Contorted Japanese Flowering Apricot

[bonhe]

My ume didn't bloom on time this year! Its flower buds have been swelling up slowly but a lot. I hope it will bloom at once.
Bonhe

 

[daygan]

You should be able to get some fine ones there. Can you photograph the shop??

fredtruck, sorry, I didn't see this reply earlier. I'll go by and ask if I can photograph their shop. I did take a closer look at their trees, however, and discovered that all of them are grafted (the shop keeper says that they find that they don't do well in Tianjin on their own roots). I have since had second thoughts about purchasing one..

 

[fredtruck]

Grafting is almost always the case with ume due to flowering issues. Earlier I posted this link to Peter Tea's essay on ume:

http://peterteabonsai.wordpress.com/...g-plum-basics/

Some flowering apricots bloom immediately, and some never do. With grafting, nursery owners can create a reliable tree by taking a branch they know flowers and mating it to strong understock.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Here it is...among the best out there on ume in case the link didn't work:
http://peterteabonsai.wordpress.com/?cat=81552376

 

[Erndogy]

Ume

Hi all,
I'm pretty new to bonsai and have posted maybe once on here. I'll make formal intro later...
I recently got an ume and it seems to be grafted. Is it generally better to airlayer the tree to get rid of the graft?

Thanks

Ernie

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Hi all,
I'm pretty new to bonsai and have posted maybe once on here. I'll make formal intro later...
I recently got an ume and it seems to be grafted. Is it generally better to airlayer the tree to get rid of the graft?

Thanks

Ernie

Read Peter Tea's link above. He or someone in that league stated its nearly impossible to layer an ume. I've tried and had no luck even making cuttings (so far). I'd say forgo the idea of layering. Unless the stock is significantly different, it may "grow out" the scar. They're usually not as obvious as some J. Maples or 5-needle pines on black pine stock.

 

[fredtruck]

The other thing that you can do is carve the tree to hide the graft. I've done this and it works well, especially with ume as these trees often have lots of deadwood.

 

[fredtruck]

A year ago, an article I wrote called The Development of a Contorted Japanese Flowering Apricot appeared in International Bonsai magazine, 2012/No.1, pp. 26-28. I cover 7 years, from 2005 to 2011, that it took me to develop my tree. Check it out, because I think you'll find some information there that you will find helpful in developing your own ume.

 

[daygan]

Since you asked, and I said I would, here are some pictures of the shop:

And a couple weeks ago (sometime after my last post in this thread, and in the same trip during which I took the above photos) I spent about 10 USD and purchased this tree:

... which is currently being kept in a cold room (26 - 50 F) until outside minimum temperatures rise above freezing.

 

[feeseven]

im not sure if mine is ume. anyone?

View attachment 31207

first of all, i live in southeast asia. no winter. no 4 seasons. just lovely tropical climate. hot and sunny and raining all year round. i bought this plant from local nursery. roughly around USD15. it was blooming like crazy on last february till march 2012..i took many photos of the pretty blooms. i cant upload it here bcoz i lost the files. it does look like the famous japanese apricot/ume and this plant got no smell at all. some said/ the fact :THE ume got strong sweet smell ( i read from the internet). but the blooms r very lovely..just like ume. or maybe its ume. i dont know yet.


this year..1st week of february 2013 i can see the flower buds r popping out. so help me..if mine is really the lovely ume? ^_^

 

[rockm]

That looks more like a crabapple than an apricot. Hard to tell from the photo, though. A close up of the leaves would help more.

 

[feeseven]

That looks more like a crabapple than an apricot. Hard to tell from the photo, though. A close up of the leaves would help more.

there u go. is it crabapple?

 

[fredtruck]

It's not an ume but I don't know for sure what it is.

 

[Beng]

Reminds me of a camellias buds.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Looks like the buds on my crabapple. The leaves are similar, too. The flowers are white with, sometimes, a faint flush of pink at the edges.

 

[daygan]

Looks like the buds on my crabapple. The leaves are similar, too. The flowers are white with, sometimes, a faint flush of pink at the edges.

Don't all malus species' leaves have acute tips? These leaves are rounded (obtuse?) ... It looks like Chaenomoles speciosa or japonica to me...

.. but I may be just confused.

 

[feeseven]

Don't all malus species' leaves have acute tips? These leaves are rounded (obtuse?) ... It looks like Chaenomoles speciosa or japonica to me...

.. but I may be just confused.

thanks! it really is the chaenomoles speciosa. it has the same flower and characteristics i wish i had the ume.

 

[feeseven]

Don't all malus species' leaves have acute tips? These leaves are rounded (obtuse?) ... It looks like Chaenomoles speciosa or japonica to me...

.. but I may be just confused.

photo captured last year(at last i found my folder!) ..combination of red, white-pinkish and pink flowers. thanks to you ..i know the actual name of this plant. im not sure if this one is the ordinary quince or hybrid. if its hybrid i hope someone can tell me the actual hybrids name of this flowering quince. thanks. i gt confused with the exotic ume.

 

[Dan W.]

Here's mine Fred. I just picked this up last weekend, right after flowering of course... but I'm looking forward to next year!

......

I started a thead about it here: http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthr...ng-Ume-(Apricot)&p=141124&posted=1#post141124

 

[fredtruck]

Contorted ume are great trees, and you've got a nice one.