Bonsai at the Extreme of their Natural Range

[Bretts]

Oh and this seems to be the scientific name for the evergreen trident
Acer oblongum var. concolor
Or maybe just Acer oblongum

[Grant Bowie]

Being the newb that I am(especially with pines) I can't compare much with other years but I have noticed this year that on my strongest pines I am on to my third candle burst
I have had no reason to pluck candles so that is just normal growth.
I think I need to grow more pines

I have been growing larch from seed here in Parkes for a few years. Ray would not sell me any because he said they would die out here so I bought some seeds. Three left I think and from reading the advice hear I am pretty sure it is the mix I have them in this year that is causing more dead leaves than usual
I will check them over today and see if I should pray they get through the winter or put them in some better soil before Winter hits.

Been Growing Hornbeam out here in the heat as well. Has been a long learning curve to battle the leaf burn. After getting the soil and Micro climate as best I can I now think It is a matter of reducing the salts with Rain water and ideal fertiliser regime.

I was discussing Hornbeams and Maples with Don out at Hay and he said he was not able to grow hornbeams out there but is able to grow japanese maples "just' This was confusing for us as I found Japanese maples more difficult that hornbeams.
One thing that has not been mentioned here is that it seems that the larger the specimen the more it is able to handle the extremes out of thier natural range.
As I have only ever had small Japanese Maples maybe this is why and I will have to get a decent sized one to try.

Hi,
Japanese maple sometimes used to struggle in Sydney probably a combination of both heat and humidity. Don has the heat but not the humidity.

I am surprised you can grow Larch at all

Pines; yes there seems to be a robust year for pines in at least southern climes and a bit dry.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

I haven't had any responses yet so I will presume no one is having a funny or good year with pines.

Hi Ya Grant, sorry to respond this late. I have been flat out doing Figs repotting, defoliating etc you know the drill. Anyway, i to have noticed strange behavior in my pines and that is they are growing flat out with minimum fertilizing and water. I try to keep watering to a minimum this time of year to keep needle size down but they are still powering on. I have one in the ground that i am trying to fatten up and it has probably put on 20-30% this year alone. Go figure. I have a theory that the lower states are becoming sub tropical and in our short life(compared to Mother Nature) we probably wont fully see it but i think it is happening.

No problem,

It seems there are more than just me and Tasmania finding this year a bit extaordinary when it comes to pines; or at least J Black Pine.

The J Black Pine in the photo was bright yellow in winter because I hadn't fertilized it adequately, but with a little slow release in late October and no more than two liquid feeds, I cut it back starting christmas day and it exploded into growth.

I am looking forward to living in the Tropic of Canberra.

Grant

[ric]

Oh and this seems to be the scientific name for the evergreen trident
Acer oblongum var. concolor
Or maybe just Acer oblongum

Hi Bretts,
"Evergreen Trident" is only my pet name I hope I can overcome mywebsite challenge to post a scan of the leaf of a Acer oblongum along with one of the hybrid plant so you can appreciate the difference.[

[Jamie]

its a beautiful tree ric. i am wondering where did you come across it?

and looking at those two pics you just posted (good to see you figured it out ) i can see the bottom is a trident yet i am unsure of the top?

the evergreen trident gets a lovely trunk like the standard deciduous one, how long have you had yours for? and how long has it been in training?

cheers

jamie

[ric]

Hi Jamie, E-miracles do happen! The almost gumlef shaped one is the A oblongum. I have had both that and the "Evergreen Trident" for about 10 years and grew the impressive trunk by having it in the ground for about 3 of those at the former farm of Mr Bowie in the Southern Highlands. I did some work on it at Bonsai By the Harbour last june where I grafted the big root in the centre in place,
securing it with a big chipboard screw -it seems to be growing OK but will take a bit longer to blend in. I also did some bending of thick branches Next BBtH I'll put it in a more refined pot.
To answer your question about the origin of this hybrid. I have a very good friend in Bob Cherry the proprietor of Paradise Plants at Kulnura. He is a passionate plant collector and gardener away beyond the commercial side. In his collecting trips to China and South East Asia he included many trees and plants that now grow in his park- like gardens and this is where the closeness of the two Chinese maples A.buergerianum and the one we think is A. oblongum produced natural hybrids. I was allowed to dig these escapees as seedlings from among the garden plants.There was variation in the leaf forms some favoring one parent more than the other but mine is the one most resembling the tridnt leaf form.
Cheers Ric

[Jamie]

your a lucky man to have such a rare tree ric, especially as a bonsai, have you tried taking cuttings? i would be trying to propagate something like that for sure just in case something happened to that big one you got there, not saying anything will and touching wood just to make sure

[NBPCA]

your a lucky man to have such a rare tree ric, especially as a bonsai, have you tried taking cuttings? i would be trying to propagate something like that for sure just in case something happened to that big one you got there, not saying anything will and touching wood just to make sure

It actually strikes very easily from cutting and we did strike a few about 7 years ago.

It would be interesting to see how it responds to intensive bonsai cultivation and Ric is the man to do it.

We didn't call him "Tricky Ricky" for nothing. He knows all the tricks as he has been doing bonsai for a zillion years and I nominate him him for Senior Bonsai Person for 2011.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

More news from the Tropic of Canberra.

My PJ Fig has put out aerial roots this year. It might not sound like much but it ain't exactly the tropics here.

However this year has been different, hot, humid and wet.

Grant

[Jamie]

im sure with some correct techniques this could be done grant, i have found putting some chopped sphagnum moss on the surface of the soil allows for great humidity and it makes most figs throw airial roots all over the place

[Bretts]

Here is my larch seedling in it's third year. I have heard they are fast growers. Maybe not in my climate but it is still alive

larch.jpg

I will try to remember to get a picture at the end of the season. Not so pretty but it does keep keeping on

[NBPCA]

Here is my larch seedling in it's third year. I have heard they are fast growers. Maybe not in my climate but it is still alive

larch.jpg

I will try to remember to get a picture at the end of the season. Not so pretty but it does keep keeping on

Hi Brett,

Yes I would have expected a lot more growth after three years. Maybe it is at the edge of its range of existence and letting you know.

Grant

[Bretts]

This is pretty normal for this time of year. Although I was not happy with it's soil mix this year.
It is budding out again so it looks like it lives on to fight another year
Oh and this is the biggest one too

008.jpg

[NBPCA]

This is pretty normal for this time of year. Although I was not happy with it's soil mix this year.
It is budding out again so it looks like it lives on to fight another year
Oh and this is the biggest one too

008.jpg

Yeah, looks about average for a Larch at this time of year.

Japanese, European, American?

Grant

[Bretts]

Larix Laricina American larch. Apparently. Misho Seeds Purchased in 2006