What kind of material would you like to see more of?

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Cedar elm are not quite hardy in northern USA. I suggest Ulmus thomasii if you can find it. Called rock elm by some. Native to Wisconsin, Minnesota and northern prairie states into Canada. Should be zone 3 hardy. Otherwise quite similar to cedar elm

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I have one cork elm i will take cuttings this year when i do routine pruning

I have so many cork elms I simple stopped propagating them. One of the easiest trees to grow from cuttings.

 

[Goodbrake]

I agree with this. I had a handful of younger saplings that I was going to propagate from but they unfortunately died over winter

Here in Texas they'll literally grow in the cracks in between cement stairs. In the fall when they drop their seeds I'm happy to gather some for you if you'd like. Though I know nothing about shipping plant material, just PM me to remind me.

 

[shohin_branches]

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Zuisho thickens as fast as black pine so the grafts in general will blend together well.

Good luck with that. JWP and JBP bark are very different. I have seen literally 100's of JWP grafted on JBP rootstock, and I can count on one hand the number that I haven't been able to instantly tell were grafted trees. It is so hard to do effectively that I've seen JBP trunks with JWP branches grafted on... in order to try to accomplish the same thing.

In SoCal, the only way to grow a JWP was to graft it onto JBP roots. JWP would otherwise not grow in SoCal - it is too warm. Now that I live in NC, I have quite a few JWP trees from landscape nurseries. Here they graft on P. strobiformis root stock - which is a much closer match.

 

[rockm]

Here in Texas they'll literally grow in the cracks in between cement stairs. In the fall when they drop their seeds I'm happy to gather some for you if you'd like. Though I know nothing about shipping plant material, just PM me to remind me.

They are weeds in East Texas. They grow in gutters and on roofs if the line straw is thick enough.

I think they would be hardy at least through bald cypress native range which stretches up into Illinois, Ohio and Delaware. From what I’ve seen they’re hardier than BC if you provide decent winter protection

East Texas is CE’s sweet spot but it grow up into Missouri and western Tennessee

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Actually, Siberian elms ain't too bad, they develop nice rough bark relatively quick, less than 15 years. Small leaves, fine ramification. Not bad at all. Got one in an Anderson flat in my driveway. Starting to like it.

 

[dbonsaiw]

I want bonsai material that have preliminary root work started. When I buy from a bonsai nursery and the roots are just as bad as garden center stock it's really disappointing.

Second this.

 

[Gabler]

Second this.

That's been my focus. A roots-first approach.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Gosh, what a great wish list! If asked today there are a couple that come immediately to mind.

- Properly struck multi patterned Satsuki (of course right?),

- Various Japanese quince, Chojubai etc and Chinese ok too

- Fruiting trees, Gravenstein, dwarf Almond, peach, plum. Esp Heirloom.
Here’s a recently discussed ancient Plum that looks cool.. Mirabelle Plum - Prunus domesticasubsp. syriaca This plum has small gold to reddish gold plums, about 3 cm, leaves 1-3” is reputed to come from a wild plum in Anatolia, plant cold hardiness zone 5-9. It’s fairly rare here, but can be found.)

btw, have found Paul’s Scarlet Hawthorn to not be hard to propagate from cuttings taken spring… when extensions are newly hardened off.

Cheers.
DSD sends

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Sorry, for Mirabelle Plum would be Mirabelle de Nancy

 

[dbonsaiw]

That's been my focus. A roots-first approach.

I’ve been trying to adopt a similar focus.

Frankly, there are so many species that I want to work with. Reading the species suggestions above, I found myself saying “yes” a lot. But Lately, when I’m buying trees I’m more focused in on roots and the start of a trunk with some character. In short, it’s the state of the material that draws me more than the actual species//cultivar.

Maybe a different way of saying this is a focus upon the bonsai community as opposed to mass marketing of Valentine’s Day gifts. Let’s see trees with cut paste.

 

[Jrmcmich]

I’ve been trying to adopt a similar focus.

Frankly, there are so many species that I want to work with. Reading the species suggestions above, I found myself saying “yes” a lot. But Lately, when I’m buying trees I’m more focused in on roots and the start of a trunk with some character. In short, it’s the state of the material that draws me more than the actual species//cultivar.

Maybe a different way of saying this is a focus upon the bonsai community as opposed to mass marketing of Valentine’s Day gifts. Let’s see trees with cut paste.

Agree on character. It is nice to know what cultivars of trees do with bonsai techniques for ramification and such but otherwise does seem like picking character goes above “specific species”

 

[Piedmont Bonsai]

One thing I am excited about offering soon are broom zelkovas that all have had nebari enhancement techniques applies to them. The seed source is from japan and they have great genetics. I have maybe 60 of these in the works right now but plan to start a new batch each year as space allows.

Zelkova is one of my favorite species and is great for both beginners and experts.

 

[Maiden69]

Zelkova is one of my favorite species and is great for both beginners and experts.

Same here! Just got a few seedlings last year that I abandoned on the move, they are getting chopped down to start training soon.

BTW, if you haven't I suggest you look at Bonsai Q videos on zelkovas, they are great and they do go into details (like a full year of training digest) on small broom style. I think most of them you can find under either zelkova or keyaki

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

One thing I am excited about offering soon are broom zelkovas that all have had nebari enhancement techniques applies to them. The seed source is from japan and they have great genetics. I have maybe 60 of these in the works right now but plan to start a new batch each year as space allows.

Zelkova is one of my favorite species and is great for both beginners and experts.

Since you are going to be spending many years on these projects, don't you think it would be better to start them from cuttings vs. seed? While the parents may have good genetics, seeds are not genetic clones of the parent plants. Elms are super easy to propagate, and I think it would make more sense to find a zelkova with good genetics and starting brooms from cuttings instead. Just my 2c

 

[Canada Bonsai]

One thing I am excited about offering soon are broom zelkovas that all have had nebari enhancement techniques applies to them.

In addition to @Maiden69 's solid recommendation, I'd check out this YouTube video, too, though I'm sure you've already seen it! Toyoda-san (豊田福樹園 Toyoda-fukujuen) has been doing exceptional work with Zelkova for decades. I visited his garden recently, and seeing Zelkova at every step of the process at one time is really eye opening. When I was there he basically had big batches of Zelkova at all ages between Year 1 and Year 25.

I agree with @Tidal Bonsai that working with cuttings is superior. When working with large batches, I personally would not waste my time with seed, regardless of the genetic source. Zelkova can end up with 2-3" leaves, which won't be possible to predict for quite a few years after your seed has grown. Yes the leaf-size will reduce with ramification and the appropriate practices, but for the first 10-15 year that tree will be unnecessarily more difficult to develop. Cuttings are very very easy -- I would not take cuttings from a mature well-ramified zelkova, because the leaf-size could be deceptively small due to ramification. I would take cuttings from a younger, very vigorous plant, which will be showing its 'worst case scenario leaf size' so to speak -- because this will be the leaf size that you'll be contending with during early stages of development (the first 5-15 years) (or send me an email and I'll ship you Toyoda-san's genetics this fall, which is what I work with exclusively for a few years now)

 

[Gabler]

Dog pile on @CapeCodBonsai! We want your seeds!

Post in thread 'Flowers 2025'

Thursday at 6:54 PM

My Blackthorn flowers began to open today. If the number of flower buds are an indicator, I’m going to get a bumper crop of sloes this year.

• CapeCodBonsai

• 

 

[Piedmont Bonsai]

@Maiden69 love Bonsai Q. They have fantastic videos and are really fun to watch.

@Tidal Bonsai the goal is to eventually move towards cutting grown stock. But it will take more time. Right now i buy these bare root from a well known grower that imports kilos of seed each year and grows them for a few years before selling. I don’t see much variability in the saplings and an a few years ahead in the process.

@Canada Bonsai i have not seen Toyoda-fukujuen on youtube thanks for the recommendation! I will be sure to check them out and will get in touch with you soon to see about sourcing a few of these from you