FredL

Thanks for your comments, Jim. You frequently have some very good imputs.

These trees remind me very much of Japanese Red Pines (can't think of the Latin name) which I'd say is a lot more like a Black Pine than a White Pine. They appear to me to be an absolutely terrific species for Bonsai culture. I found a huge stand of them on a rather barren, limestone hillside near my home which appears to be utilized mainly for ATVers and dumping everything from beer cans to old refrigerators. There must be 300 of them, I guss from 2 to 20 or more years old, mostly severely dwarfed by the very shallow soil over a limestone substrate. They come up very easily and all 7 that I collected last Spring are doing great. I've done nothing with them so far but try to teach them to live in pots. I repotted 2 this Spring and was very encouraged by how the root systems are developing.

It's pretty amazing how many collectable trees you see once you develop a "Bonsai eye". When I started in this area 18 months ago, I was at a loss as to how to start. Now I see so much potential material its hard to slow down and concentrate on only the best. I feel kind of a commitment to what I've already collected now and want to concentrate on developing it rather than more collecting.

I did go back and get 9 more of these wonderful trees last week, however.

Thanks again, Fred