Favorite Species

FredL

OK, we've had a thread on "Trees I won't grow again"; how about all time favorites?

From what I've worked with, at least at this point, some of the trees I really like include:

1. Amur Maples. Not fussy at all, easy to shape, beautiful colors, Spring and Fall, well proportioned leaves, under rated, I'd say. No problems with hot or cold weather, one of the first trees to bud and leaf in the early Spring when you're ready to get going with bonsai and many trees want to wait for warmer weather. I LOVE these trees.

2. Hophornbeams. A native that's just as nice as its various Old World cousins. Widely available for free, this humble species is another easy to grow species that is very undemanding and seems to naturally form interesting trunks and good nebari. Three years from seeds, mine are alredy beginning to look quite like little bonsai.

3. Shortleaf Pine. By golly, these trees resemble Japanese Red Pines. Mine, once succesfully past the shock of initial potting from the wild, are developing beautifully, responding well to Bonsai culture. Their needles are not nearly as long as other Southern Yellow Pine and reuce well with their rootage limited by pot culture. This species deserves to be WAY more popular than it is and if it grew in Japan would be one of the most popular bonsai species. Their needles and bark are superb and it is not difficult to develop very beautiful trunks and branches with them.

Others that were very close to the top three include: Winged Elm, Sugarberry (Southern Hackberry), Flowering Quince, Procumbense Juniper, Washington Hawthorne, Virginia Creeper, Winged Euonymous and our native Wild Plums (Chickasaw Plum).

I had some other favorites when I was in California, but these are my favorites now.

Fred

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RonMartin(deceased)

Mine are
1. Black Olive
2. Brazilian Rain Tree
3. Bald cypress
4. Kingsville Boxwood
5. Shimpaku

Probably in that order

grampz

Execellent topic Fred...

My number one choice is the 'Bald Cypress'...very forgiving of mistakes...fast growing of new branches and foilage in my 'neck of the woods'...It has also been my favorite tree 'in the wild' since childhood...and was my favorite in my first bonsai life...

I am quite fond also of 'Youpon Holly', and 'Japanese Boxwood'...having lived in mostly an urban setting for the last several years, and relocating many times due to our work, it is not easy to find good collecting sites in the wild for more mature trees...these can often be obtained as landscape rejects...they make really nice looking older trees, and can be styled into most of the different stylings...also not really difficult to maintain...

For flowering plants I have grown very attached to 'Crape Myrtle' and 'Bougainvillea'...both I think make very nice bonsai trees, and give that splash of color at different times of the year...these too are often available as landscape rejects in urban settings...

Regards
Behr

Lesley

Since I'm still a bonsai-baby, I haven't developed a definitive list but I have to agree with you all. In the last two years, I like working with J. Boxwood, Shimpaku, Crepe Mrytle, Olive and Quince. I have just started with Bald Cypress. Elms & Maples are very forgiving but Azalea and Pine are challenging! My first and favorite tree is a Zelcova. I did a trunk chop on it and in eighteen months it's already on it's way to becoming a nice broom, it's a fast grower! BTW Happy Valentine's Day!

Lesley

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Jonny D

well for me its got to be.... Cryptomeria - just great (get a variety that turns red in winter and you'll see why!), Silver birch - the bark colour and juniper - there just so versitile and difficult to kill. Happy valentines to you to Lesley (I'd say it to everyone else but there all blokes and i'm not that fruity!)

Jonny.

RonMartin(deceased)

Need I say more ;o)

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dbz12fan

1. Ficus Salicifolia/Nerifolia
2. Bald Cypress
3. Bougainvillia
4. Portulacaria
5. Brazilain Raintree

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Vero Beach, Fl

Kazuki

Japanese Maples are the #1 for me. I find them extremely easy to grow, and I seem to torture these things left and right and they respond just nicely.

Aside from that I also like growing Satsuki's, although I must say I was a complete failure of that last year.

Shimpaku is easy for me too... at least I can keep them alive, and that is good enough for me.

Quince is another very easy one and its easy to make forests/groves with them because they sucker so much.

Pines on the other hand.. I'm trying my hand at them right now, so I dont know if I can be a success or failure at them...

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Kazuki

GaryS

•Shimpaku- the pinchers delight.
•Trident and Japanese maples
•Zelkova
•Hornbeam
•Ginkgo
•Beech
•Hemlock
•Yew

Why:

•Shimpaku- simply one of the best junipers for bonsai. The rope like, compact foliage is fun to work with. I wish it grew faster though.

•Trident and Japanese maples:
Trident maples have short internodes, small leaves and a beautiful bark. Their roots are a joy to work with also. Japanese maples are a little more difficult to keep compact, so I need to watch the growth more carefully but the Spring growth, Fall colors and shape is ideal for bonsai.

•Zelkova: Easy to care for and the leaves, trunk and basic broom shape is a pleasure to work with. I also like defoliating them and the results that follow as well as Winter interest in there twigs.

•Hornbeam:
The flower catkins in Spring, the lusterous leaves, bark and Fall color of these trees is enjoyable. It's native to my area.

•Ginkgo:
I just like them! I guess it's the challenge of working with a tree that has such a dominate apical growth pattern and trying to keep it in check. The Ginkgo has always facinated me.

•Beech:
I worked with the European beech and loved the bark, leaves and the responsiveness of the tree. I just bought a bunch of Japanese beech and am looking forward to working with them.

•Hemlock:
The queen of all narrow-leaved evergreens. The bright green spring growth in itself is worth growing this tree. It's native to my area.

•Yew: I changed my mind. It's not one of my favorites but it is fun to work with and it tolerates a good deal of shade during the Summer. I like the bark and leaves also.

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GaryS