Micromyrtus ciliata alba

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Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Peterji »

Hi :wave:
I'm wondering if anyone has experience with White Fringed Myrtle Micromyrtus ciliata alba. It looks like a great prospect for bonsai with its flaky bark, minute leaves and small flowers. How does it handle root pruning? Doe sit back bud? Any reasons why it won't work? Any info would be much appreciated. :fc:
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by GavinG »

As you say, interesting bark early, tiny flowers, minute leaves. I don't grow them, but as far as I know they repot with average care (don't bare-root), and don't bud back. A safe time would be when things warm up, maybe Sept/Oct? They do stay slender, and you have to consider not pinching for the 3-6 months before flowering - I don't know exactly, you'll have to work it out and tell us! I also don't know how long-lived they are. Roger?

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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Rory »

Having just acquired a Micromyrtus ciliata, I was wondering if anyone has kept them for many years and how did they grow?
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by dansai »

Hi Rory,

I only got my 2 about 6 weeks so cant tell you much about longevity, but they did survive there first repot from tube to 140mm pot. As with all the plants I get now days, first repot is pretty brutal to ensure the roots have a good start. They also got a slight trim at the time and both doing fine and pushing new growth. Can let you know if 5 years about how they go over time.
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Kunzea »

Hi Rory, Dansai et al
I've grown M ciliata for perhaps 15 years. Lovely bonsai. Elegant, small, delicate individuals, but with exquisitely finely textured bark, and subtle sinewing of trunk/branches. Flowering is beautiful and colour changes exciting.

As noted already, they don't shoot back on old wood, but readily do where there are still leaves. Perhaps on wood that just lost leaves, but I'm not sure about that. Regular pruning after flowering can keep the plant small for years.

They have a character of their own and look best when not forced into some weird sine-waves with artificial 'pads' of foliage.

Enjoy them. They are worth the time.
Here are a couple of pics: one is of a plant that was not well styled, but it gives a sense of where styling could be done. The other is a closeup of the bark with micro-ridging.
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Kunzea »

Having trouble up loading the bark image.
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by boom64 »

I have several collected Trees that closely resemble these. Leaf and white flowers look very similar, however bark looks a little different. Hopefully Kunzea has a bit of luck uploading pic of bark. Googled pics but mainly flowers.
Regards John.
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Kunzea »

Here is another attempt.
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Rory »

Hello Kunzea, and thank you for taking the time to comment, as well as others.

I’m quite excited by this new genus that I know nothing about.
I’ll wait until spring/summer to take a look at the roots a bit more.

The trunk on mine is only about 1cm thick, and just has flakes of bark all over it at the moment.
Looks identical to a few lepto trunks I have, with the foliage being the obvious difference.

Their tiny foliage is adorable, and it just gives you that odd feeling like you’re working on a native juniper.

The branches over 1/2 cm are very brittle so this will be grown with primarily clip and grow, and also to maintain that lovely raw feeling it captures.
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I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
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Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

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How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Raging Bull »

Thanks for posting the photo of that trunk Kunzea. All I can say is WOW :o Amazing!! Where can I get one?
Cheers, Frank.
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by shibui »

You should be able to find them at really good native nurseries but don't expect to grow a trunk like that quickly. It takes quite a few years to start to develop the ridges on the trunk.
In the meantime they seem to be susceptible to a range of root problems and hate having wet feet. I have not been able to get them to bud on old wood either so you need to manage the growth and keep it well pruned which generally means they grow quite slowly.
Really lovely trees/shrubs as you can see but until someone overcomes the difficulties I can't see lots of these on the show benches very soon.
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Raging Bull »

Thanks Neil, I'll start looking 'round for them. And yes, that trunk does look quite old, good practice for my patience ;) .
Cheers, Frank.
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Rory »

shibui wrote:You should be able to find them at really good native nurseries but don't expect to grow a trunk like that quickly. It takes quite a few years to start to develop the ridges on the trunk.
In the meantime they seem to be susceptible to a range of root problems and hate having wet feet. I have not been able to get them to bud on old wood either so you need to manage the growth and keep it well pruned which generally means they grow quite slowly.
Really lovely trees/shrubs as you can see but until someone overcomes the difficulties I can't see lots of these on the show benches very soon.
Thanks for the advice Neil. The foliage and trunks on these guys is irresistible. I finally worked out how to keep L. scoparium healthy and strong, so I hope to find my way with these guys. Half the fun will be learning as I go.

I got an older specimen from a native grower, and 6 tubestocks from another native nursery.

They were not easy to acquire as they don't seem very well known. The experienced native grower at the nursery said they are very hardy, so that is always a good start. :tu2:
micro.jpg
Image

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The Fringed Heath Myrtle (Micromyrtus ciliata) is a well-known shrub which will interest every gardener looking for the choicest plants. Graceful in appearance yet tough in constitution, it remains healthy for years with little or no attention. Once established and bushy it stands drought well, but if any branches should die out it regenerates well after watering. However, adequate water ensures more lush and continuous growth and must be given for the first years after planting.
distribution map
Habit varies from prostrate to upright, and the low forms are specially attractive. With age it may spread over 3 m across, slowly reaching 1 m high with long arching and tapering branches. In a sunny position growth is dense and stiff - an excellent ground cover for keeping down weeds. It is spectacular in a large rockery and lends itself to landscaping design around the walls of buildings as well as to any slope or front of border.

This species has the tiniest of leaves and flowers among native garden shrubs, but both are of solid substance for their size, and being massed are effective. Leaves are opposite, an arrangement often seen in shrubs of the family Myrtaceae to which also Paperbarks (Melaleuca) belong. lt gives them a neat and clean appearance at all seasons and thus many are valued as foliage plants apart from their flowering interest. The leaves of all are aromatic when bruised and seldom blemished by pests or diseases.

Towards the end of the winter the shrub brightens to carmine as flower buds with reddish calyces develop. The flowers outline the branches in clusters at the end of short lateral stems, and open first low on the branches. Flowers are cup-shaped with five rounded petals, white or flushed pink or red, often mingled on the same plant.

They age to deeper reds and remain firm for many weeks thus extending the season of colour till the end of November. In some years stray autumn flowers appear.

Good seed is difficult to obtain and propagation is by means of cuttings of stem tips taken when half ripened. Young plants can generally be bought from nurseries and sometimes are offered under separate horticultural names according to habit and colour. When planting out they should be given light soil free from lime and they then grow quickly, coming into flower while young. Pruning is optional and a little light trimming is effected if sprays of flowers are cut for decoration. These are easy to arrange and long-lasting in shallow bowls of water. Sometimes as they dry out slowly such stems will keep enough colour to be useful in dried arrangements.

Based on text by Irene Beeton (1971)

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Last edited by Rory on May 5th, 2018, 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by shibui »

If you read a real estate agent description of a property you interpret the words into their real meaning.
I interpret Irene's description:
Graceful in appearance yet tough in constitution,
- grows in cracks in bare rock where nothing else will survive (but will not tolerate any reasonable conditions such as pot culture)
it remains healthy for years with little or no attention.
but if you provide better conditions it will die unexpectedly.
Pruning is optional
Does not bud on bare wood.

I love this species and its cousins and have several that have survived in the garden and one still alive in a pot but it is definitely NOT a hardy, foolproof species for bonsai. I'd love someone with first hand experience to tell me how to cultivate it as bonsai effectively but they don't appear to be beginner material to me.
Just my :2c:
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Re: Micromyrtus ciliata alba

Post by Rory »

shibui wrote:If you read a real estate agent description of a property you interpret the words into their real meaning.
I interpret Irene's description:
Graceful in appearance yet tough in constitution,
- grows in cracks in bare rock where nothing else will survive (but will not tolerate any reasonable conditions such as pot culture)
it remains healthy for years with little or no attention.
but if you provide better conditions it will die unexpectedly.
Pruning is optional
Does not bud on bare wood.

I love this species and its cousins and have several that have survived in the garden and one still alive in a pot but it is definitely NOT a hardy, foolproof species for bonsai. I'd love someone with first hand experience to tell me how to cultivate it as bonsai effectively but they don't appear to be beginner material to me.
Just my :2c:
:lol: :beer:
:lol: :lol:

As always, I appreciate your input Neil. You made my morning, very funny.
I’ll report back again after I’ve repot in about November.
Last edited by Rory on May 6th, 2018, 9:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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