A tree for all zones and styles

[Pup]

Hi Lackhand, I grow all of the Melaleucas except, Latenta, which I have never heard of . It might be a misspelled name as there a few that start with Lat . All are treated the same, Callistemons are also very good for Bonsai.

If you go though the site you will see some good examples of them. Also Casuarina cunninghamiana. Some of those Gum trees are worth a try, but they are a bit more work.

Nice to see that an American is working with our natives.
Cheers Pup.

[lackhand]

Thanks Pup, latenta could easily be wrong. That was scribbled on the side of the pot and nobody I asked seemed to know much about it. Also, I'm pretty sure I was the only one there celebrating Australia Day. Oh well.

I'll start keeping my eyes peeled for a good piece of stock to get started with. Which melaleuca do you think would tolerate the cold best?

I think there are other people here that grow Aussie bonsai, but I haven't found them yet. Pretty soon my schedule will change so I can start attending regular club meetings here and maybe I'll find some then.

[Pup]

Of the ones you have there Elliptica, is one of my favorites it will handle temp down to 30 F
So will alternifolia, and linarifolia, as we do not get down lower than that here where I live, but Canberra does get down to minus temps.
Just some slight protection might be in order if it is going to be a prolonged cold spell, as I have said some species survive in the snow.

Cheers Pup

[GavinG]

Best of luck growing Aussie plants as bonsai. Arizona shouldn't be too bad at all for a lot of them.

Like Pup says for Mels, Callistemons and Cas.

I'm not an expert on Eucalypts, but here goes:

Most of the eucs I'm not familiar with as bonsai - kruseana looks promising but has been touchy for a number of growers. "Red Gum" might be the River Red Gum (E. camaldulensis, search the site for lots of information) - which can be very good, as can E. nichollii, E. mannifera, E. scoparia and E. crenulata. Best bet is to go for anything with a small leaf, and see how you go. Very free-draining mix, repot in hot weather (preferably when there's no or little new growth. Some growers repot like a juniper, others will ruthlessly bare-root (mainly at the height of summer) but best to water 2-4 times a day after repotting - called "flooding". Grow long for thickness, cut back to bare wood, and watch for dominance issues - a weak branch will usually die, they need to be balanced out for vigour by pruning. Some don't like wiring.

Best of luck.

Gavin

[thoglette]

I'm not an expert on Eucalypts, but here goes:

+1 but
a) be aware that growth rates vary from weed like the various blue gums to glacial with Jarrah, Tuart and karri.
b) most can't survive a hard frost.
c) there's lots of varieties in the US, esp. California. Some are quite weed like so there's a good chance of Yamadori collection

[PAUL2229]

those bonsai are awesome.

can you airlayer paperbarks???

[Pup]

those bonsai are awesome.

can you airlayer paperbarks???

Paul it is very hard to airlayer paperbarks, because of the thick bark up to 10 layers that is why the survive bush fires so well, if you peel the bark back at the point you wish to airlayer it will not be a problem.
The biggest problem is the regrowth of the area peeled, it will but it is slow. Because it is slow in the past people have said it will kill the tree. So it has been said no to air layers.
As I have said they will come back from prolonged times of no growth some times of 2 years have been noted.
I have personally not done Paperbarks as I have and if I want can still collect them.I have done Melaleucas with fissured bark, without a problem.

Cheers I hope this is of help.Pup

[Neli]

HI PUP, from sunny Africa. I am the only person who keeps bonsai here...but I love melaleuka.
Dont have many varieties here. But together with my calistemons maybe 6-7 varieties.
I have some problem and some questions.
I have this melaleuks with golden foliage. We call it Johhanesburg gold?????
It was growing in a packet and the roots escaped. Grew for two years like that. I sliced the packet and planted it in a shallow pot. I did a trunk chop two month before that . That was 5 month ago.
It grew well and it developed some branches...larger ones from tiny shoots , then I curved it on top. Branches started drying...first one, then another...and now 3 large branches are dead.
It is planted in coarse washed river sand...and I fertilize it with cow manure. It is in a shallow container. I have also wired it but the die back started long after I wired it.
I have pictures of all the procedures I have done...but this is the final result:
The back:

2013-04-18 001 003 (600x800).jpg

I dont know why it is drying branches...and I dont know how to style this tree since now it is left with one very low branch and one very high branch and apex...and you said they can not be airlayerd???
Maybe it is a lost cause?

[Grant Bowie]

Of the ones you have there Elliptica, is one of my favorites it will handle temp down to 30 F
So will alternifolia, and linarifolia, as we do not get down lower than that here where I live, but Canberra does get down to minus temps.
Just some slight protection might be in order if it is going to be a prolonged cold spell, as I have said some species survive in the snow.

Cheers Pup

Hi all,

We have had Pups Mel rhaphiophylla here at the collection now since 2008 and it has never skipped a beat; from minus 9 to plus 44 degrees.

This year we also have a Mel styphelioides doing very well as well.

grant

[Pup]

Hi ya Neli if you read my last post, I Did not say they cannot be layered. I made the comment that because of the thick bark it would be difficult.

Yours on the other had is a fissured bark, Melaleuca bracteata hybrid, here it is called either a Golden Gem or Revolution Gold.
It can be successfully layered, yours could be lack of root space and drying of the soil.

They do like plenty of moisture, also pushing them too hard past the parallel, can cause problems.

Cheers Pup

[Neli]

Thanks Pup! Can a melaleuka be styled weeping style?

[Pup]

Thanks Pup! Can a melaleuca be styled weeping style?

Certain species are natural weeping trees. The better trees for weeping styles are the Callistemons, there are so many more naturally weeping ones of them.

Cheers Pup

[Andrew Legg]

Neli,

Treasure the top of that tree and get it healthy. Good news is that if it's healthy it may well give you loads of new buds and branches. For me the problem with this tree is the length at constant taper. If you can get lots of low buds, reducing it's height may be an option to think about. Oh, and I'd remove the boolsheet for a bit while it is recovering. That's quite a load you've dumped on there! Also consider removing the wire until the plant is showing vibrance once more.

Cheerio,

Andrew

[woody]

ahhh pup,
I think it was when I first some of your melaleucas, some years back, I decided this was my fav. kind of bonsai. Yours are absolutely awesome!!! Thanks for posting more.
And to all our ANZACS, my thoughts are with you on this day.
Woody

[Pup]

Thank you Woody they are special trees.


Lest we forget.