Wisteria..A graceful old lady in flower for first time

[bodhidharma]

If i had to get rid of all my trees and keep only one, this would be it. I have always looked at it as female. Firstly because i cannot take my eyes of her, and because she has been my greatest challenge. She is beautiful, and powerful and graceful all at the same time. Her story is amazing because she was bound for the bonfire. She was ripped out to make way for a fence, by a tractor. The guys had her heaped up and ready to light when a friend of mine, who was at the cookout, convinced them to hang of until he rang me to see if i wanted to take a look. I immediately went out and seeing her potential, rescued her and took her home. She was huge and some of her root system also came with us, just in case she didnt survive. I built her a special growing box and did the same for her children. She made a remarkable recovery but made me wait and sweat for six months(typical female) before she sprouted a bud. I was ecstatic. After years of nurture and growth and reduction of her root system i bought her first real pot of Deborah Koreshoff. She was so happy in her new home that she immediately gave me flowers, which i promptly cut off, to keep her health!!! Then one day she told me she was sick and upon examination i found out she had cancer and she was rotting on the inside. I blame myself but i couldnt see it art first. The operation was long and no power tools were used. It was her and me and a woodcarving chisel,and my hands. it took three days to cut the rot out and her heartwood was completely sealed with a mixture of wound sealant and non toxic P.V.A glue. This was done twice and daily i check her to make sure she is okay. This year she told me she wanted to be beautiful and i relented. for a hundred year old lady why couldnt she be.

[Japh]

Breathtakingly beautiful, Bodhi. I absolutely love wisteria, and recently had opportunity to buy one of my own, but couldn't afford it... hoping to save up now that I have seen your wonderful lady here.

Thanks for sharing (again!)

[NathanM]

Wow, Bodhi, that is stunning!! She certainly is beautiful, both in leaf and in flower!!
Absolutely fantastic mate.

[kvan64]

Wow. I've lost words for her! I have never seen another wisteria bonsai this beautiful and grace before. She would win any beauty contest within her class. Would you want to make some money from her photos? I think http://www.shutterstock.com buys photos of beautiful bonsai plants. I think I will down load these photos before she is crowned and before her photos are copy-righted

PS. Any tips for having a wisteria to flower? Also what is your fertilizing plan?

[MelaQuin]

It is a lovely tree and so compact. My only suggestion would be to Dremel the flat top of the deadwood on the left ONLY enough to break the cut look of it. But that's really picking points. It is a stunning bonsai.

[bodhidharma]

PS. Any tips for having a wisteria to flower? Also what is your fertilizing plan?

Hi Kvan64, I keep the Wisteria quite pot bound and have not repotted it for 3 years. It practically lives in fertilizer and is not really fussy about what sort although i feed this one a high quality organic one. i seasol the roots once a fortnight or so and i wil lcut it back hard when i take the flowers of. I also make sure i keep the leaves cut to sets of 3. Thats about it, good luck.

[Bretts]

That is a ripper Bodi

[EdwardH]

She is certainly a 'good sort'

[Petra]

What a stunner, she is absolutly beautiful Bodhi.
How wide and how tall is she. And what is the size of the pot .

[bodhidharma]

Thanks Petra, i forgot to put in dimensions. She is 900mm tall and 1350mm wide but DO NOT call her fat, she is very sensitive. I call her powerful. the pot is 800mm x400mm.

[IS2SXC]

WOW that is one sexy bonsai

thats the nicest wisteria i have seen

note to self: HANG AROUND BONFIRES FOR GOOD BONSAI MATERIAL hahahhaha

[davo]

Simply beautiful man , and its fantastic to read your passion for your bonsai.
Well done.

Regards Davo.

[kvan64]

PS. Any tips for having a wisteria to flower? Also what is your fertilizing plan?

Hi Kvan64, I keep the Wisteria quite pot bound and have not repotted it for 3 years. It practically lives in fertilizer and is not really fussy about what sort although i feed this one a high quality organic one. i seasol the roots once a fortnight or so and i wil lcut it back hard when i take the flowers of. I also make sure i keep the leaves cut to sets of 3. Thats about it, good luck.

Thanks for the tips Bodhi I have 5 good size and aged wisteria but non of them ever flowered this intensive. I truly love this! One more question - what N-P-K ratio would you recommend for fertilizing wisterias?
Thanks heaps for sharing with us.
DK

[bodhidharma]

I use an organic fertilizer which has fish emulsion , seaweed extract trace elements etc and the N.P.K 4-3-2

[Jan]

Alas, I had (not the past tense) a beauty, a truely grand old lady. She was a rescue - a framer pulled it out with a tractor. The old photos of the house showed it on the verandah posts in an image taken in the early 1900's.

The roots were very thick and left quite an area of timber exposed. I treated it like a grand cutting and all seemed to be going well untill the rot set in to the timber. Like you, Bodhidharma, I cleaned away the problem area in an attempt to save the plant but I lost the battle in the end.

So that I don't have that grief again can you advise on what sealant you used. Did you treat the timber with an anti fungal or anything? I can see that prevention could be the key with rescued wisteria.

The images below were taken in Feb. 2000, October, 2000 (when I found the rot and cleaned away the problem areas) and October, 2003, when I'd had yet another clean up session. I lost her in 2004. I still pine for what might have been...It has been great to see your grand old lady decked out in her finest garb. She's magnificent.

Jan

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