Purchasing Bonsai

[Salvarez]

Hello all,

I am on year two with my bonsái. My goal was to start few projects and just care for the trees over our hot summer in southern Louisiana to see what would survive. I had great luck with my Cypress, Junipers, Mock Orange, Black Oine and Dahoon Holly. At least good enough for me to keep pushing though.

I would like to purchase something with bit more age to challenge myself a bit more. Where should I look?? I see some promising posts on eBay but also don’t want big internet store purchases.

It would be nice to purchase from someone who really was able to have a good concept and future plan for a tree.

So the question would be if I wanted to spend 1200-1500 on let’s say a juniperus or something that will grow well in south Louisiana where would I go search? Something that is not produced in bulk but some sort of personal collection at a decent price?

Here are some picsafter my first summer.

Thanks,

Sebastian

 

[pandacular]

The best place to look is always going to be club sales and auctions. They will have a lot of “unwanteds” for very cheap, but they’ll also generally have some fairly strong material for decent prices too.

Bonsai specific nurseries are also a good bet, but may be hard to come by. Online auctions, such as the ones on Facebook, are a good bet, but can be more expensive.

From what I’ve seen, online sales—especially on eBay—tend to be substantially more expensive than what can be had locally.

 

[Salvarez]

I would need to go out of state for club sales. Not much activity here in my area of the state. Is there a for sale section to this forum?

 

[Colorado]

Is there a for sale section to this forum?

Yes, but you can also make a “Want to Buy” post as well. You can get a really nice tree for that price!

 

[Salvarez]

Great idea. Was not sure how the forum felt about selling…

 

[WNC Bonsai]

The woods and swamps near you are full of trees. Zach Smith (BonsaiSouth.com) is located near you and has been collecting and selling natives for years. Also check put local nurseries, many may be good sources for beginner trees amd there are tons of videos on YouTube showing how to proceed.

 

[rockm]

I would need to go out of state for club sales. Not much activity here in my area of the state. Is there a for sale section to this forum?

Huh? there is a TON of bonsai activity in Louisiana. Zach Smith at Bonsai South in St. Francisville is an excellent collector of native material. Underhill Bonsai is another great place for bonsai.

For $1200 you could get a spectacular Bald Cypress or other La. native that has been worked a bit, or another pretty nice tree. FWIW, I would skip Western U.S. collected juniper and conifer species. They are a pain in the ass (then they mostly die) in the Southern U.S. To get them to thrive is difficult in such a humid area.

The Louisiana Bonsai Society is based in Baton Rouge. That club's fall show is Nov. 12 and 13th at the Baton Rouge Garden Center. Worth a trip just to see the trees. You could probably make contact with sources for trees or even find one there...The Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society--(one of the best and oldest bonsai clubs in the South) has an annual auction of member trees in the summer

Annual Bonsai Auction – The Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society

Bald cypress is the species to work on in La. I'm a member of the Facebook Bald Cypress bonsai group. Lots of info and sources there as well.

 

[Salvarez]

Huh? there is a TON of bonsai activity in Louisiana. Zach Smith at Bonsai South in St. Francisville is an excellent collector of native material. Underhill Bonsai is another great place for bonsai.

For $1200 you could get a spectacular Bald Cypress or other La. native that has been worked a bit, or another pretty nice tree. FWIW, I would skip Western U.S. collected juniper and conifer species. They are a pain in the ass (then they mostly die) in the Southern U.S. To get them to thrive is difficult in such a humid area.

The Louisiana Bonsai Society is based in Baton Rouge. That club's fall show is Nov. 12 and 13th at the Baton Rouge Garden Center. Worth a trip just to see the trees. You could probably make contact with sources for trees or even find one there...The Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society--(one of the best and oldest bonsai clubs in the South) has an annual auction of member trees in the summer

Annual Bonsai Auction – The Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society

Bald cypress is the species to work on in La. I'm a member of the Facebook Bald Cypress bonsai group. Lots of info and sources there as well.

I have called Zack Smith few times over the past 12 months and leave voicemails since his nursery is appointment only. If someone knows a different way to reach out to him, please let me know?

Yes, Underhill, I need to visit them. I do see few specimens on websites.

Thanks for the tips on La Bonsai society… I need to attempt to connect with them again.

Thank you for the tip on the western junipers. I think that is what I was gravitating towards.

As always appreciate all the comments.

 

[rockm]

I have called Zack Smith few times over the past 12 months and leave voicemails since his nursery is appointment only. If someone knows a different way to reach out to him, please let me know?

Yes, Underhill, I need to visit them. I do see few specimens on websites.

Thanks for the tips on La Bonsai society… I need to attempt to connect with them again.

Thank you for the tip on the western junipers. I think that is what I was gravitating towards.

As always appreciate all the comments.

FWIW, Western collected junipers and pines do poorly in the Southern and eastern U.S. if you don't know what they require (extremely fast-draining soil, full sun, timed watering, etc). Even if you do, they can fade away over the years because of the big toll humidity and warm winters with too much rainfall/moisture take on them. They are typically alpine species, adapted to arid, very cold climates with high UV exposure. Lower elevations in the Southern U.S. don't provide that. They are frustrating subjects in the Eastern U.S., as well. I think you'd be wasting your money on something that will not be all that satisfying and possibly expensively disappointing.

Email Zach and express your interest in a substantial collected tree.

 

[Salvarez]

@rockm now looking at the New Orleans Bonsai Society looks like the are more active than I thought.

 

[rockm]

@rockm now looking at the New Orleans Bonsai Society looks like the are more active than I thought.

A photo from their FB page of 2021's auction material.

 

[Dav4]

@Cajunrider lives in your neck of the woods, I think, and has been an avid collector of local trees for a year or two, and has sold a few here at B'nut. I'd contact him to see if he's got anything you might be interested in acquiring.

 

[rockm]

@Cajunrider lives in your neck of the woods, I think, and has been an avid collector of local trees for a year or two, and has sold a few here at B'nut. I'd contact him to see if he's got anything you might be interested in acquiring.

Cajun's over near the Texas border I think. It's a drive from Baton Rouge, but he has great collected BC. Might be worth the drive.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Also don’t forget Bill’s Bayou channel on YouTube. Bill is in New Orleans and may have trees to sell although he has not been as active after losing a daughter. But he does have some good videos on collecting and developing bald cypress.

 

[rockm]

FWIW, got this BC from @Cajunrider for a lot less than what you said you want to spend. It's huge and has some decent taper to work with. Will work up to a bonsai in about three-four years.

 

[pandacular]

I also have a CJR bald cypress that I love, but I think this is somewhat removed from what OP is looking for, which is a more "refined" tree, that's a bit further down the path to being a bonsai. This is also something I'm looking to add to my collection, as all my trees are in varying early stages of development, which leaves a gap in the sorts of techniques I am able to apply.

 

[rockm]

I also have a CJR bald cypress that I love, but I think this is somewhat removed from what OP is looking for, which is a more "refined" tree, that's a bit further down the path to being a bonsai. This is also something I'm looking to add to my collection, as all my trees are in varying early stages of development, which leaves a gap in the sorts of techniques I am able to apply.

Yes, but...looking at species more appropriate for the OPs climate is part of that equation as well. La. is blessed with a crowd of bonsai enthusiasts working on stuff like this. I'm sure the OP could locate a substantial BC specimen that has had some work done. Many other species too, from water elm to cedar elm to hornbeam and hawthorn are on the menu down there. Same story for in-development trees. Look at the table of auction trees from GNOB...

 

[Cajunrider]

Yes, but...looking at species more appropriate for the OPs climate is part of that equation as well. La. is blessed with a crowd of bonsai enthusiasts working on stuff like this. I'm sure the OP could locate a substantial BC specimen that has had some work done. Many other species too, from water elm to cedar elm to hornbeam and hawthorn are on the menu down there. Same story for in-development trees. Look at the table of auction trees from GNOB...

For me BC's in the first 5 years after collection offer a lot of fun. The top develops so fast that I get to try just about any refinement methods I want in short order. The trunk is a different story. It takes time to think it through on what you want to do with carving and healing the big cuts if you get a sizeable collected tree. For smaller trees then you face the tall task of managing the trunk chops and subsequent branch development. BC grow so fast that you can get in reverse taper in a hurry if you don't watch out and the shoots run wild up top.
For $400-$800 you can get a tree that you can play with and wow people in as little as 5-7 years.

 

[Cajunrider]

For me BC's in the first 5 years after collection offer a lot of fun. The top develops so fast that I get to try just about any refinement methods I want in short order. The trunk is a different story. It takes time to think it through on what you want to do with carving and healing the big cuts if you get a sizeable collected tree. For smaller trees then you face the tall task of managing the trunk chops and subsequent branch development. BC grow so fast that you can get in reverse taper in a hurry if you don't watch out and the shoots run wild up top.
For $400-$800 you can get a tree that you can play with and wow people in as little as 5-7 years.

Come to think about it, even if I can buy a more advanced BC, I wouldn’t do it. I want to make those early trunk formation decisions myself. Anyone who works on BCs knows that the branch, apex, and ramification in refinement can be done and redone over the long life of the BC bonsai but the trunk formation often cannot be repeated.

 

[Cajunrider]

FWIW, Western collected junipers and pines do poorly in the Southern and eastern U.S. if you don't know what they require (extremely fast-draining soil, full sun, timed watering, etc). Even if you do, they can fade away over the years because of the big toll humidity and warm winters with too much rainfall/moisture take on them. They are typically alpine species, adapted to arid, very cold climates with high UV exposure. Lower elevations in the Southern U.S. don't provide that. They are frustrating subjects in the Eastern U.S., as well. I think you'd be wasting your money on something that will not be all that satisfying and possibly expensively disappointing.

Hmmm... I am about to get a Western collected juniper. The tree will be in Southern then Eastern US. It is going to be an interesting ride then.