Steve:
Seiju is a sport from Hokkaido, not yatsabusa. Yatsabusa may be
related, but it has a narrower leaf & the bark is less corky & isn't
it browner?
Carl Young grew hokkaido elms by the thousands at his Seiju-en Bonsai
Nursery in Lodi, California. One of them grew an unusual branch, from
which Carl made a few cuttings. The next year he made a huge number of
cuttings & grew them in his fields. He sold them from the field for $35
each. I think this all started in the early '70's & was documented in
International Bonsai Magazine, probably in the '80's.
A few years ago, Boon (my teacher ) said "Look." and showed me a small
hokkaido elm. It was perfectly normal, except it had an unusual branch
- a mutation that looked exactly like Seiju. I think that such a
discovery today would be worth a lot more than $35/tree, so I figure
that Boon missed making a small fortune by merely, perhaps, twenty-five
years!
I think Hokkaido & Seiju are dwarf versions of 'corticosa', All are
great bonsai subjects: Hokkaido is beautiful, but too fragile for me
(no wiring allowed!), Seiju is the best compromise of leaf size & vigor
and 'corticosa' has enormous vigor, is the least brittle of the three
and is great for shohin to monster-sized bonsai.
Mas Imazumi, my first teacher, had no elm bonsai because they grow so
fast. He said "You have to pinch them every morning and you have to
pinch them every afternoon. And then you have to pinch them in your
dreams..."
Jim Gremel
On May 12, 2005, at 6:23 AM, Steve wachs wrote:
'Hokkaido' (sic) (also a cultivar of Chinese elm) is very
challenging. It is
almost impossible to wire.
It is my understanding that 'Hokkaido' is the most tender variety,
and is
grown indoors as a subtropical following a cool rest in fall. At
least that
is the practice in Zones 5 & 6.
I only see Hokkaido in cold greenhouses in the winter. I have never
been
able to wire them. Branches are too brittle. Jiu San only hept them
in the cold
greenhouse.
Seiju is a sport of Yatzabutza and I think Seiju is a better tree to
work
with.
I also seen Cork bark elms in nurseries right or wrong labelled as
Nire
SteveW
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