panda's collection

[Faisal Ahmad]

This big twisted juniper is one I posted another thread about previously that is linked above. I don’t believe I’ve started a proper thread for it yet, but maybe it will get that treatment in the fall.

I repotted this the first week of April, from a nursery can into an oversized bonsai pot. This was the first time this trees roots have been worked in a number of years, about 5 or so if I had to guess. This tree was grown from a cutting by a well known grower in the Seattle area who has since retired. It has been in my care about a year now.View attachment 551146
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I had little real concern for the front at this initial repot, as I view this as a very early step for this tree.

I like this shape and style

 

[pandacular]

and finally, a funky azalea raft, ‘Chinzan’. Currently it’s an air-layer and rebuild project.

this one got a repot yesterday. Over winter, the leaves on 2 of the 3 air layers went a scary reddish tone, but they seem to have recovered somewhat, though still darker than the rest of the plant. One notable section of weak roots, which I believe was caused by a strangling tie down wire. Tied down to stakes, which is my preferred method but especially for shrubs.

I can really see the future of this plant now. Next step is to re-treat the airlayers (I’ll try Michael Hagedorn’s technique with the suspended pot) and hopefully I’ll be able to remove the layers in fall or late summer.

 

[Notsureaboutplantnames]

Azara microphylla 'Variegata'
I went it my local nursery looking for material to practice air-layers on, and found this one. I've really enjoyed working with this species! It has some quirks and I have not seen anyone attempt to use it for bonsai, but overall, it's really fun, fast growing, and has a nice growth habit. It's also readily available at nurseries here, and I've seen a number of examples in landscaping, so I think I'll keep trying this plant. I like it a lot better than Buxus as far as small-leafed evergreens go.

as from the nursery, 4/9/23
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these images show something of the "two trees" i saw in it. really, only the top part (to be air-layered off) is good material, but I'll keep the bottom to see what happens.
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cut the layer--but I think there's much too much green (again, colorblind), and it's a little close together
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attempt #1 and #2
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in July, I checked for roots...and found none! It had completely bridged; I blame a bad initial cut, as well a poorly secured pot (that second mistake I made again...). there was some start to the layer working, as you can see the callus and the difference in caliper above the layer
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cut it again and placed another pot on. I posted a thread about this here.
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This tree has been very responsive to pruning. Here is a piece I pruned back substantially (probably about 8 full nodes!) in the apex about two weeks later. Notice that It has put out 4 new shoots!
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The biggest downside to this tree that I've observed--and this may be specific to the variegated cultivar--is that fresh buds tend to burn very easily. They turn black and just...drop. I asked a question about that in this thread. I'm still figuring out how to avoid this, but I think fresh buds need to be out of the sun on hot, sunny days. The new shoots also tend to grow in bright pink!! It's very pretty.
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as it is today. note that i've now properly wired in the air-layer pot

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I have some good evidence that the air-layer is starting to work this time. I have a LOT of growth near the bottom tree's apex (just under the layer) and the main pot is drinking a lot less water. Next month, I'll cut a window in the pot as suggested and demonstrated by @BobbyLane and evaluate whether it can be separated in the fall, but I'd rather avoid that. If I do separate at that time, I will provide bottom heat over the winter.

The Future
I'll likely wait until spring to separate the layer. As you can see, the branch structure of the upper portion is a very neat and even left-right-left thing. I'll probably remove that first heavy branch on the right and the lay the branches flat. The bottom is not really what I'm looking for, but I'll keep it around; it's bursting with roots, so I think giving that a decent first prune would be a good start.

how is your Azara microphylla doing? Not the air layer but the plant itself?

 

[pandacular]

I actually gave it away to a friend! I have no idea, I haven’t checked.

Man, I should update this thread…

 

[pandacular]

This tree got a new pot and angle. It’s a no-name Yixing pot, but I think it matches with the tree well. Clearly I still need to work on my photography, and per usual I got too excited to take photos during repot.


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Next for this tree will be building some secondary branching and jinning back most of the right side.

Sold this one to a friend recently. Wasn’t getting me excited when I saw it on my bench, and the price was fair.

 

[pandacular]

A few mame that I picked up on 99 cent auctions on FB.

A cute J. procumbens in a Bigei pot
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Needs to be styled, but since I had to pot it way early, I’ll likely wait until fall.

A cool exposed root Premna microphylla in a gorgeous Akinai pot

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Now, did I buy these trees just because I underestimated the size of the pots when I bought them? That’s a very odd question to ask, why would one think that??

The first one is doing well after some dieback, but I haven’t touched it. Soon!

That tropical thing was in a very beautiful pot, which is a joy to try to sell

Alright, photo dump time cause I’ve not done a great job of keeping up with this thread.

Here’s my big tall hawthorn (C. phaenpyrum, I’m pretty sure).
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Most my deciduous have been slow to get going this year, this one included. I noticed that the spots that I didn’t cut back as hard or cut back to tiny side branches have not grown well. I believe that some of these tiny side branches are actually spurs, but I’m not sure how those work, much less how they work in bonsai cultivation.

An excellent escambron from @Colorado . Very happy now that it’s outside.
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And then several trees I got at the club auction.

Mountain hemlock designed by Carmen Leskoviansky. VERY excited about this one, as I have a place to go to study proper wiring in my garden now.

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Kingsville boxwood penjing/saikei. I have big plans for this—think Zhao, white suiban and all.
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and finally, a funky azalea raft, ‘Chinzan’. Currently it’s an air-layer and rebuild project.
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Come to think of it, this really isn’t exhaustive, as I’ve got several starts kicking around, mostly young whips of various deciduous, a batch of Curtis’ JBP, a bunch of ponderosas from a club member…

A year on from the auction that prompted the above post, here’s a quick update on these tree.

The escambron was repotted for a demo in May. I think @Colorado nailed the pot, so I got pretty much the exact same one. Note the large, yellowing leaves near the inside—I suspect this is due to a combination of less than perfect winter care and a spring repot. Being a tropical, the general approach would be to repot in the heat of summer, but I was really keen to demo repotting, and this tree was the one that made the most sense for the weather.

The hawthorne continues to take shape structurally, but the main goal for now is thickening. Not pictured: almost 4 foot sacrifice branch out of the top, exploding bark right off. I also repotted it and was able to cut some high roots.


New front, I’m looking forward to give this tree it’s second wiring. Just got trimmed, but I don’t think I finished.

The funny little azalea raft has had 2/3 air layers fail, but the last one is strong. @Deep Sea Diver instructed on root washing azaleas.

The kingsville forest has been deconstructed! I did this mostly for practical reasons. I plan to put it on white marble in shuihan style, but haven’t found the right arrangement and marble. The front right tree is being ground layered, so I’ll probably keep them separate at least a year or so. Might get to travel to find inspiration and the right piece sometime after next repotting season, so I’m in no rush.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Your collection is progressing!

My favs in your bunch are the Mtn Hemlock, Interview Boxes on the left and the Azalea raft.

The raft looks good for post flowers pruning/cutback right about now.

Cheers

DSD sends

 

[pandacular]

Thread 'panda’s satsuki azalea ‘flame creeper’'

Yesterday at 8:05 PM

I won this azalea at the club auction this June. @Deep Sea Diver had told me to consider it, and I am pretty pleased with the winning bid.

When I was inspecting the tree, a few issues came to light. The pot is far too small and does not match the tree, and the scar had a number of wounds that lacked attentive care. Both of those are easy enough to address, especially as I plan to grow the tree on to be somewhat thicker.

I got right to work on addressing the scars, which were double sealed with Top Jin M followed by putty. I also undercut a branch that I plan to remove...

• pandacular
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Flowering

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[snowman04]

Nice tree! The color is nice, as is the pot...