What are your must have species?

Larry

First off just wanted say I've been away for a while as we had to get our PC upgraded with a copy of XP, format the hard drive etc and lost my password for this site(Its styill on the other hard drive which isnt conected up yet!)
So I simply requested a new [password and away i go!

Right,onto new business!

I've only ever grown deciduous trees and shrubs for bonsai so far, thats because I like the autumn colour and fine twigs in winter, and one species I really want to try is Field Maple(Acer campestre) which is not so commonly found as sycamores and other maples but has smaller leaves and great autumn yellow foliage!
Another I've yet to try is Hawthorn(Crataegus monogyna), they have naturally small leaves, are fairly quick growing and tough as nails!
And one of its relatives is the Blackthorn or Sloe(Prunus spinosa) which has the benefit of really black stems and very nice white flowers appearing before the leaves.

One very nice relative is flowering Apricot(Prunus mume), another species I just have to try! I'd have to buy it tho as its not a native to this country!

Not sure if this classes as a tree or a shrub but I really like the deciduous Hollies you guys grow over there.(Ilex.....dah forgot the name!) They have bright grey stems and bright red berries in winter,fantastic!
If only I could find one!


Looking to conifers I'd have to go for Larch(Larix europea) which colours up yellow in autumn and sheds all its needles to give a view of its fine branching-lovely. Ive been told its also quite easy to get from cuttings which is a plus as there is a stand of nice big ones nearby!

Another conifer to try is Yew(Taxus baccata), but these are quite quite slow to grow but well worth the wait I think! The plum red bark when mature just looks fantastic!

Would possibly like to try a Cedar of Lebanon but not sure if I could grow one from cuttings.

Getting away from trees I must get a Ribes sanguinea, beautiful shrubs with maple like leaves and bright pink/red flowers.
Or how about a Pyracantha? Usually grown up against a wall or as a hedge but they make fantastic bonsai,watch those thorns though!

And I must get a Quince(Chaenomeles sp./Cydonia).

Oh yea and a Bridal Wreath Spirea would be nice,with frothy white flowers and very fine branching-great for small bonsai(mame or Shohin)

So what trees/shrubs are you hoping to make into bonsai this year?

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malhomme

I'm hoping to train contorted quince (Chaenomeles contorta) and ume (Prunus mume) this year. These are new for me and I am quite excited about the shohin possibilities of each. I'm somewhat infactuated with bare stems bearing beautiful flowers. The rugged bark of ume contrasted with delicate white blossoms-- exquisite!

Cheers,
Jim

miker

I just ordered a nice Acer palmatum "seigen" from mountainmaples, I just had to have it! It is going to be grown in shade then refrigerated with the rest of my temperate trees here central Florida.

Ravenna

I got myself a Lagerstroemia end of last year as well as an Acer arakawa earlier on. I have "stocked up" my prunus mume to three and I look forward to a workshop on a pseudocydonia sinensis in April. I have some other trees "which are due" this year amongst them a larix about which I am very curious "species wise" though it will be a young plant and the malus should be nice too.

I am still looking for quite a few other species though: azalea "Blue Diamond", Morus, more Acer varieties, Stewartias, Tamarix, and prunus till my balcony breaks off.... lol

"Indoor-wise" I would like to have a Ficus religiosa. There are many other indoors I would find interesting but I have the impression that apart Ficus everything else is to finicky so... I will keep my hands off that.

At some stage I also want to get an Eunonymus, a wisteria, a grape... and I guess at that stage I should start looking for a husband: sole pre-requisite: owner of a house with a BIG garden... lol