Palo Verde Tree? Bonsai Material? Is it?

Amoroso

So I live in Arizona, where alot of Palo Verdes are availlbe to me, cause I live in a desert. I was wondering, casue the palo verde foliage is very small, which is ideal for bonsai, and I know some different Palo Verdes that create very very tiny foliage which would be ideal, plus how they grow naturally would be awesome. Has anyone done it before? How can I go upon doing this? Cutting? Thanks fellaz

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Bonsai Barry

I've wondered about Palo Verde myself. Perhaps you should tree taking a cutting and/or collecting some seed (or go to a native nursery). If you do so, please keep us informed of the trees progress. Also, be sure if you are collecting that you are keeping it legal.


Barry

cbobgo

My friend greg b in AZ does bonsai with alot of natives down there - I believe he has some palo verde, if I'm remembering correctly. Maybe he will see this post and chime in - if he doesn't hit on it in a day or 2 I will send him an email.

- bob

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Amoroso

thanks guys for info. How would I go upon getting the cutting? Just pet it in a cup of water and wait for it to root out?

cbobgo, that would be awesome! I would love to see some pictures!

azcelt

I have been trying palo verde, palo brea, mexican palo verde, Foothills
paloverde , desert ironwood, honey mesquite and velvet mesquite. I do not
have anything worthwhile in a pot but I have been acquiring some skills with
these species. My main goal is to achieve bonsai 12" or less.

"Wisdoms"

1. Do not attempt to collect from the wild! Tap and related feeder roots
are closer to China than Arizona. You can try, I am just trying to save your
back, knees and hands. Also, some of trees listed are protected by state
law and cannot be collected. I have not found a state or federal agency
that will issue a permit for collection.

2. Nursery stock - For mediium to small specimens, nursery stock will be hard
to find. Most (if not all) are trimmed and pruned with one goal in mind - a
landscape specimen. The nurseries start pruning as soon as the seedlings
are transplanted to liners. I have seen some specimens of large size that
are developing as bonsai. Some not many. However, if you make the plant
sales at the Desert Botanical Gardens and the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum
you can find 1 and 5 gallon items that have not been touched. You must
get there before I do!

3. I grow from seed. Growth is moderate to slow. Use a well-draining
soil mix and fertilize heavily. To start the seeds of the species I listed
(except for the desert ironwood), they MUST be scarified. Soaking alone
will not penetrate their hard shell. There many techniques but I use chemical
scarification. I obtain sulphuric acid used to clean sewer pipes and septic
tanks ( ACE Hardware). I soak the seeds for about and hour in the acid,
and then an equal amount of time in water. I sow the seeds in Shutz's
Seed Starting Soil.

Ironwood is strange desert tree. It does not have a harden shell. In fact
(from my observations) if they are dried, they are dead. I have not been
successful re-hydrating the seeds. You must watch the trees in desert.
When the pods turn a pale yellow and about ready to drop, harvest and
plant straight into your starting soil.

4. Cuttings/layers. I have not been successful. However, trees such as the
patent plant "Desert Museum Palo Verde" are produce only from cuttings.

5. Roots Start working on the tap root as soon as possible. When
transplanting, I cut off the bottom third of the root until it removed.

Hope this helps.

Come join at the Phoenix Bonsai Society. Meetings are thr first three
Tuesdays of the month, at 7:30 PM. The meetings are held at
The Valley Garden Center, Fifteenth Ave between MsDowell and Thomas.

Richard

gregb

O.K., Bob finally rattled my chain Richard's probably played around with them as much or more than I have. Like most folks that live in southern Arizona, palo verde ( means "stick green") has broad appeal as well as being the state tree of Arizona. They are not a long-lived tree; the blue palo verde, which favors desert washes, lives from 75-100yrs.; the foothills palo verde that favors steeper slopes and hills may live slightly longer. It's for this reason I've stayed away from them only because if you obtain an older one, you don't have much time to develop it before it's natural clock expires.

I think nursery stock is the way to go with palo verde and I know of several nurseries in Tucson that stock them. I'm with Richard about trying to dig them from the wild--forget it. There is one nursery in Tucson that goes out before they scrape the desert to develop home sites and they have crews of 4 guys trench a rootball and literally build a box down in the trench before lifting the tree and putting a bottom on the box. These boxes are 4' square and 4' deep and must weigh TONS by the time the tree and box are lifted out with a backhoe. No thanks!

Of the legumes Richard listed, Desert Ironwood, Olneya tesota, is by far the most intriguing in that it can live for centuries and has pretty purple wisteria-like flowers in June. You can sometimes find these in nurseries in southern Arizona too. Whatever your choice, I wish you luck in your pursuit of our desert natives