MAHONIA FREMONTII is a rather beautiful blue leafed shrub or small tree that will draw blood from your fingers if your not careful. Google was unable to find any examples of them being used for Bonsai purposes. I do know that the Denver Botanic Gardens has a very small one perhaps being used as an accent or plant or even a mame Bonsai. I have a number of nursery stock tree that I bought to form a forest planting. I lost one tree somewhere along the line and the other two big ones suffered some kind of set back. So the forest planting is not going to happen. However I did have a couple of small ones and I just potted up the medium sized one into a very nice Japanese cascade bonsai pot. The colors in the pot go well with the blue leaves on the tree and also the new growth on the tree. The tree will get yellow flowers on it in spring. This species is part of the Barberry family. No thorns on the tree but the leaves are edged in thorns and they do hurt when stuck on you. This species is often confused with Holly trees because the leaves do look like a Holly leaf. The tree is native to the western United States and does grow in Colorado on the western sloop in different areas.
This tree was wired as a semi-cascade last year(2020) for the first time. It was a prickly experience wiring it for sure. When a leaf dies on the tree, the compound leaves generally drop off but the petiole does not. One must keep on top of these dead petioles and cut them off on a regular basis other wise the tree will look awful. I recommend this species for someone who wants to try something new. Look for larger sized nursery stalk tree with nice sized trunks. The trunks on my trees do not seem to get any bigger despite having them for years.
The tree will be left alone for a while and is resting under a plant stand for the time being.
Gallery: 05-15-2021:
Gallery: 10-17-2020:
