The rare cultivar... and where you can buy them thread

@Paradox This is not the place to continue to discuss my business. If you're interested, send me an email. I do want to clarify a few things you brought up though, because you're making assumptions that could mislead others:
  • The logistics are not complicated and I don't need to send to a group, although I can. I regularly send to individuals.
  • There is no USA paperwork to do -- it's all handled by me and the CFIA. (I follow the USDA and CFIA regulations, it's 100% legal). All you need to do is receive the bareroot plants and pot them.
  • No I don't "have to" deal with "someone like Bill Valavanis or Conifer Kingdom". This year I am shipping orders as small as 1 tree, direct to customer.
  • I prefer to ship to professionals or nurseries in larger volumes and I give priority to this, but I also get a lot of group-orders from friends and clubs/societies, as well as individuals. I have yet to turn anybody away for any reason other than inventory shortage.

I mean no disrespect, I understand you are a business and need to do whatever is best for you to make money, after all that is why you are in business to begin with and perfectly within your preview to conduct your business how you see fit. My husband and I own a business as well so I totally get where you are coming from.

I was quoting information on your web page that clearly states you want a minimum $2000 order to ship to the U.S. which is beyond many hobbyists to handle and is better handled by professional nurseries like International Bonsai or Conifer Kingdom, which you state, you prefer to deal with rather than individual orders.

If you are in the process of changing that practice and are willing to do individual orders to the U.S, you could state that on the web page unless you prefer to discourage such orders other than through people here at BNut. The language on your web page discourages people from trying to do smaller orders from you and without you saying such here, I wouldn't even think of ordering because I cant handle that big of an order.

I understand why you might not want to advertise smaller orders on your web site and prioritizing larger orders to other professional businesses probably makes you more money for less effort in shipping at least with fewer, larger shipments.

Otherwise I applaud you for all the different types of plants, particularly azaleas that you offer. So many interesting ones there.
I really wish someone in the U.S, would do the same so we had those varieties available here without having to go through the USDA paper work. I fully agree with the regulations and why they are in place though.
 
olea oleaster- i think this is the only source in the US for wild olive. I'd say this is the preferred olive for bonsai due to its small leaves and short internodes. But regular olives also reduce very nicely. Still, this is great for the olive fanatic. And considering the price for a small tree, I wouldnt expect anyone but the olive obsessed to want one. That being said, I did buy one for myself lol


Japanese white pine are somewhat hard to find these days


Portulacaria Minima- smaller leaves and rough bark too, i think this one is great for bonsai

 
This will go fast. Seigen at Mendocinomaples.


As of this posting they have a few of the 1 gallon, 12-18" trees available.
 
This will go fast. Seigen at Mendocinomaples.


As of this posting they have a few of the 1 gallon, 12-18" trees available.
Thanks, grabbed the last one
 
I'm guessing they are limiting to one per purchase. I just checked and I can only add 1 to my cart.
 
I refuse to post any of my sources as it leads to immediately selling out of said tree.
That's the point... because if a nursery sells out of something, they will immediately order/grow more.

However if they have a rare cultivar, and it sits in their nursery for three years, they'll think "well, must not have been that special!"

I know I am picking on bloodgoods atm, but there is a reason why they are the #1 JM cultivar in the US. They had great characteristics. And they sold.
 
for $200 you can get a good sized seigen maple prebonsai (2" trunk) from Ed Clark. A word of caution for anyone on the East Coast though, the fall color can be kind of lame. I think this cultivar is better suited to warm climates that don't get fall color but enjoy the spring color maybe? I know that's why Ed grows them.
 
for $200 you can get a good sized seigen maple prebonsai (2" trunk) from Ed Clark.
Since some of the people posting on this thread are hesitant to post their "sources", let me share a few anecdotes. I trade trees a fair amount. I bring my unusual/uncommon trees and give them to someone, and they give me something in return.

Last year Ed Clark gave me four seigens in exchange for something I was doing for him. I immediately gave two of those seigens to Josue at J&G's Japanese Maple Nursery so that he had two of the cultivar so that he could propagate them. Josue gave me some trees in return. I have given trees to Brad at Bonsai Learning Center. He has given me trees in return. I'll be going up to Maples n More Nursery in early May and bringing at least one tree for Horace... etc... Do this often enough and the nurseries look out for you, because you look out for them.

After discovering that David at Camellia Nursery had princess persimmons, I told you all about it. Guess what? He now is very interested in propagating a ton more... versus they had just been sitting in his nursery. I am a big believer that the more we, as a bonsai community, support our local nurseries, the more they will be willing to support us. This includes being open about what sells (and what doesn't) so that nurseries know what we are looking for... and it includes publicizing when they have something that we would want - so they get more.
 
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Since some of the people posting on this thread are hesitant to post their "sources"
I am a big believer that the more we, as a bonsai community, support our local nurseries, the more they will be willing to support us.
Good point.

I also very much liked:
Buy what you want first and then post?

Adding: If more people share here what they have find and where, means that in return you might get the opportunity to find that rare cultivar you have been searching for, because someone else shared. I find that often it is not the overall availability, but the challenge in finding out who has the specific cultivar.
 
Since some of the people posting on this thread are hesitant to post their "sources", let me share a few anecdotes. I trade trees a fair amount. I bring my unusual/uncommon trees and give them to someone, and they give me something in return.

Last year Ed Clark gave me four seigens in exchange for something I was doing for him. I immediately gave two of those seigens to Josue at J&G's Japanese Maple Nursery so that he had two of the cultivar so that he could propagate them. Josue gave me some trees in return. I have given trees to Brad at Bonsai Learning Center. He has given me trees in return. I'll be going up Maples n More Nursery in early May and bringing at least one tree for Horace... etc... Do this often enough and the nurseries look out for you, because you look out for them.

After discovering that David at Camellia Nursery had princess persimmons, I told you all about it. Guess what? He now is very interested in propagating a ton more... versus they had just been sitting in his nursery. I am a big believer that the more we, as a bonsai community, support our local nurseries, the more they will be willing to support us. This includes being open about what sells (and what doesn't) so that nurseries know what we are looking for... and it includes publicizing when they have something that we would want - so they get more.
Very good points indeed!
 
This will go fast. Seigen at Mendocinomaples.


As of this posting they have a few of the 1 gallon, 12-18" trees available.
Got mine in.
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You know ..... that bonsai is about the appearance of the tree on the day displayed, cultivar does not matter at all. At least in theory. Rare or not should never be considered in judging bonsai. A tree is solely judged on its appearance at the time of judging. Only after the tree excels in appearance categories should its history be considered at all.

But yes, some trees have better color in their leaves or better flowers than others. Certain pines have better bark if you can grow them long enough to display this trait. I am an orchid guy, I do understand why cultivar traits matter.

Through my orchid network I acquired a "wild type" cultivar of willow leaf ficus that is likely a different species than the typical willow leaf ficus distributed by Wigert's of Fort Meyers Florida. By the way, Wigerts has great tropical and subtropical trees for bonsai, and if you are ever in the area, browse their pots for sale, they have quite the collection available. Good people.

The Ficus I have has shredding brown bark and produces aerial roots rather easily, making nice banyan style trees possible with little trouble. It also seems to tolerate a cool, dry, winter rest of several months. It was one of the few trees to survive a health issue I had a decade ago. It went 2 months without water and leafed out again in spring beautifully. I have been meaning to propagate it more, right now Jerry Mieslik is the only bonsai person who has a division. He was working on a species description but the damn thing is reluctant to flower, and the rules of botany are - no flowers - no botanical description. So for now it is "Ficus species from Chiapas, Mexico".
 
I dug some photos of the Ficus from Chiapas mainly to see if I could, they were from 3 computers ago, and a little difficult to remember where to find. These photos are not of a tree at its "bonsai best" but clearly show how it is different from a typical willow leaf ficus. The tree that survives today is a small cutting from this one. I need to start over on creating a banyan ficus.

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