Found a interesting eastern white pine cultivar and scots pine on my nursery visit

[Bonds Guy]

Today I reluctantly went to visit a local nursery to find a shindeshojo maple. I didn't expect they would have one because not many are interested in that cultivar (I think). They do have your "mainstream" maples like bloodgood, sango kaku, shishigashira, and of course a generic japanese maple. However, it's too cold for me to do any repotting or yard work so I said screw it and went. As expected, there weren't any shindeshojos, but I did find a very interesting EWP. It has small needles that look very suitable for bonsai. I was going to get it until I realized it's grafted relatively high up on the trunk. I figured it's probably best for me to research grafting and find some suitable rootstock before buying



I also spotted a pretty cool looking scots pine. Might get this one too. I forgot to check if it's grafted.... it probably is tho

 

[JeffS73]

One of the advantages to visiting a nursery is you can get a pretty good idea of tree health before buying.

I can't tell on the EWP, but on the sylvestris it definitely looks like some sort of needlecast. If you don't already have a needlecast problem, I would *personally* avoid conifers from that nursery. Lots of ppl manage needlecast because it is so prevalent, but why introduce it if your garden is clean.

 

[Paradox]

Today I reluctantly went to visit a local nursery to find a shindeshojo maple. I didn't expect they would have one because not many are interested in that cultivar (I think). They do have your "mainstream" maples like bloodgood, sango kaku, shishigashira, and of course a generic japanese maple. However, it's too cold for me to do any repotting or yard work so I said screw it and went. As expected, there weren't any shindeshojos, but I did find a very interesting EWP. It has small needles that look very suitable for bonsai. I was going to get it until I realized it's grafted relatively high up on the trunk. I figured it's probably best for me to research grafting and find some suitable rootstock before buying

I also spotted a pretty cool looking scots pine. Might get this one too. I forgot to check if it's grafted.... it probably is tho

Leave the Eastern White pine there. They are not very amenable for bonsai and usually result in nothing but frustration.

Scots pine is good if its not grafted but if its a really good graft (hard to see that it was grafted), its not necessarily a bad choice for a learning tree

Typically on Long Island, we see the typical Bloodgood maples, avoid them because they have long internodes.
Generic Japanese maples can be decent.
You probably wont see Shindesojos at all but. Ive never seen them around here. You might see an occasional shishigasahira
Always look for grafts though. In my experience pretty much all landscape nursery maples are grafted which is problematic, particularly on cultivars that do not air layer well.

 

[Bonds Guy]

Leave the Eastern White pine there. They are not very amenable for bonsai and usually result in nothing but frustration.

Normally I would steer clear of EWPs, but the needles on this one is proof that they can be reduced to a bonsai appropriate size and that seems to be the biggest issue with EWP (@Leo in N E Illinois and @vancehanna is this correct?). I know japanese white pines are the go-to white pine for bonsai, but they grow soooo slow and the JWPs with decent size trunks at nurseries have needles that are too far from the trunk (their roots also suck but that could be due to crappy soil I had a few of mine in). There's also the fact that vancehanna successfully bonsai'd a EWP and I believe the needles on his pine didn't start out like this..... or did it?

 

[Nybonsai12]

Short needles aside, what makes that tree interesting? What does the nebari look like? Bar branches, little taper. In my opinion one of the first steps to obtaining and making better bonsai is to leave garden center material in the garden center. And yea, I had an EWP for years.

 

[Bonds Guy]

Short needles aside, what makes that tree interesting? What does the nebari look like? Bar branches, little taper. In my opinion one of the first steps to obtaining and making better bonsai is to leave garden center material in the garden center. And yea, I had an EWP for years.

The cultivar itself is what I found interesting rather than the tree

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Normally I would steer clear of EWPs, but the needles on this one is proof that they can be reduced to a bonsai appropriate size and that seems to be the biggest issue with EWP (@Leo in N E Illinois and @vancehanna is this correct?). I know japanese white pines are the go-to white pine for bonsai, but they grow soooo slow and the JWPs with decent size trunks at nurseries have needles that are too far from the trunk (their roots also suck but that could be due to crappy soil I had a few of mine in). There's also the fact that vancehanna successfully bonsai'd a EWP and I believe the needles on his pine didn't start out like this..... or did it?

It's not just needle length that is the issue with EWP, in addition it is the long bare stems with pom-poms of needles at the end that is also the issue.

IF you could find a cultivar with both short needles and congested, "yatsubusa" type multiple buds, then you would have a white pine worth dealing with. Japanese white pine already has those traits. Or at least the JWP that are grafted for bonsai use.

Pinus strobus 'Louie' according to the description below is a yellow in winter cutlivar of EWP. The description does not mention shorter needles or more compact form. It says growth rate is 9 to 12 inches per year. To be considered a dwarf, I would expect less than 6 inches per year.

So I would give it a pass. There's probably a good cultivar of strobus out there, I just don't know which one it is.

Pinus strobus 'Louie' Eastern White Pine

Pinus strobus ‘Louie’ Eastern White Pine for Sale at Best Price. Free Shipping on order over $150. Shop Online from Conifer Kingdom.

www.coniferkingdom.com

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

About sylvestris ' Green Penguin', I've seen it offered as pre-bonsai stock. It's average needle is nice and short, but it has a habit of regularly throwing a few long needles in every candle. That and it is green. It could work as bonsai, if the graft was good. Myself, I would look for one of the short needle cultivars with good blue-iah color. But that is my taste.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

My favorite pine for bonsai is JWP 'Azuma' sometimes written 'Pentafolia Azuma' or 'Azuma Goyo' it is a relatively blue colored JWP with the "yatsubusa" multiple buds pattern of growth.

 

[Paradox]

My favorite pine for bonsai is JWP 'Azuma' sometimes written 'Pentafolia Azuma' or 'Azuma Goyo' it is a relatively blue colored JWP with the "yatsubusa" multiple buds pattern of growth.

I have two of these that I found at landscape nursery believe it or not.
I also like the blue tinge the needles have when its healthy
They were marked as Pent-Azuma

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Actually for bonsai in the EU or North America, scotts pine, Pinus sylvestris (also called Forest Pine in languages other than english) ordinary seedlings of Pinus sylvestris are quite good for bonsai. There is no graft union to have to hide. Because they are used for "christmas trees" and widely used for landscape purposes, there have been nice seed populations developed that have an attractive blue tint to their foliage. And blue-ish or plain green, sylvestris is a decent pine for bonsai.

 

[Adair M]

My favorite pine for bonsai is JWP 'Azuma' sometimes written 'Pentafolia Azuma' or 'Azuma Goyo' it is a relatively blue colored JWP with the "yatsubusa" multiple buds pattern of growth.

You should try Kokonoe.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

You should try Kokonoe.

Good suggestion, it is a cultivar on my "buy it" list. When I have spare bonsai bucks, I will seek one out. Currently, not spending money on bonsai until I have some home improvements done.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Short needles aside, what makes that tree interesting? What does the nebari look like? Bar branches, little taper. In my opinion one of the first steps to obtaining and making better bonsai is to leave garden center material in the garden center. And yea, I had an EWP for years.

Let the limbs elongate a couple yards and you'd never need to buy another webster for cobwebs.
Can't see anything either.