My Ishii Shimpaku

Oysterowl83

Hey there,

I'm finally figuring out how to resize some pictures...Here are two Mas Ishii Shimpaku I purchased a few months ago..I love the age on them. I got these at Bonsai West. You gotta appreciate the grafting involved on these babies!

Enjoy!
Anthony*

Attached Images

my ishii.jpg (59.9 KB, 235 views)

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Vance Wood

Do you know for a fact that these trees are grafted? Shimpakus are so easy to strike from cuttings it seems to me to be a waste of time and effort to graft them.

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The only finished bonsai is a dead one; me 1992 MABA Des Moines Iowa

Rock Chester

If it is from the Isii's it is probably grafted. They have a super cultivar "kishu" that they put on trunks of prostrata and san jose. Much better than the regular Shimp. If you have ever seen it you will appreciate the difference.

Tight and dense, soo slow growing, dark green . I've actually seen some of these sold as kishu that are not at all like Mas's. So buyer beware,eh?

Attila

Considering the size of the trunk on those trees, it is more than likely that the shimpaku foliage was grafted on them.

Having a shimpaku of that size with its original (ungrafted) trunk takes a very long time, and it tends to be very expensive. Grafting is a shortcut to get a shimpaku with a large trunk in a short time and at a lower cost. That's the only reason why shimpaku grafting is done. California junipers are often used for shimpaku grafting because of the twisted trunks they have, with lots of deadwood. It would be impossible to create such a trunk for a nursery grown shimpaku. San Jose is another variety often used for trunks.

Shimpaku have a foliage with attributes unmatched by any other juniper. But since shimpaku yamadori has been extinct in nature for some time, grafting is the only way to create a world class shimpaku.

Attila

Kishu is good, but itoigawa is the finest. It is more feathery than the kishu and softer to the touch. Mas Ishii has a lot of itoigawa (besides the kishu variety), and does a lot of grafting with them.

rowan57

Itoigawa is a truly beatiful cultivar, i have 2 shohin Itoigawas, nursery grown, stunning curled trunks and then tightest head of foliage with little/no work!! Nice Mas Ishii's by the way, i havent come across that cultivar over here, any chance of a foliage shot?

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Vance Wood

I am not saying that you are wrong, but I went back and looked at the original post and big is only relevant, nothing has been said that I can find that says how big these trunks are. I grow a lot of Shimpaku from cutting, and it takes about ten years to get a decent trunk but that's not that long especially if you are growing them in mass. It takes a good deal of time to get a graft to take especially if you are talking about side grafting which is probably what these trees are if grafted. I have seen the technique demonstrated in BT and I know it takes a bit of time as well.

__________________
The only finished bonsai is a dead one; me 1992 MABA Des Moines Iowa

midwestbonsai

A friend of mine has a san jose with grafted shimpaku branches on it. He says that the long the shimpaku is on the san jose stock, the foliage changes over time. Not in to san jose foliage but more of a combination of the two.
-Paul

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Oysterowl83

These are in fact Kishu Shimpaku from Mas Ishii. Foilage and grafting shots as requested.

Anthony*

Attached Images

	Picture 017.jpg (42.8 KB, 105 views)
	ishii 1.jpg (56.8 KB, 94 views)