood]

And here are a couple of shots I took of an AWESOME bristlecone pine collected by a friend of mine. (I posted these on Vance's bristlecone thread too.)

I have been looking for people to post pictures of old Bristlecone Pines they have collected. Finally after all of these years people are starting to do that. Thank you all for restoring my faith in the perseverance of those of you who can harvest trees. I mentioned I needed to lose some weight before I could go collecting again, that has happened maybe this next year.

 

[tmpgh]

Where does one go to collect trees like these? I'd love to go on a collecting trip some time.

 

[Dan W.]

They are in the mountains...lol

Find an area with exposed granite. Most of these trees are collected in pockets of soil or cracks in the granite faces. But I think the bristlecones may be growing in loose shale (rock shards that have broken down on high mountain ridges).

It would be best to find someone with experience collecting to go with the first few times or so.

 

[Giga]

Yeah not everything is worth collecting and I find it best in winter to scout out places to find what's worth collecting, Then in spring to spend so much time wandering around and collecting.

 

[Vance Wood]

Yeah not everything is worth collecting and I find it best in winter to scout out places to find what's worth collecting, Then in spring to spend so much time wandering around and collecting.

Not meaning to cramp anyone's style but the opportunity to scout out any of these Limber Pine, White Bark Pines and Bristlecone Pines probably cannot be done in the winter understanding that most of these trees exist above 10,000' above sea level. If you feel you have to scout things out you are going to have to do it the year before you plan on collecting. Then having done that you must make sure you have the necessary permits or access to property.

 

[wireme]

Interesting how the elevation changes as you head north. I generally find limbers at around 3000-5000 ft. Whitebarks up to around 7500. Both endangered species in Canada so no chance of collecting but I sure do love looking at them.

I don't think I've ever seen a ponderosa above 4000 ft here either, valley bottom is full of them.

 

[Eric Group]

They are in the mountains...lol

Find an area with exposed granite. Most of these trees are collected in pockets of soil or cracks in the granite faces. But I think the bristlecones may be growing in loose shale (rock shards that have broken down on high mountain ridges).

It would be best to find someone with experience collecting to go with the first few times or so.

How do you determine where you can collect? Do you only go to areas where you know the owner of the property and have permission, or do you try to go to areas that are "wild" and assume nobody cares? How does that work normally?