Today I finally got out to where the Bald cypresses are, more specifically the smaller ones that have grown slowly giving rise to great taper and trunk movement. I brought a bunch home, and I wanted to post some photos for those of you who love the species as much as I do.

First, the flock. I focused on smaller specimens today, and it didn’t take long to grab 11 of them. What’s interesting about collecting trees, and probably Bald cypress more so than just about any other species, is that it takes much longer to prepare the tree for a container than it does to collect it. With BC in particular, they grow among the marsh grasses, so the root balls you see in this photo are merely tangles of grass roots with some BC roots mixed in. This stuff gets tight! So all in all, it was three hours’ worth of work to prepare these for containers.

Here’s one I couldn’t resist going straight to a bonsai pot with. The trunk base is 2.5″, and it’s chopped at 18″. I think this little BC is going to make a killer bonsai. The really nice thing about it is the amazing taper! This means I can create the crown of this tree in a season or two, without having to overly worry about the tapering transition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s another amazing specimen, which to my way of thinking has got flat-top written all over it. The base is 3.5″ and it’s 28″ to the chop. Is that incredible taper or what?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the prize of the day. Another specimen with amazing taper, but the twisting fluted trunk really makes this one special. The trunk base is 4″, and it’s only 22″ to the chop.

I may know as soon as 2-3 weeks from now if these trees survived collecting. In the meantime, I’ll be headed out soon for more.

For those of you on our
BC wish list, I’ll be communicating with you once the new collects start budding. With the warm winter we’re having, I can’t imagine these trees won’t be out before the end of March.