We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any thoughts on succulents as
bonsai? Some of you have been awful quiet--what do you think?

I just bought a large clump of jade plant and have it in a round
semi-antique chinese pot. Looks like a tropical forest. I even have a
mudman sitting under one of the trees.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37

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--- Craig Cowing wrote:
We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any
thoughts on succulents as
bonsai? Some of you have been awful quiet--what do
you think?

I just bought a large clump of jade plant and have
it in a round
semi-antique chinese pot. Looks like a tropical
forest. I even have a
mudman sitting under one of the trees.

Craig Cowing
NY

If your arrangement brings you joy, why do you care if
it is called bonsai or not?

Kitsune Miko
Someplace in the SF Bay Area

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We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any thoughts on succulents as
bonsai?

Depends. Personally, I don't see the standard Crassula arborea (jade plant) as
a bonsai. Scale is too coarse. Among the Chinese, Portulacaria afra (elephant
bush) is a classic penjing subject. I still have the Operculicarya decaryi
which I wrote an article about 5 years ago. It can't get any taller due to lack
of headroom, but its trunk keeps getting fatter & it still looks like the
world's worst graft union. Very amusing.
Some of the other pachycauls & caudiciforms make interesting bonsai. I don't
care for Adenium obesum (desert rose) because again, it is out of scale. I
think some of the none-succulent xerophytes make more convincing bonsai if you
can keep them happy. Have you read Rowley's book on Caudiciform & Pachycaul
Succulents?
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any thoughts on succulents as
bonsai? Some of you have been awful quiet--what do you think?

A great place to look at succulents or pachycauls is:
http://retail.rareplantresearch.com/home.php

A number of the plants in their catalog are described as "great for
bonsai", although I can't guarantee they actually are (their figs are a
pretty good bet, however). But I think a number of plants in the
Euphorbiaceae might make good bonsai.

The minimum order for their catalog is something like $80, so a club might
want to pool an order.

Me, I'm wild about Dorstenias.

Nina

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The current succulent mavin is Susan Amoy. She has a wonderful digitized
slide show on her computer and she does great demos. She was the speaker at
LIBS last month. As for me, I'll pass on succulents as bonsai. Their
genetic characteristics cause their trunks to become barrel shaped in order
to store water. This permutation prevents the development of taper. The
fleshiness of the leaves doesn't help either.
Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nina Shishkoff"
To:
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 2:59 PM
Subject: [IBC] succulents as bonsai


We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any thoughts on succulents as
bonsai? Some of you have been awful quiet--what do you think?

A great place to look at succulents or pachycauls is:
http://retail.rareplantresearch.com/home.php

A number of the plants in their catalog are described as "great for
bonsai", although I can't guarantee they actually are (their figs are a
pretty good bet, however). But I think a number of plants in the
Euphorbiaceae might make good bonsai.

The minimum order for their catalog is something like $80, so a club might
want to pool an order.

Me, I'm wild about Dorstenias.

Nina


************************************************** **************************
****
++++Sponsored, in part, by Dale Cochoy++++

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****
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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

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Kitsune Miko wrote:

--- Craig Cowing wrote:
snip
I just bought a large clump of jade plant and have
it in a round
semi-antique chinese pot. Looks like a tropical
forest. I even have a
mudman sitting under one of the trees.

Craig Cowing
NY

If your arrangement brings you joy, why do you care if
it is called bonsai or not?

Kitsune Miko
Someplace in the SF Bay Area

What others think of it doesn't matter. I was just curious about what
others thought about succulents in general as bonsai. I was also trying
to wake up the list. Looks like it worked to an extent.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37

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Nina Shishkoff wrote:

We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any thoughts on succulents as
bonsai? Some of you have been awful quiet--what do you think?

A great place to look at succulents or pachycauls is:
http://retail.rareplantresearch.com/home.php

A number of the plants in their catalog are described as "great for
bonsai", although I can't guarantee they actually are (their figs are a
pretty good bet, however). But I think a number of plants in the
Euphorbiaceae might make good bonsai.

The minimum order for their catalog is something like $80, so a club might
want to pool an order.

Me, I'm wild about Dorstenias.

Nina

I wasn't familiar with this group, so I did a search. A picture of one
species looked interesting:

Dorstenia gigas
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plan...nia_gigas.html

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I have wondered about this also, Wal-Mart has been having some very unsual
and beautiful succulents, and I have bought some and planted the all in a
round flat container..for now.. I also bought a 'forest'of jade plants..lol
and am wondering how to make them into Bonsai? They look so orential.. any
help greatly appreciated..
Barb in Southeast Texas

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I have wondered about this also, Wal-Mart has been having some
very unsual
and beautiful succulents, and I have bought some and planted
the all in a
round flat container..for now.. I also bought a 'forest'of jade
plants..lol
and am wondering how to make them into Bonsai? They look so
orential.. any
help greatly appreciated..
Barb in Southeast Texas

Lesniewicz's "Indoor Bonsai" deals with jade bonsai.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman

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Nina Shishkoff wrote:
Me, I'm wild about Dorstenias.

Craig said:
I wasn't familiar with this group, so I did a search. A picture of one
species looked interesting:

Dorstenia gigas
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plan...nia_gigas.html


Just to be clear: I don't advocate them as bonsai. They are good as props
for science fiction movies set on other plants. They have fat warty
stems, flowers that look like starfish and explosively discharged seeds.
Lots of fun, but not as bonsai.

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Xref: kermit rec.arts.bonsai:67101

I for one, don't consider them bonsai Craig. But, I have several. I use
them for friends and newbies that come by the house and think they are
interested in trees. If the -feeling- I get from their interest is that the
tree I give them will be dead in a month, I pot up a jade for them and tell
them to keep it alive for a year, bring it back and show me, and then I'll
give them a tree. In all the years, I've only given away -one- tree after a
year shrug.
Regards,
Shelly Hurd Central CA - Sunset Zone 8-USDA Zone 9


"Craig Cowing" wrote:

We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any thoughts on succulents as
bonsai? Some of you have been awful quiet--what do you think?
SNIP

If you don't think a succulent like crassula (jade plant) can make a good
looking bonsai, check pages 84 and 85 of Colin Lewis' Bonsai Survival Manual.
And there are plenty of .jpgs on the Web showing interesting crassula bonsai.

In the spirit of never passing up promising bonsai material, last May I paid $15
for a crassula at a plant stand on Laguna Canyon Road. This beauty stood (past
tense since a few weeks ago) about 3.5 feet tall, weighed at least 40 pounds and
had three humugous trunks each about 3.5 inches in diameter. I think the guy at
the plant stand gets these from someplace in Mexico. We had a spell of cooler
weather a few weeks ago so I hard pruned the thing so now I have a lot of little
crassula in grow pots cluttering up my porch. I hope to have a nice triple trunk
jumbo crassula bonsai in a few seasons.

Also I was able to get to the bonsai exhibit a week or so ago at the Japanese
American Cultural Center in downtown LA. Great stuff there, including a
magnificent desert rose (adenium obesum) bonsai in full bloom. That really got
me pumped and, much to my surprise, I found a bunch of excellent $35 DRs in the
greenhouse at the Green Thumb nursery in Lake Forest, CA. I don't know if desert
rose technically can be classified as a succulent, but with it's bulbous trunk
(the 'obesum' part of the botanical name), it could have fooled me. Anyway, next
spring I'll have a good looking DR in a bonsai pot, succulent or not.

Later

Ray Schmitt, Aliso Viejo, CA
Cold Hardiness Zone 10b
AHS Heat Zone 4
Sunset Climate Zone 22





----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Cowing"
To:
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 10:42 AM
Subject: [IBC] succulents as bonsai


We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any thoughts on succulents as
bonsai? Some of you have been awful quiet--what do you think?

I just bought a large clump of jade plant and have it in a round
semi-antique chinese pot. Looks like a tropical forest. I even have a
mudman sitting under one of the trees.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37


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++++Sponsored, in part, by Dale Cochoy++++

************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++


************************************************** ******************************
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************************************************** ******************************
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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Here we go again, Ray. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you like
Crassula as bonsai, go to it! As for me, let me pine away at Pinus
Thunbergia.
Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: "rschmitt23"
To:
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 9:18 PM
Subject: [IBC] succulents as bonsai


If you don't think a succulent like crassula (jade plant) can make a good
looking bonsai, check pages 84 and 85 of Colin Lewis' Bonsai Survival
Manual.
And there are plenty of .jpgs on the Web showing interesting crassula
bonsai.

In the spirit of never passing up promising bonsai material, last May I
paid $15
for a crassula at a plant stand on Laguna Canyon Road. This beauty stood
(past
tense since a few weeks ago) about 3.5 feet tall, weighed at least 40
pounds and
had three humugous trunks each about 3.5 inches in diameter. I think the
guy at
the plant stand gets these from someplace in Mexico. We had a spell of
cooler
weather a few weeks ago so I hard pruned the thing so now I have a lot of
little
crassula in grow pots cluttering up my porch. I hope to have a nice triple
trunk
jumbo crassula bonsai in a few seasons.

Also I was able to get to the bonsai exhibit a week or so ago at the
Japanese
American Cultural Center in downtown LA. Great stuff there, including a
magnificent desert rose (adenium obesum) bonsai in full bloom. That really
got
me pumped and, much to my surprise, I found a bunch of excellent $35 DRs
in the
greenhouse at the Green Thumb nursery in Lake Forest, CA. I don't know if
desert
rose technically can be classified as a succulent, but with it's bulbous
trunk
(the 'obesum' part of the botanical name), it could have fooled me.
Anyway, next
spring I'll have a good looking DR in a bonsai pot, succulent or not.

Later

Ray Schmitt, Aliso Viejo, CA
Cold Hardiness Zone 10b
AHS Heat Zone 4
Sunset Climate Zone 22





----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Cowing"
To:
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 10:42 AM
Subject: [IBC] succulents as bonsai


We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any thoughts on succulents as
bonsai? Some of you have been awful quiet--what do you think?

I just bought a large clump of jade plant and have it in a round
semi-antique chinese pot. Looks like a tropical forest. I even have a
mudman sitting under one of the trees.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37



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****
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--
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+++++



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i work with succulents. i do not consider them bonsai but I do give them
bonsai type design. i usually just give these plants a cascading design. it's
not really bonsai , but since I have began aking bonsai, I give all my
houseplants a bonsai touch.
SteveWachs

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Shelly Hurd wrote:

I for one, don't consider them bonsai Craig. But, I have several. I use
them for friends and newbies that come by the house and think they are
interested in trees. If the -feeling- I get from their interest is that the
tree I give them will be dead in a month, I pot up a jade for them and tell
them to keep it alive for a year, bring it back and show me, and then I'll
give them a tree. In all the years, I've only given away -one- tree after a
year shrug.
Regards,

HI
I had a friend in NY and when I sow him in his apt ( no balcony and 2
nd floor location and not in the sun either ,I was amazed of the huge
crassulas he had 3 if I correctly reckon .. and all were fine .. the
guy is a travel alcoholic .... so maybe the little care he gave them
probably was their good health passport :-)
Theo


Shelly Hurd Central CA - Sunset Zone 8-USDA Zone 9


"Craig Cowing" wrote:


We haven't kicked this around in awhile. Any thoughts on succulents as
bonsai? Some of you have been awful quiet--what do you think?

SNIP