I'm putting together an order for some plants, and realized I picked out too
many plants and need to downsize. One choice is between a hornbeam or a cedar
elm, both in gallon size. Any opinions? I'm ordering through Evergreen
Gardenworks, so maybe they will have an opinion to share.

I also thought about ordering a chaenomeles kurokoji #2280 in their catalog and
a chaenomeles nivalis #2300 and winding them together so they grow into one
plant. I thought I could plant them in the same pot right next to each other,
lightly twist together and wire, similar to what people do to pink and white
dogwoods. I picked 2280 and 2300 because they seem to have similar
characteristics. I also thought about doing that to two cherries of different
colors, but not the twisting part.

EW

Ulmus crassifolia and Carpinus betulus are very different plants. Cedar
elm is adapted to hot dry environments, can tolerate full sun in most
locations and has a rugged appearance. European hornbeam requires shade
in hot dry areas and is rather refined. Either will make excellent
bonsai, but it depends on your tastes and your growing area.

I don't think your twisting scheme is really going to result in
successful bonsai. The growth habit of Chaenomeles is just not adapted
to what you want to do. You would be better off with species that grow
single trunks. Chaenomeles is a multistemmed shrubby plant with the
emphasis on multi. Their natural habit is to form thickets of hundreds
of stems from root suckers. It is very difficult to get a Chaenomeles
trunk. It requires many years, endless suckering to favor one trunk and
painful trunk chops to develop any taper at all. If you were to just
twist two stems together and suppress all others, all you would succeed
in doing is developing a cylindrical candy cane devoid of any natural
beauty (in my opinion).

A better solution, and one that is actually practiced is to choose a
cultivar that is amenable to forming a single trunk and grafting it.
'Kurokoji' is definitely not one, but 'Nivalis' is. You can then graft
colored cultivar branches onto it. This is done for 'Toyo Nishiki' which
naturally has pink, white and pink/white multicolored flowers. In rare
instances it also throws a branch of solid red flowers that contrasts
vividly with the pink and white flowers. In a bonsai, this spectacular,
but since only one in a couple hundred bonsai would ever throw the red
flowered branch, it is standard procedure to graft the red flowering
wood and put it exactly where you want it. Normally this is only done
for a single branch, and I would recommend that you do it that way for
maximum effect. 'Toyo Nishiki' is also one of the best cultivars for
forming a larger trunk, so that's even more of a bonus. Grafting
Chaenomeles is a rather simple process and nearly anyone should be able
to do it with a little practice. The trick is to find red flowering
wood, and....ahem... I have cutting grown plants of it, but hold onto
your wallet, it aint cheap. Of course you could use another red flowered
cultivar, but then it wouldn't be pure 'Toyo Nishiki'.

Brent
Who hasn't figured out a signature yet on this new Linux machine. Zone
8ish N. CA.
EvergreenGardenworks.com

EW5212 wrote:

I'm putting together an order for some plants, and realized I picked out too
many plants and need to downsize. One choice is between a hornbeam or a cedar
elm, both in gallon size. Any opinions? I'm ordering through Evergreen
Gardenworks, so maybe they will have an opinion to share.

I also thought about ordering a chaenomeles kurokoji #2280 in their catalog and
a chaenomeles nivalis #2300 and winding them together so they grow into one
plant. I thought I could plant them in the same pot right next to each other,
lightly twist together and wire, similar to what people do to pink and white
dogwoods. I picked 2280 and 2300 because they seem to have similar
characteristics. I also thought about doing that to two cherries of different
colors, but not the twisting part.






************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

EW

Ulmus crassifolia and Carpinus betulus are very different plants. Cedar
elm is adapted to hot dry environments, can tolerate full sun in most
locations and has a rugged appearance. European hornbeam requires shade
in hot dry areas and is rather refined. Either will make excellent
bonsai, but it depends on your tastes and your growing area.

I don't think your twisting scheme is really going to result in
successful bonsai. The growth habit of Chaenomeles is just not adapted
to what you want to do. You would be better off with species that grow
single trunks. Chaenomeles is a multistemmed shrubby plant with the
emphasis on multi. Their natural habit is to form thickets of hundreds
of stems from root suckers. It is very difficult to get a Chaenomeles
trunk. It requires many years, endless suckering to favor one trunk and
painful trunk chops to develop any taper at all. If you were to just
twist two stems together and suppress all others, all you would succeed
in doing is developing a cylindrical candy cane devoid of any natural
beauty (in my opinion).

A better solution, and one that is actually practiced is to choose a
cultivar that is amenable to forming a single trunk and grafting it.
'Kurokoji' is definitely not one, but 'Nivalis' is. You can then graft
colored cultivar branches onto it. This is done for 'Toyo Nishiki' which
naturally has pink, white and pink/white multicolored flowers. In rare
instances it also throws a branch of solid red flowers that contrasts
vividly with the pink and white flowers. In a bonsai, this spectacular,
but since only one in a couple hundred bonsai would ever throw the red
flowered branch, it is standard procedure to graft the red flowering
wood and put it exactly where you want it. Normally this is only done
for a single branch, and I would recommend that you do it that way for
maximum effect. 'Toyo Nishiki' is also one of the best cultivars for
forming a larger trunk, so that's even more of a bonus. Grafting
Chaenomeles is a rather simple process and nearly anyone should be able
to do it with a little practice. The trick is to find red flowering
wood, and....ahem... I have cutting grown plants of it, but hold onto
your wallet, it aint cheap. Of course you could use another red flowered
cultivar, but then it wouldn't be pure 'Toyo Nishiki'.

Brent
Who hasn't figured out a signature yet on this new Linux machine. Zone
8ish N. CA.
EvergreenGardenworks.com

EW5212 wrote:

I'm putting together an order for some plants, and realized I picked out too
many plants and need to downsize. One choice is between a hornbeam or a cedar
elm, both in gallon size. Any opinions? I'm ordering through Evergreen
Gardenworks, so maybe they will have an opinion to share.

I also thought about ordering a chaenomeles kurokoji #2280 in their catalog and
a chaenomeles nivalis #2300 and winding them together so they grow into one
plant. I thought I could plant them in the same pot right next to each other,
lightly twist together and wire, similar to what people do to pink and white
dogwoods. I picked 2280 and 2300 because they seem to have similar
characteristics. I also thought about doing that to two cherries of different
colors, but not the twisting part.






************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Thanks for your reply Brent, and setting me straight on the twisting bit.

Thanks for your reply Brent, and setting me straight on the twisting bit.