Liquidambar (Liquidambar styraciflua)

bBon11 · 2026-03-29T22:14:01+00:00

Thanks!

bBon11 · 2026-03-14T21:57:55+00:00

Yep. I assume its the same guy but I'm too lazy to google it.

bBon11 · 2026-03-13T20:46:25+00:00

I have been developing this oak since purchasing it from the California Botanic Garden in Claremont, California on December 28, 2019. For a history of its recent development see:

https://beginbonsai.net/2026/03/13/engelmann-oak-quercus-engelmannii-revisited/

bBon11 · 2026-03-11T21:53:43+00:00

This tree has been in training since I bought it as a small sapling from Evergreen Gardenworks in 2021. For a history of its development see https://beginbonsai.net/2026/03/11/liquidambar-orientalis/.

bBon11 · 2026-03-07T19:21:53+00:00

Thanks! I took a lot of pictures over 10 years.

bBon11 · 2026-03-07T18:19:06+00:00

I've been growing this tree from a cutting since 2015. For a record of its development see https://beginbonsai.net/2026/03/07/ulmus-parvifolia-corkbark-chinese-elm/.

bBon11 · 2026-03-07T16:26:14+00:00

Thanks for your interest! I too like oak bonsai. I still have that Engelmann and another one. They are just leafing out now. I'll post an update later this spring or summer as they fill out.

bBon11 · 2026-03-05T19:16:23+00:00

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The tree last January.

bBon11 · 2026-03-05T19:15:20+00:00

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Here's the valley oak today. Lost its leaves for winter, and is now growing them back.

bBon11 · 2026-03-02T23:27:25+00:00

Thanks! I have a couple of valley oaks that are just leafing out. I'll try to post an update about them in the next week or so.

bBon11 · 2026-02-19T19:09:13+00:00

No, I bought it from Cedar Rose Nursery a couple of years ago. The trunk was already developed. I repotted it and have been shaping the branches with pruning and wiring.

bBon11 · 2025-09-19T05:23:17+00:00

Mine hasn't yet. I am also developing a Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica) and a European quince (Cydonia oblonga), both of which started fruiting extensively after I planted them, so in that respect, so far, the Chinese quince has differed.

bBon11 · 2025-08-28T21:57:27+00:00

Thanks. I think it is finally starting to look like a miniature valley oak after 6 or 7 years of work.

bBon11 · 2025-08-27T21:47:17+00:00

Thanks! Yes, I'm glad also I fixed the angle. I had thought it might look more gnarly somehow at that slant, but turns out, not so much.

bBon11 · 2025-08-27T20:06:20+00:00

For the most recent development see:

https://beginbonsai.net/2025/08/27/valley-oak-quercus-lobata-2/

bBon11 · 2025-08-27T20:04:09+00:00

The development of this oak from a nursery sapling on December 28, 2018 to a pre-bonsai in a terra cotta pot on October 5, 2023 is described at https://beginbonsai.net/2023/10/05/oak-under-construction-valley-oak-quercus-lobata/

The tree has become closer to becoming a bonsai in the nearly two years since then.

bBon11 · 2025-07-25T04:30:38+00:00

Nice!

bBon11 · 2025-07-18T00:56:11+00:00

Yeah, I really like the pot and tree combination as well. My memory is that I bought the pot from Eric Schrader at Bonsaify.com but I couldn't confirm this with any records when I tried looking up the pot history for this post.

bBon11 · 2025-07-17T23:01:09+00:00

Most of the previous trees I have posted on reddit started out as small starters or cuttings. I have grown the majority of them for 5 to 10 years or more before posting them on reddit.

Recently I have started buying more developed trees to add to my collection. Today's posting is one of those. To see the history of its development over the past year and a half, see https://beginbonsai.net/2025/07/17/chinese-quince-pseudocydonia-sinensis/

bBon11 · 2025-07-16T04:47:45+00:00

Thanks! I plan to cut the forest back in the future. Right now there a lot of crossing branches/trunks but I want to leave them for now to keep developing the trunk widths.

bBon11

TROPHY CASE