Starting my collection

After I bought my first house this Christmas, and finally having a back yard, I finally started to build some benches and start a collection of bonsai. It's not much right now but it'll grow and get there. Not all are pictured but here's just a few. I'm still learning, but I'm already addicted and it's so much fun.


Leyland Cypress-needs grafting and time to fill in, but it was free so I thought i'd see what I could do with it


9 Bark Diablo- growing very well for me and turning into a fav. of mine


Collected red maple this last spring-has a lot of dead wood and such but just gonna leave it alone for a couple seasons before I start working on it.


My attempted at Literati on a juniper that had to be move for a deck-still needs work but was a little unsure on how much work I could do on it-It's growing well though so I didn't kill it yet lol


Bosnian Pine-Not really sure what to do with this guy, might just plant it in the ground and leave it there for a while.


Seiju elm(forground),burning bush (right)JBP(left)

I think you have done well so far. The cypress looks like a good project to me in particular. You have some tough material to work with though. But it's a start.

yeah the material is not the best, but got to learn some how

Are you sure that's a red maple, Acer rubrum? Where did you get it?
Iris

Got it here locally and everyone on here said it was a red maple

Hi Giga

You have a many interesting Projects going on here, and I am sure more will come. I wish you good luck in the future, and look forward to updates....have you joined a Club already?...it is close to always a good idea.

Kind regards Yvonne

There is one locally but I don't have time to join at the moment

The leaves look more like a silver maple (Acer saccharinum). If the foliage is red in the spring and fall, and smaller than it looks, it could be a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum). You should really make time to visit the bonsai club. It will save you time in the long run. Take the maple tree with you & have it identified. Its correct identity will determine its bonsai prospects. If it is a silver maple, it is garbage.
Iris

Hi giga,

The red maple in my yard has dark green leaves ....here is a photo from a web site:

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/red_maple.htm

This maple would not make a great bonsai because the leaves will not reduce for bonsai size. Very few American landscape maples are suitable for bonsai ...too bad... the trunk is quite interesting.

You have made a good start .... look for trees and bushes with small leaves .

Good luck,
Norma

Hi.

This is my baby Red maple. You can see that the new leaves are slightly reddish and appear to be a different shape to your trees.

All the leaves were bright red in spring, also I was able to reduce some of the leaves, as I tested it on one brach

You probably have a Japanese maple, a good candidate for bonsai.
Iris

I think we can actually agree that it is NOT japanese maple. Looks like silver maple but I am no expert.

Hard to identify a tree from a picture, unless it is very unique. Yes, the leaves do resemble silver maple, but I never heard of that species being red in the spring. And leaf shape varies so much in A. palmatum that it can look like anything.
Iris

If the tree has been collected from the 'wild' in the US i'd be surprised if it was a Japanese Maple. From the leaves, location etc i'd be almost certain its a Silver Maple.

Well, giga, tell us where you collected it. All we know so far is that you obtained it locally. Did you collect it out in the woods or from somebody's backyard?
Iris

I got it in the woods in virginia beach while collecting bamboo. I'll take a couple more pics of it

Great trunk, and I'd love to see this Red Maple Acer rubrum, someday in person.  



When you're ready and have the time, c'mon down and visit your local club; the Virginia Bonsai Society! Myself and a few other members really like this species and have some other locally collected and developed Red Maple bonsai trees we've been working with, we could show you.  A nice, friendly bunch of bonsai folks. We'll leave the light on for you.

That tree is not a Acer Rubrum.

Here's the thread he first put up.

https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t13129-collecting-bamboo-and-look-what-i-found

This maple species is endemic to the Tidewater area of Virginia where we live.  Unfortunately, the pictures detailing the leaves in that post don't come up anymore.  But, we called it a Red maple then, and until I see this tree in person....  I'm sticking to it.

That's fair enough. I would also like to see some close up of the leaves. From the picture at the start of the thread, however, it really, really doesn't look like a Rubrum. The leaves are completely wrong.

I stand corrected.  
And, it would seem that actually NONE of us are completely correct in ID'ing this maple tree.  Why????
It's a HYBRID!

Do you have a copy of 'The Sibley Guide To Trees' by David Allen Sibley?  On page 336 of this North American tree identification guide, it shows a very clear illustration of almost the exact same leaf shape shown on Giga's collected tree.  
That is....
a Red-Silver Maple Hybrid!  Acer rubrum X Acer saccharinum.  Both of these species range freely into this geographic area, and will apparently hybridize quite readily with each other.  In fact, according to Sibley's once again: "Silver Maple X Red Maple hybrids occur naturally and are also cultivated and frequently planted (known as 'Freeman' Maple)."

Here is a picture of a leaf I just picked from one of my own Red Maple bonsai trees,



(Please disregard the water droplets - it's NOT a scale alert!)
And I totally agree.  That is definitely not the leaf pattern shown on Giga's tree.

Of course. Red spring color and silver maple leaf shape. Acer xfreemanii is praised as a desirable street tree, but scarcely mentioned for bonsai. Giga, you MUST try to make a bonsai out of it. One source mentioned that the leaves reduce even better than trident maple. It is said to have the strong wood and other desirable traits of red maple and the rapid growth and tolerance of adverse conditions of silver maple. Go for it.  
By the way, maple bonsai are not usually trained with deadwood. It will rot too easily. You will have to watch it and probably treat it with wood hardener. Ask the bonsai club.
Iris

more pics




problem area-had a colony of ants living in it-not sure what to do with this part but it is growing like wildfire

also my(red and black) mangroves are making a nice recover



shot down my first bench