Native Trials 2019

[Rory]

Hello my fellow Native lovers. What natives are Rory trialling for this year I hear you ask? - a couple of pics of the more interesting ones....

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Leptospermum scoparium - pink cascade

Lepto pink cascade.jpg

I figured I’ll revisit and trial what first peaked my interest in scopariums. The bark and small foliage on these is irresistible.

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Leptospermum rotundifolium - lavender queen

Letpo lavender queen.jpg

I’m curious as to how big the flowers get, because I love the foliage: unusual and interesting. But if the flowers are too big it might have to be grown as big material or it might turn out to be a bit of a fail. I didn't realize the flowers get to 3cm. Thats a bit bigger than I wanted.

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Leptospermum cardwell
These are supposed to be hardy and weep. This should be a no brainer if they prove worthy.

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Leptospermum liversidgei

Lepto liver.jpg

Nice foliage and ‘apparently’ repels mozzies and grows well in shade. So I’ll probably plant in the garden if they don’t make great Bonsai.

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Leptospermum brachyandrum
Amazing bark colours as they age and lovely foliage. Too hard to resist.

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Leptospermum scoparium - burgundy queen
I can’t resist trialling more. I want to hopefully develop some great bases and be more discerning with what I keep. From my experience it’s better to grow a lot and select the best, rather than try to improve a mediocre base.

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Backea clarence river

backea clarence.jpg

Deliciously weeping, and small, thin foliage makes this adorable.

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Phebalium squamulosum

phebalium squamulosum.jpg

Wow, I love the look of this genus.
I know nothing about them but I am very curious to see how they go.

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Phebalium stenophyllum

phebalium stenophyllum.jpg

Wow, I love the look of this genus.
I know nothing about them but am very curious to see how they go.

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Banksia ericifolia ‘little eric’
These guys are cute. I’m not expecting great results from a compact Banksia variety but am still keen to try them.

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Banksia tricuspis

Banksia tricuspis.jpg

Gosh this has lovely bark and pine needle foliage. Very hopeful for this variety.

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Banksia spinulosa var cunninghamii

banksia black magic.jpg

Again, I’m not going to hold my breath for a dwarf variety but I’m stubborn.

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Banksia spinulosa
These are lovely and I figured I’d try my hand at them more seriously now.

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Melaleuca micromera

mel micro.jpg

The most adorable foliage. Tiny and twisted growth make them intriguing.

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Grevillea jubilee

Grevilia jubilee.jpg

Every now and then I go back to a genus that I’ve tried before in the hope that I have success from something new that grabs my eye. This is that genus for 2019.

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Kunzea parvifolia
I don’t recall having trialed this particular species so it should be fun. Cute little foliage and striking flowers.

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[Gerard]

I have seen some of these and some are new to me, I am interested to see where you go with the melaleuca micromera (one I have not seen)

[shibui]

Another good list of plants to try out Rory. I've grown a couple of them so I will be interested to see if your experience tallies with mine.

Leptospermum 'lavender Queen': Yes, flowers are large but not bigger than many exotics others use for flowering bonsai. Really beautiful pale pink flowers. I'm having some trouble getting this one to back bud though it has produced a couple of buds last spring when the entire plant was cut back hard. Normal growth habit is long, straight shoots so I've resorted to frequent pruning to get some density and keep foliage closer to the trunk. Needless to say that approach slows trunk growth so mine have been spindly little sticks for quite a few years.

Kunzea parvifolia has been quite adaptable to bonsai techniques. Tolerates root pruning and confinement in a pot really well. Responds well to trimming and sometimes buds on older wood. Good purple flowers on the tips in spring but has not flowered well the past few years, possibly because regular trimming is removing buds before they become visible. Trunks develop ropy texture and flaky bark.

[boom64]

Hi Rory ,
Interesting collection .I have a few of these as well .Very happy with the Pink Cascade ,quick grower ,nice foliage and nice bark plus lovely flowers. Wired up a couple of two year olds for a bit of fun .Passable even at this stage. Have been bitten by the coloured flower bug. Growing Purple Haze ,Ballerina ,Mesmereyes and rotundifolium .
Collected several Parvifolia a few years ago and as Shibui has stated another good Bonsai candidate .They suffered a little dieback on a few smaller branches over winter but that was about all in regards to problems.
The Phebalium look like fun ,I will keep my eyes out and see some if I will join you in the experiment. Good luck with them all . Cheers John.

[terryb]

Hi Rory,

I also have some L. rotundifolium on the go from tube stock and seed - not sure about the cultivar though. You mentioned about possibly 'growing big' but they seem to be slow to thicken for me. Also trialing tube stock of Leptospermum sericeum - silver tea tree.

Looking forward to your updates!
Terry

[anthonyW]

Here is a piece I m trialling Leptospermun polygalifolium 'Tantoon' started January 2019 tube stock with other contest pieces..my 4th entry if you like ( landscape scene..maple training pot for now) it is quite refreshing subject grows quick, i have cut it back three times...will establish the frame work first then the branching...looking at least 600 mm in height...very raw at moment but all fun..cheers

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[melbrackstone]

Good for you Rory!

I tried L scoparium pink cascade 18 months ago, root pruned it in late Spring, it seemed to be happy and flowered well, then a couple of months ago it just turned up its toes. I don't know if it's because I wired it or not...

My L. scoparium burgundy queens are both still alive, but not been root pruned or repotted after going into colanders and sitting in water....although I have trimmed the water roots a couple of times with no harm so far... One has been heavily top pruned, around Feb, and is still alive... Fingers crossed.

Good luck with them all!

[Rory]

I have seen some of these and some are new to me, I am interested to see where you go with the melaleuca micromera (one I have not seen)

Same, they are absolutely beautiful to look at. I really hope they do well. I will be taking a very conservative approach.

Another good list of plants to try out Rory. I've grown a couple of them so I will be interested to see if your experience tallies with mine.

Leptospermum 'lavender Queen': Yes, flowers are large but not bigger than many exotics others use for flowering bonsai.

Thanks for the advice Neil. Yes, the foliage on the lavender queens is what drew me in. I absolutely love them. I still would prefer smaller flowers, as I dislike flower proportions on trees like Chinese quince, Azalea, Gardenia, Bougainvillea etc.

The Phebalium look like fun ,I will keep my eyes out and see some if I will join you in the experiment. Good luck with them all . Cheers John.

Same here. Apparently they grow really well in shade too. I now have 3 different types of Phebalium to trial. Although one is recategorized now.

Hi Rory,

I also have some L. rotundifolium on the go from tube stock and seed - not sure about the cultivar though. You mentioned about possibly 'growing big' but they seem to be slow to thicken for me. Also trialing tube stock of Leptospermum sericeum - silver tea tree.

Looking forward to your updates!
Terry

I have sees stock of L. sericeum before and was tempted, lovely foliage too.

Here is a piece I m trialling Leptospermun polygalifolium 'Tantoon' started January 2019 tube stock with other contest pieces..my 4th entry if you like ( landscape scene..maple training pot for now) it is quite refreshing subject grows quick, i have cut it back three times...will establish the frame work first then the branching...looking at least 600 mm in height...very raw at moment but all fun..cheers
]

Lovely flowers.

Good for you Rory!

I tried L scoparium pink cascade 18 months ago, root pruned it in late Spring, it seemed to be happy and flowered well, then a couple of months ago it just turned up its toes. I don't know if it's because I wired it or not...

My L. scoparium burgundy queens are both still alive, but not been root pruned or repotted after going into colanders and sitting in water....although I have trimmed the water roots a couple of times with no harm so far... One has been heavily top pruned, around Feb, and is still alive... Fingers crossed.

Good luck with them all!

Thanks Mel, always nice to hear from you. Yes, I had trialled scoparium pink cascade many moons ago, which is actually what lead me to Burgundy queens. They are lovely too, but I think I just didn't have enough sun at the time for them, so fingers crossed now. Also, from my experience its cutting back too much foliage that ruins them. Plus they can remain dormant for an eternity after a bad repot, unless it turned brown at the base too after a scratch test.

Yeah I am taking the safe approach with my burgundys going forward. Just cutting back small amounts at repotting time. Just keeping them in check and allowing good growth to flourish seems to be the answer so far. They seem to be very happy in fairly strong dappled shade too.

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WELL, I HAVE ADDED MORE TRIALS TO THIS YEAR FOR 2019:


Leionema (phebalium) lamprophyllum
Now this is drop dead gorgeous! Definitely one of my favourites to trial. It flowers profusely, grows well in shade and the flowers are less than 1cm in size.
All those tiny green pods will open up into a sea of tiny white flowers. Love it.

Leionema lamprophyllum.jpg

Baeckea mount tozer
Gorgeous flowers, about 7-8mm, small and in good proportions for bonsai. I'm hopeful for this species.

Baeckea mount tozer.jpg

Mount Spurgeon black kauri pine - Prumnopitys

aussie pine.jpg

Leptospermum Starry Night
Its actually not as dark as I thought it would be (the foliage that is)

Baeckea virgata Compacta

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Phebalium and Melaleuca micromera are definitely the 2 species that I'm most excited to trial this year.

[melbrackstone]

Good choices again Rory.

I have a Mt Tozer in the ground here, and it back buds well when pruned, and foliage has thickened up nicely after a heavy clip back after flowering. It's growing in the garden where it gets full summer sun and reflected heat from the steel fence in the afternoons...seems pretty tough. I had planned on digging it up in Spring.

The Mt Spurgeon black kauri pine I have is as slow as a wet week, and I have absolutely no idea what conditions suit it best. It ramifies pretty well from my limited attempts at pruning, but seriously, I need to let it grow and stop messing with it, because its trunk is so thin, even after 3 years, it was almost still suitable for the Native comp you're running! I've grown it in a number of different situations, mostly not in full hot sun. The first time I moved it from protected to full it scalded heavily, so it went back into a shade cloth area. At the moment it gets around 4 hours of weak Winter sun from around 1 - 5pm.

I also bought a Baeckea virgata compacta for the comp, but didn't enter it because it just looked like a lollypop on a stick....it's in filtered Winter light for around 7 hours a day....still looks like a lollypop on a stick after heavy pruning...

Good luck with all your new trees.

[Rory]

Thanks for the comments Mel,

The first night I bought back the Baeckea Mt Tozer, they were completely stripped of all foliage.
And I’d spread them around different parts of the garden. All stripped clean!
Wow, they must have very tasty and scented leaves.

At least the gremlins have left everything else alone.

Yeah the Black kauri pines are slow to grow, I’ve also been told that.

I couldn’t help but purchase an amazing native that took my eye. Absolutely amazing tiny flowers.
They have a gorgeous pink, and each petal has a border of white.
My daughter has already said they’re all hers.

xAstackea winter pink
Astartea clavulata x Baeckea astarteoides

3C7AE3E9-AF4E-4C6A-B075-153CEDF18572.jpeg

[melbrackstone]

The first night I bought back the Baeckea Mt Tozer, they were completely stripped of all foliage.
And I’d spread them around different parts of the garden. All stripped clean!
Wow, they must have very tasty and scented leaves.

crikey.

I have possums here, but they've never touched the Mt Tozer! I can't even imagine how you'd deal with them!

[boom64]

Hi Rory , On the subject of flowers .I have recently picked up some tube stock of a Lepto called ' Ballerina'. This is all the information the grower had on them. They have just started to come into flower .Very impressed ,roughly one cm wide and centres slowly turning red. Looking forward to fattening these little fellows up. Cheers John.

[Rory]

Hi Rory , On the subject of flowers .I have recently picked up some tube stock of a Lepto called ' Ballerina'. This is all the information the grower had on them. They have just started to come into flower .Very impressed ,roughly one cm wide and centres slowly turning red. Looking forward to fattening these little fellows up. Cheers John.

Are you stalking me John?
Hahah, I literally just acquired one on Sunday, in a 6inch pot.
Amazing flowers yes.
I was keen to get more but didn’t like the other trunks.
I love the splashing of pink/white on the flowers.

[Rory]

Far out. My fingers are shredded.
I’ve root pruned and reported approx 100 nursery stock trees in 3 days. Had to soak my fingers in dettol...they’re bad.

Mainly phebalium, casuarina, banksia, Leptospermum and Melaleuca.

Is it just me or are Banksia and Casuarina the easiest material to root prune. They’re roots are quite strong, reasonably easy to manipulate, and seem to naturally grow out reasonably evenly.
You can cut back so hard knowing they’re hardy as all heck.
Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever lost a banksia or Casy that was in good health from a root prune.

There was some material I couldn’t give their first root prune to, as some of the Banksia and Phebalium have put out new growth, so from my experience it’s not wise to root prune until leaves harden, then wait a few weeks. Otherwise the new growth can die and the things just sulk for quite a while.

I can’t wait to see how the Melaleuca micromera, Baeckea Clarence river and Phebalium fair after their first root prunes. They are my most beautiful material for this years trials. It took sooo long, because I want to give them their best chance, and had the hose on very mild setting to slowly soften the root ball and take my time easing roots apart.
I don’t know about others, but as I get older, I now try not to take much root off at the initial root prune, to ensure a less shock to the system. I also leave a lot of foliage on all material now too, relative to root prune removal of course.
I used to cut off at least 50% of foliage on most stock but now I find that is counter productive in my opinion.

Gosh my fingers are hurting

Also, I can’t stress more to people out there, but when you repot a tree, remove all the soil! Often curl grubs are nestled right up at the base of the roots where some people don’t touch the root ball on older material. Removing old soil doesn’t usually kill older material if you do it carefully and with great patience.

I now use %50 river sand for all the natives. Helps with drainage.

[maryo]

I am curious what your weather is like up there. I live near the goulburn area and like your have acquired a lot of tube stock I want to pot on. But I have been told to wait until the weather is hotter like in December, before doing this.