[NATURAL] Banksia ericifolia - Starfox

[Starfox]

This guy is a Banksia ericifolia that I found on amazon of all places, I had been looking for seed but came across a listing for this so figured for 9 euro it was worth a gamble. Also picked up a integrifolia at the same time but the base is too big for this comp. Either way I'm stoked to have a couple now and figure a good start is to follow Grants excellent advice so that is the plan.

As of now no work has been done to this, might put some wire on it and wait for spring to give it a trim.

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[Brian Anthony]

Sorry to burst your bubble sir. Trunk is questionable on my end.





Maybe another shot to confirm?


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[Rory]

Maybe another shot to confirm?

I politely see banongs point.

It would be fair to take a photo of the tape measure right up against the trunk, and take the photo from a bit further back to show the diameter of the trunk more accurately.

The 2nd photo does kind of appear to show the trunk being quite thick.

[Starfox]

Well your call, the first photo was as close to the trunk as this one just a side on perspective. It's certainly not a 2-3cm trunk.

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[Rory]

Yep, looks fine to me, thank you.

[Starfox]

Cheers Rory.

[Brian Anthony]

looks good, love the foliage on this one as sort of resembles a pine / conifer
is this a Dwarf species? tbh i haven't come across this Banksia yet
happy to follow and see progress!

[Grant Bowie]

Banksia Ericifolia can make an excellent Bonsai. You just have to look at Peter H’s thread on a large ericifolia he trained into a magnificent, large Bonsai.

I have not tried the variety Starfox and would be interested to see what it becomes.i presume it is a selection with some feature like (bushiness ) or compact growth? Perhaps a dwarf etc. the species is usually the best way to go but some selections do disprove this rule of thumb.

Cheers, and good luck,

Grant

[Starfox]

Thanks banong and Grant.

I don't think it is a dwarf as it wasn't listed or labeled as such but then again it's the first Banksia I have found over here so it's anyone's guess to what stock they started with. The foliage is certainly different but interesting, it grows naturally in whorls which creates bulges so I will have to keep on top of that and it may may it tougher to find a nice natural look/habit but for now I'll let it grow and reevalute after spending more time with it. Google images provides numerous different habits so I'll spend more time there too.

Peter H's thread is great inspiration and it's a very cool tree too plus Watto has one which shows the progress of some young stock after 3 years which totally encouraged me to try this out for the comp.

[Grant Bowie]

Thanks banong and Grant.

I don't think it is a dwarf as it wasn't listed or labeled as such but then again it's the first Banksia I have found over here so it's anyone's guess to what stock they started with. The foliage is certainly different but interesting, it grows naturally in whorls which creates bulges so I will have to keep on top of that and it may may it tougher to find a nice natural look/habit but for now I'll let it grow and reevalute after spending more time with it. Google images provides numerous different habits so I'll spend more time there too.

Peter H's thread is great inspiration and it's a very cool tree too plus Watto has one which shows the progress of some young stock after 3 years which totally encouraged me to try this out for the comp.

Sorry, I mistook your Ausbonsai name for the variety of banksia in your thread. Should have looked closer. It does look like a normal B ericifolia, which I have seen in the wild at over 1,000mtrs altitude on windswept hillsides and they were compacted by the wind and full sun. Funnily enough on a Mt Banks in the Blue Mountains. There is a walk from the car park to the edge of a large precipice and the B ericifolia keep getting smaller as you get closer to the cliff edge until they were quite small and compact but old and rugged looking. National Park of course but a good example of what could be achieved. If I ever regain my health I should make another walk there and take a camera,

Grant Bowie

[Starfox]

Going to withdraw this one as it is not well, still get green on the scratch test but that is no guarantee.
If it lives I'll keep on updating the thread but going to pull it from the comp.