undiscovered native US trees?

[Bill S]

Very nice results Greg, from the various posts it seems you will be our best resource on collecting, and after care for these. Any chance of a new article for our archives?

 

[John Romano]

Sorry Greg, I missed that part of this thread. I came in late and didn't read the whole thread.
John Romano

 

[Attila Soos]

Greg is the only one we have here, who would know how to care for them. He had some really nice collected material at the GSB convention workshop in Anaheim in '05.

 

[rlist]

Greg is the only one we have here, who would know how to care for them. He had some really nice collected material at the GSB convention workshop in Anaheim in '05.

Greg-

Do you have any presentations or workshops planned for BSOP in the next year? Jason and I were talking just yesterday that we need to pick your brain a little and that would be a perfect opportunity for you to share a little with the locals.

Hope all is well.

Rich

 

[Greg Brenden]

I was not fishing for sympathy here, but could not believe how many jump onto a thread without reading what came before...

Rich--I would be happy to share what I have learned about this species (and others) regarding collecting and aftercare. All you had to do was ask

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Greg;

I would also be interested in hearing about manzanita. There is some in the mountains within 30 minutes of my house that I would like to try collecting, but I would love to hear about care before I do a thing. I cannot recall reading ANYTHING on manzanita bonsai in my bonsai library.

 

[Greg Brenden]

Greg--the interview with Tom Kelly appears in the GSBF magazine "Golden Statements" Sept/Oct 2004, pages 5 through 14. You can e-mail the editor, Carl Morimoto @ morimotoc@sbcglobal.net to request a copy; I think it will run you $5. The article is more comprehensive than a post to this thread (you can see it's 9 pages in the magazine) but if you have further questions beyond the article, feel free to pm me to fill in any gaps there may be for you.

I will say this that given the ongoing drought you have down there, a good time to go out collecting would be after significant winter rains, which might be February or March. So you have plenty of time to get a copy of that article. One thing you can do for now after getting permission to collect is to scout for them growing in association with solid rock and/or rocky outcrops. When they grow in open ground, they send out long, lanky roots that go for yards before you get any feeder roots to sustain the tree post collecting. If you catch them on solid rock, they will grow a root pad just like a pine or a juniper. You may have to do a lot of searching to find "the zone" but I guarantee you, it will be worth the extra trouble. So, get scouting and have fun

 

[Anonymous User]

It should be noted that Dan Robinson has been working with this species since the 1960's. He mentions this species in his article "Collectable Indigenous Trees of the Northwest" published in the NABF Newsletter (#5).


Will

 

[grouper52]

It should be noted that Dan Robinson has been working with this species since the 1960's. He mentions this species in his article "Collectable Indigenous Trees of the Northwest" published in the NABF Newsletter (#5).


Will

I don't know if he's working with them any more - I don't recall seeing one in his extensive "museum" collection at Elandan, nor among the trees he's collected in the past three years. I'm going over there tomorrow, and if he's there I'll try to see if he still works with them, and pick his brain about them.

 

[Anonymous User]

Great idea! At the very least, we can know if and why he gave up on the species.



Will

 

[Pattik]

Beautiful manzanita bonsai. This thread has inspired me to take a look around our property. We live in the foothills north of Fresno, CA, just an hour or so from the gates of Yosemite and we have manzanita everywhere. Most are quite huge, but this definitely peeks my interest to go investigate our acreage.

 

[Gabler]

I'd like to see more Maclura pomifera.

 

[BrianBay9]

Man, there's a lot of old friends in this thread. Make's me sad, and happy to remember them all.

 

[hemmy]

I'd like to see more Maclura pomifera.

VERY cool old thread!

I’m finding callous formation to be very slow on M. pomifera. Which makes sense since it doesn’t need to callous fast with the high tannin(?) content of the wood. I’d love to see collected ones from rivers and creeks on collapse banks.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Tom,

I would bet that you wouldn't even need to replace the mugo. It is all in the presentation.... point out how people keep driving over it, it is in the way and is an eye sore. Offer to remove the tree, fill in the hole and put bark dust in that area. 99% sure they will be more than happy to get rid of it.
Make sure you are ready to go when they tell you yes.... if you wait there is a chance they will change thier minds.
You are correct that urban collecting has a very promising future.... it just takes some time and nerve to go knock on a door....

Now buddy, go dig that mugo!!!!!!!!!!!

Jason

Offer steel pole filled with cement as replacement.

 

[milehigh_7]

Man, there's a lot of old friends in this thread. Make's me sad, and happy to remember them all.

So many old friends! Some are no longer with us. This thread started before I came to the site!

 

[DonielDoom]

This was a serendipitous read on the manzanita note. It feels like I'm always trying to find info and/or demystify their magnificent beings.

 

[Styrw89]

On the subject of "undiscovered" native species: the American strobus section of pines is still under explored, probably. The straight species strobus doesn't work, but there are plenty of witches-broom cultivars. Some of them have lovely short needles, and their very soft texture is unique. P. monticola, strobiformis, flexilis, all have just as much potential as Japanese white pine- yet I've only ever seen them as wild collected specimen. Maybe because there's no nursery trade of them.

Our natives oaks could be useful, too. I'm not expert in their taxonomy, but pin oak seems to be twiggy with smallish leaves. Nice fall color, bark is alright I guess.

Rhododendron viscosum could be a good subject. Some of our other native Ericaceae are promising as well.

 

[BrianBay9]

On the subject of "undiscovered" native species: the American strobus section of pines is still under explored, probably. The straight species strobus doesn't work, but there are plenty of witches-broom cultivars. Some of them have lovely short needles, and their very soft texture is unique. P. monticola, strobiformis, flexilis, all have just as much potential as Japanese white pine- yet I've only ever seen them as wild collected specimen. Maybe because there's no nursery trade of them.

Our natives oaks could be useful, too. I'm not expert in their taxonomy, but pin oak seems to be twiggy with smallish leaves. Nice fall color, bark is alright I guess.

Rhododendron viscosum could be a good subject. Some of our other native Ericaceae are promising as well.

Native oaks are hardly undiscovered. Pin oak, southern live oak, willow oak, valley oak, coast live oak, etc. All are used fairly often, at least out west.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Revival of a "necro-thread" but this is okay, a good topic. I wish the larger manzanita species were hardy here (Chicago-Milwaukee areas) but sadly the only one local is Arctostaphylos uva-ursi our native bear berry also called kinnickinnick. The bear-berry here is an obligate on sand barrens soils, sandy, acidic soils, it does not adapt to potted plant culture easily. Though I have seen it for sale once at a native plant nursery. So it can be done.

In terms of "underutilized" species a few candidates come to mind.

Amelanchier - the service berries, lovely spring flowers. June or July fruit. A nice light and airy alternative to Prunus and Malus.

Crataegus - should be used more.

Celtis - mentioned earlier in the thread and I whole heartedly recommend Celtis occidentalis for northerners and westerners, Celtis laevigata for zone 7 and warmer growers especially in the south and southeast.

Nyssa - especially Nyssa sylvatica - black gum - there are horticultural problems, needs acidic soil but not sandy soil, and leaf size does not reduce to ideal size but autumn color is so spectacular it is worth exploring use.

I'm sure I can come up with more but this is enough for the moment.