Kingsville Boxwood

[yashu]

I’m in Maine and the only place I’ve seen legit Kingsville has been at New England Bonsai Garden and their trees are both too expensive and more “refined” than I’d like so nurseries or any sort of local pick up is not really an option for me. I have not been to Bonsai West yet (also in MA) but I’m pretty sure that I’m limited to what I can find online that can be shipped. Of the links provided Bella Bonsai seems most promising. I’d love to here from someone who purchased one of their trees.

 

[yashu]

Evergreen Gardenworks has Kingsville and four other cultivars in 1-gallons. The trees are about 30 years old.

I will definitely check here. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Brent and his business.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

I will definitely check here. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Brent and his business.

In the catalogBrent posted will be availed in 2024 again. The availability list says they have some. In the past the catalog was the best info source, but it’s worth an email to Brent

Regards
DSD sends

 

[DaveStillwell]

I will definitely check here. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Brent and his business.

He has specimens that are boxwoods... as well as the smaller 1 gallon trees. If you email him he can tell you all about them.

 

[yashu]

Well, the deed is done. I put in an order for a one gallon Kingsville with Evergreen Gardenworks. I hope I get a nice one! I’ll post it up here when it arrives. I picked up another chojubai as well, I figure if I was going to be paying for the shipping anyway I might as well order enough to get over the minimum shipping fee.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

Well, the deed is done. I put in an order for a one gallon Kingsville with Evergreen Gardenworks. I hope I get a nice one! I’ll post it up here when it arrives. I picked up another chojubai as well, I figure if I was going to be paying for the shipping anyway I might as well order enough to get over the minimum shipping fee.

I have two from the local nursery. Seller calls them Kingsville, IDK or care if they are but I love em!

I was told this one is 25+ years old.

View attachment 538780

 

[yashu]

I have two from the local nursery. Seller calls them Kingsville, IDK or care if they are but I love em!

I was told this one is 25+ years old.
View attachment 538781
View attachment 538780

That’s a nice one. I picked up two supposed dwarf boxwood varieties from the big box store during the end of season sales last fall but they are not at all like the Kingsville or the other true dwarf varieties that Brent propagates. I was at Bonsai West a few weeks back looking at some of their Kingsvilles (even the smallest were outside my price range) but I was reminded just how vastly different (smaller) the foliage is on the true dwarfs.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

That’s a nice one. I picked up two supposed dwarf boxwood varieties from the big box store during the end of season sales last fall but they are not at all like the Kingsville or the other true dwarf varieties that Brent propagates. I was at Bonsai West a few weeks back looking at some of their Kingsvilles (even the smallest were outside my price range) but I was reminded just how vastly different (smaller) the foliage is on the true dwarfs.

Thanks. I got it last year for $80 bucks, and good to know about the big box stores, I haven't seen one I liked at Lowe's so far. I'm going to look at the Evergreen Gardens advice you posted. Thanks!

 

[yashu]

Thanks. I got it last year for $80 bucks, and good to know about the big box stores, I haven't seen one I liked at Lowe's so far. I'm going to look at the Evergreen Gardens advice you posted. Thanks!

It seems there’s a bunch of places selling Kingsville that aren’t actually Kingsville but from everything I’ve heard Brent at Evergreen is a real stand up guy with a reputable business. I tried to do a quick search to find a decent foliage shot and the following was the best I could find that gives a decent idea of scale due the the persons hand in the shot.



You can see the leaves are tiny and the foliage is compact. It makes for an amazingly dense canopy in refined trees, even shohin.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

I grabbed one at EVG. Roll the dice.

 

[Bonsai_hope]

I have two from the local nursery. Seller calls them Kingsville, IDK or care if they are but I love em!

I was told this one is 25+ years old.
View attachment 538781
View attachment 538780

This does not look like a Kingsville. The leaves are too large. The attached picture is of a Kingsville from Plant City in Georgia. The owner acquired the stock from the nursery in Maryland when it closed. I’m certain it’s a true Kingsville. It was ridiculously expensive but I’m planning on getting another. LOL. It’s the star of my collection.

 

[River's Edge]

For comparison here is my Kingsville. Acquired in 2012, PNBCA convention, Vancouver, Washington. The event was titled " Hacking at the Hilton" . Back when the word was used in a different context

 

[rockm]

I got this one from a local grower in Maryland who in turn got the cuttings from the original nursery where the cultivar was discovered. She had a pretty big grow bed or field of them for a while. Now that is mostly gone, from what I've heard. She was at the Potomac Bonsai Association show and sale about 10 years ago and had about seven or eight in nursery pots. Wish I'd picked them all up in hindsight.

 

[coachspinks]

I will try to take some pics of my Kingsville's tonight. In the mean time, here is one of the more iconic specimen's in the US. This is Father Paul's Kingsville. I worked on it in the mid 80's when it was already old. As of a couple of years ago, it was on display when the Monastery in Conyers, GA was open.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

I will try to take some pics of my Kingsville's tonight. In the mean time, here is one of the more iconic specimen's in the US. This is Father Paul's Kingsville. I worked on it in the mid 80's when it was already old. As of a couple of years ago, it was on display when the Monastery in Conyers, GA was open.

For size reference, found on pinterest

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

It seems there’s a bunch of places selling Kingsville that aren’t actually Kingsville but from everything I’ve heard Brent at Evergreen is a real stand up guy with a reputable business. I tried to do a quick search to find a decent foliage shot and the following was the best I could find that gives a decent idea of scale due the the persons hand in the shot.



You can see the leaves are tiny and the foliage is compact. It makes for an amazingly dense canopy in refined trees, even shohin.

I've heard that places will try that, and it's rather upsetting that the place I go to would do that. Now I have to question everything they tell me. Maybe, when I get the one from Evergreen, I'll take it to a class. JK I need them more than they need me. I see what you mean though, those definitely look different.

This does not look like a Kingsville. The leaves are too large. The attached picture is of a Kingsville from Plant City in Georgia. The owner acquired the stock from the nursery in Maryland when it closed. I’m certain it’s a true Kingsville. It was ridiculously expensive but I’m planning on getting another. LOL. It’s the star of my collection.

Post a picture, it sounds cool.

 

[coachspinks]

The smaller of the two is one I bought from Plant City a few years ago. I was pretty aggressive in fitting it into that pot and it sulked last summer. The other is a large one I bought at our club auction. It is over 2' from soil line to the top of the tree. I recently moved it from a 3 gallon nursery pot into this pot. I was a lot less aggressive this time.

 

[rockm]

I've heard that places will try that, and it's rather upsetting that the place I go to would do that. Now I have to question everything they tell me. Maybe, when I get the one from Evergreen, I'll take it to a class. JK I need them more than they need me. I see what you mean though, those definitely look different.

Post a picture, it sounds cool.

FWIW, most vendors simply don't know the difference, including landscape nurseries. There are a few kinds of small leafed boxwood cultivars. They're often confused for each other and sold on by people who assume what they have is what's on the label. I'd say most often with Kingsville that's not the case. It's usually something else and that's not a bad thing. Most of the smaller leaved cultivars make good bonsai. Kingsville tends to have the smallest leaves, though.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

FWIW, most vendors simply don't know the difference, including landscape nurseries. There are a few kinds of small leafed boxwood cultivars. They're often confused for each other and sold on by people who assume what they have is what's on the label. I'd say most often with Kingsville that's not the case. It's usually something else and that's not a bad thing. Most of the smaller leaved cultivars make good bonsai. Kingsville tends to have the smallest leaves, though.

True, I like boxwoods either way. I just hope it's the nursery not knowing the difference and not salesman subterfuge. It's a Bonsai nursery btw, new owners in the last 4yrs, and they seem knowledgeable to me, but my knowledge just scratches the surface of an ocean. Both boxwoods I have are from them and both times they mentioned Kingsville and they leaves look the sameas the one I posted. I feel like it's a case of the blind leading the naked. Thanks Rockm.

 

[Veebs]

Thought it might be instructive in light of recent postings about the Kingsville boxwood sold by Mirai, to explain my argument over it.

Some said the price tag was questionable and the tree wasn't a "good" bonsai. I agreed that the price was high, BUT not unreasonable given what it was. Others said it didn't matter was it was, it was just a bad bonsai. THAT ticked me off, particularly since those arguing that point had never seen a Kingsville, much less worked with one and assumed it was pretty much like any other boxwood cultivar. It's conformation as a bonsai is only PART of such a tree's worth.

The Kingsville boxwood listed on Mirai's site was an example of an extremely old, large plant that are extremely uncommon. Ryan has said the large Kingsville he has are among the oldest in the U.S. (and by default the rest of the world, since the cultivar originated in Maryland in 1912 and not sold through nurseries until the 1930's. I don't know if it's available in Europe). It's also an identified Kingsville (there are other cultivars that get passed off as Kingsville). Kingsville is arguably one of the best trees to use as bonsai, because it ramifies extremely well and its leaves are tiny and can be made even tinier (1/8th to 1/16th of an inch).

The Kingsville cultivar has a deep history in my area. It was discovered by Harry Hohman who owned Kingsville nursery near Baltimore in 1912. It was planted at the White House in the Rose Garden in the 1960's and the first bonsai at the National Arboretum was a Hohman-grown B. microphylla ‘Compacta.’ I've only seen one other that was anywhere near as large as the one up for sale at Mirai. If I remember correctly, it belonged to Dale Cochoy who bought it from a nursery that was using it to make cuttings to sell. It was also smaller.

To achieve the trunk and branch diameter on the Mirai tree indicates it is well over 60 years old (I'd say older). That kind of age is rare for this cultivar, as is its obvious treatment as a bonsai for most of its life. It's not a recently trunk-chopped landscape specimen.

Some are saying that Kingsville can grow an inch a year. That is true, however, that growth is only part of the story. While it may grow UP an inch a year, thickening of branching and the trunk are incredibly slow. There are not many Kingsville that have mature, old thick branching and trunk flare. Those are also big parts of the value and why someone who is familiar with the cultivar would pay for a relatively high price for it.

Kingsville is a 'dwarf' cultivar, which means everything is even slower than the original species. If you think "regular" boxwood varieties close wounds, and thicken slowly, Kingsville is doubly slow.

The value in the Mirai tree is in its age, scale and cultivar, not primarily in the subjective "good" or "bad" bonsai conformation--the same shift in perceptions that accompany old collected conifers applies, IMO, to other species and unusual cultivars. Actual age and rarity are big pieces of any bonsai's value. With this bonsai, they are THE biggest pieces in its value. Those unfamiliar with the cultivar may only concentrate on conformation. Those who have worked with the cultivar for a while understand there's more going on there than a wonky branch or two. Those who have recently purchased smaller Kingsville will begin to understand that in a few years.

What was the price? The link is dead now.