I'd like to start work on a bonsai dwarf crabapple. Do any of you have an idea
of which variety to use? There was/is a place to buy pre-bonsai plants in
California. I remember reading about it a few years ago. Anyone know which
place I may be thinking about?

I'd like to start work on a bonsai dwarf crabapple. Do any of you have an
idea of which variety to use?

Some of the specially bred dwarf crabapples may not be suitable for bonsai. I
tried 'Camelot.' What makes it a dwarf is very close internodes. However, the
leaves are huge. Also, you want to avoid a graft if possible.
I have a Malus 'Indian Summer,' grown on its own roots and purchased from
Bonsai West in Massachusetts.. It is disease resistant and has beautiful
lavender flowers.
I bought it in 1999. I had it in the ground for a year and a half. I had to
thread graft a branch. Last year it started looking good. This year it bloomed
but did not set fruit.
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)

(Iris Cohen) wrote in message ...
I'd like to start work on a bonsai dwarf crabapple. Do any of you have an
idea of which variety to use?

I have a Malus 'Indian Summer,' grown on its own roots and
purchased from
Bonsai West in Massachusetts.. It is disease resistant and has beautiful
lavender flowers.
I bought it in 1999. I had it in the ground for a year and a half. I had to
thread graft a branch. Last year it started looking good. This year it bloomed
but did not set fruit.

I have to agree with Iris that there's nothing wrong with a non-dwarf
crabapple, as long as it has small leaves. I have 'Indian magic' (no
doubt a sister cultivar to yours, Iris). It is disease resistant (a
very important point with crabapples) and purty as a picture. I have
no problems keeping the internodes short.

Nina

It is indeed Evergreen Gardens that I remember. I looked on their website and
picked out malus sargentii. It has small leaves. Of course I couldn't stop
there and also have a list of about six other plants I'll be ordering this
week.

I only have one plant. A twelve year old madrona. I'm not sure of the type (I
used to know), but it has white flair type flowers in spring before the leaves
develope. I call it a miniature instead of bonsai because I haven't followed
many of the bonsai rules. It's about 18 inches tall, and quite nice and has
nice showy roots.