Top 3 in the United States

[yenling83]

I'd love to see pictures of the trees that come to mind when you think about the top three best for each variety/species in the United States. The trees could be in any size or stage of development and i'd love to see many different varieties/species(Pines-Black, White, Pondo, Lodgepole, Pinyon, Bristlecone, etc.) You could post one, two or three trees of the same type/species. This is super subjective, so there's no wrong answers. Here's a few tree that come to mind for me.

Korean Hornbeam


Lindsay Shiba


Jonas Dupuich


Jeff Starr


Trident Maple


Matt Owinga


Peter Tea



Ponderosa Pine


Dan Wiederrecht @Dan W.



Ryan Neil



White Pine


John Kirby

 

[JudyB]

Great idea for a post topic. Thanks Jeremiah! I'll have to think on this one, the World bonsai day on FB sure showed me a lot of candidates. And our own @MACH5 was in the top of the top...

 

[Arlithrien]

Is there an existing resource of artists and their trees? I have only ever had luck sifting through Google image search and even then I don't always find who the artist is.

 

[yenling83]

Is there an existing resource of artists and their trees? I have only ever had luck sifting through Google image search and even then I don't always find who the artist is.

I think there are some, but not sure about how comprehensive. Maybe if you find a tree that you consider in the top 3 you can post it and i'd bet some Nut can identify the owner/artist/craftsmen.

 

[Ohmy222]

I’ll just take 3 of @MACH5 trees. One beech forest and two maples.

 

[misfit11]

Great thread, Jeremiah! I know you've got some trees that might belong in this discussion...

Coastal Redwood

Bob Shimon

Sierra Juniper

Ned Lycett

These are both fellow club members so obviously I'm a bit biased

 

[Dav4]

Sierra Juniper

Jeremiah Lee

 

[yenling83]

@Dav4 and @misfit11 very nice of you, thanks!


Spruce-Owned by Ryan Neil


Mountain Hemlock-Michael Hagedorn



Birds Nest Spruce-styled by Bjorn, but not sure who owns it.



I'd love to see your picks!

 

[Hartinez]

I need to come up with 2 more. But this tree by

SERGIO CUAN isone of my all time favorite deciduous.

 

[yenling83]

I need to come up with 2 more. But this tree by

SERGIO CUAN isone of my all time favorite deciduous.
View attachment 305473

Gorgeous!!!

 

[Hartinez]

Gorgeous!!!

I feel like it’s everything we want in a traditional bonsai, great taper, quality branch placement and ramification and well built nebari, while also having that rugged, untamed look that American enthusiasts seem to really appreciate. It’s as close to an American deciduous masterpiece that America has right now. Mind you, this all comes from my limited exposure to the top tier of trees, and is fully my personal opinion, It’s just my favorite deciduous. In 20-30 yrs, I think America will have quite a few more high quality, collected and field grown deciduous that fits our aesthetics.

 

[rockm]

Red maple Acer Rubrum, Vaughn Banting National Bonsai and Penjing museum. In training since 1974

 

[Pitoon]

I'd love to see pictures of the trees that come to mind when you think about the top three best for each variety/species in the United States. The trees could be in any size or stage of development and i'd love to see many different varieties/species(Pines-Black, White, Pondo, Lodgepole, Pinyon, Bristlecone, etc.) You could post one, two or three trees of the same type/species. This is super subjective, so there's no wrong answers. Here's a few tree that come to mind for me.

Korean Hornbeam

View attachment 304462
Lindsay Shiba

View attachment 304463
Jonas Dupuich

View attachment 304464
Jeff Starr


Trident Maple

View attachment 304465
Matt Owinga

View attachment 304466
Peter Tea



Ponderosa Pine

View attachment 304467
Dan Wiederrecht @Dan W.


View attachment 304468
Ryan Neil



White Pine

View attachment 304471
John Kirby

I've seen Matt O's trident in person, that tree is impressive. But from what I recall there's some work that needs to be done on the trunk closing up a hole.

 

[William N. Valavanis]

Full moon maple

Seigen Japanese maple


Korean Hornbeam

 

[William N. Valavanis]

Here 3 deciduous bonsai I've created which are pretty good.

Crabapple


Japanese wisteria

 

[William N. Valavanis]

Here 2 pine bonsai I've created which are pretty good.

RAF dwarf scots pine, twin trunk


RAF dwarf scots pine, formal upright

 

[Adair M]

Here 2 pine bonsai I've created which are pretty good.
View attachment 305586
RAF dwarf scots pine, twin trunk

View attachment 305587
RAF dwarf scots pine, formal upright

Bill, I think the formal upright would look better in a more “grounded” pot. It seems kind of perched up on stilts on those tiny feet.

 

[William N. Valavanis]

Adair,
I agree about the container design for the formal upright RAF dwarf scots pine bonsai. It needs a new container. This antique Chinese container is typical of Chinese pots, very narrow. The tree needs a wider dimension because there is not much room between the back of the trunk and pot.

I wanted to use this antique Chinese container and this worked for several years, but now I'm looking for a larger, high quality container.

 

[Adair M]

Adair,
I agree about the container design for the formal upright RAF dwarf scots pine bonsai. It needs a new container. This antique Chinese container is typical of Chinese pots, very narrow. The tree needs a wider dimension because there is not much room between the back of the trunk and pot.

I wanted to use this antique Chinese container and this worked for several years, but now I'm looking for a larger, high quality container.

something like this?

Japanese Black Pine, Formal Upright


That’s also an Antique Chinese pot. Most of them are narrow.

 

[William N. Valavanis]

The design of your pot is much better, but I don't like the light color. Also, the pot is narrow, as you mentioned, so will need a larger size.

Perhaps I should custom order another container from my friend Gyozan?

Thanks for your suggestion Adair.