Call for red maples (acer rubrum)

[Andrew Robson]

On my recent trip to Portland for the Artisans Cup, I had the pleasure to visit Michael Hagedorn's garden a couple times. One of the trees that really stuck out to me was his red maple. This is a species that I see and admire every time I go for a hike here in the Northeast, but I never thought of it for bonsai until I saw Michael's. His red maple was grown for over 20 years by a bonsai enthusiast in Portland, and he acquired it when she passed away. My dad and I ordered 25 seedlings to start developing and experimenting with.

Below is a quick cell phone picture of Michael's red maple. I was hoping to see some, so if any B-Nutters have one in your collection, don't hesitate to share a pic!

 

[sorce]

don't hesitate to share a pic!

Especially since we know now it CAN make an excellent specimen!

And.

Even though this excellent specimen is probably intimidating to most of ours!

We can not know what American Bonsai is yet because most of it is in the future!

Man, that is not the giant stature I would expect would be needed for good proportion either!

Let us do see the future!

Sorce

 

[zachkent29]

On my recent trip to Portland for the Artisans Cup, I had the pleasure to visit Michael Hagedorn's garden a couple times. One of the trees that really stuck out to me was his red maple. This is a species that I see and admire every time I go for a hike here in the Northeast, but I never thought of it for bonsai until I saw Michael's. His red maple was grown for over 20 years by a bonsai enthusiast in Portland, and he acquired it when she passed away. My dad and I ordered 25 seedlings to start developing and experimenting with.

Below is a quick cell phone picture of Michael's red maple. I was hoping to see some, so if any B-Nutters have one in your collection, don't hesitate to share a pic!

Beautiful color on the foliage! Do you happen to know this size of this tree?

 

[sorce]

Michael Hagedorn's

Did he by any chance make mention of what stage this is in?

The bark looks young, like when it matures it will be killer.

Sorce

 

[carp]

Adam Lavigne has an interesting one he's been developing.

I've got a large one I collected last year that is doing okay. Not much to talk about. I've been told they go through dieback, and here in Florida they rot easy...as you can see.

 

[Andrew Robson]

Beautiful color on the foliage! Do you happen to know this size of this tree?

Here is a picture of me playing some
Bach in Michael's garden. I was standing behind the tree when my friend and kusamono teacher Young Choe snapped this pic.

 

[Andrew Robson]

Did he by any chance make mention of what stage this is in?

The bark looks young, like when it matures it will be killer.

Sorce

The bark was wet when I took the photo, which I think explains the dark color. Take a look at his posts on this maple here: http://crataegus.com/tag/red-maple/

 

[sorce]

The bark was wet when I took the photo, which I think explains the dark color. Take a look at his posts on this maple here: http://crataegus.com/tag/red-maple/

I can not begin to express how I feel about reading that.
@JudyB May be the only one who knows why.
I feel like such a bonsai loser!
I let one of Anne's trees die.

I tried so hard to keep it alive. Mostly by doing nothing. But this Damn weather just won.

I will cherish the pictures, and my memories of such a great exchange with Judy, who's trees are still some of my favorites!

Sigh.
Sincerely.

Sorce

P.s. someone post the pie! Cake? More Zappa?

 

[JudyB]

@sorce, happens to everyone...

 

[sorce]

@sorce, happens to everyone...

Thanks Judy!

Sorce

 

[Eric Group]

That's is a beautiful tree!

This is a thread I did on mine here...
http://bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/red-maple-update.19874/

I passed the smaller one along to friend who was interested in it. Great tree! I just have so many Maples and want to focus more on JM and Trident... The large one was always my fav of the Rubrums I have and it looks great after it's defoliation... Might give a real pot this Spring instead of the plastic one it is in. I think he deserves it.
I also have dozens of seedlings in various stages of development. Got a whole flat of them from John G a while back... They look very similar to the "before" pic from Michales article... Encouraging to know that if I play my cards right, I could have some real nice trees in about ooohhhh 25 years or so!

I also have another larger one John gave me that might be ready for a Bonsai pot in the Spring. Maybe I will remember to post a pic here later.

 

[Eric Group]

This is an important tree I feel as it is the most populous tree in N America! If we can develop good Bonsai from these guys, we have an ENDLESS supply of them on our own continent! They rain on my property and grow like grass in the Spring, so if anybody wants some, let me know! I always wind up keeping a few... Just cannot let the lawn mower eat them all. Do Hagedorn give you any tips for success with Rubrums? I treat them pretty much like other Maples. Defoliate in the summer if you want a new crop of smaller leaves and the leaves last longer before turning and falling off as well. The wood can rot pretty easy if deal wood is left exposed, and die back can be an issue which is a challenge to developing great ramification. The growth is more coarse than JM and Tridents as well which adds to the difficulty.

 

[sdavis]

 

[sdavis]

Three Acer rubums. Started from seed.

 

[Andrew Robson]

Do Hagedorn give you any tips for success with Rubrums?

No, he just told me they would be worth growing from seedlings. I'll encourage him to do a blog post about growing them!

 

[johng]

I also have dozens of seedlings in various stages of development. Got a whole flat of them from John G a while back... They look very similar to the "before" pic from Michales article... Encouraging to know that if I play my cards right, I could have some real nice trees in about ooohhhh 25 years or so!

I also have another larger one John gave me that might be ready for a Bonsai pot in the Spring. Maybe I will remember to post a pic here later.

I gave all of mine away...after 5 years of working with them I decided my time was better spent on more workable material...sorry Eric

Not saying they won't work but I would certainly work toward larger trees if you are going to try...seedlings, even after 5 years in a 4" pot still had very long internodes lengths...

Arthur Joura really likes them and has at least one, very large, that will be a nice fairy tale tree at some point in the future.

 

[augustine]

There's a very nice example in the National Arboretum (may be from Vaughn Banting but not positive.) The leaves have been reduced to a very acceptable size. However, I have no idea how it was cultivated.

Best to all,

Augustine

 

[jk_lewis]

They have a great deal of potential, but they are VERY variable -- especially as to leaf size, which is usually quite large (3+ inches). There is a variety (trilobum) from S. Georgia and North Florida that has quite small leaves (sometimes below 2 inches) that reduce well. I had a large one of these growing beside my house and had several plants well on toward "bonsaihood" when we moved up here. But, being Florida plants, it was too cold for them I I'm down to one struggling tree now. I had a couple of minis that I particularly liked:

 

[JudyB]

I had a couple of minis that I particularly liked:

mmmm, nice, love the second one!

 

[Gene Deci]

I had three or four with potential, two that I liked a lot, but over a two year period they all died from blight. They were all collected trees which may have had something to do with it. I think they are a great species for bonsai and I would do them again if I thought there was any chance I could keep them alive. The extension agent I talked to said once they get it there is little chance of saving them.

Any one else with the same problem?