It's PLUM Time

[Watto]

In my area the plums are flowering, and of course everyone should (must) have a plum or two in their collection.
I would encourage everyone to post a photo of their plums (in flower or not, doesn't matter) for this season.
I will kick off with one.

[Snipz]

Just a stick but I'll put it in a basket and grow it on; beautiful flowers tho

This is down in Vic at the girls place (Can anyone advise how I rotate pics??)

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[Watto]

Very interesting flower there Snipz, thanks for posting.

[MJL]

(Can anyone advise how I rotate pics??)

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Hey Snips, nice flower! I am not sure what phone or photo editing software you might use but rotating photos is usually as easy as clicking on an icon that looks like this

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Each click on an icon like that should rotate the photo 90 degrees anti-clockwise each time.

Hope that helps.

Mark

[SquatJar]

If you're on a PC, just open the image with paint, rotate and save. If it opens upright in paint, crop a tiny portion off then rotate it 360 degrees and it should fix the rotation issue when you upload on ausbonsai

[Snipz]

Thanks Mark/Squatjar; I'm uploading straight from my iPhone and when I've tried either the work laptop or home Mac they still come out on there sides even after rotating... Weird voodoo

[Sno]

My only plum . I just dug it out the other day after being in the ground a few years and put it in a garden sieve .

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[Jake fowler]

Here is my plum though not bonsai I am hoping to get some air layers very soon

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Plumless... feeling empty inside... BUT ALL I CAN FIND ARE UGLY GRAFTED STICK FREAKS!!

Don’t talk to me. I’m sulking right now.
Just carry on with the pics please …don’t want one anyways.

[shibui]

Plum flowers have not opened yet. These have but I think they are some sort of cherry?

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I do have a couple of plums. Just collected from a cow paddock last spring so they are pretty raw sock still. Roots seem to heve re-established so I should be able to start doing something with them this summer.

This is the larger one. It has 2 trunks but the one at the rear is really thick, straight and no taper. I chose the tree for the trunk shown here at the front which has a bit of movement and better taper except for the bulge where the thick branches were growing. I'm hoping some carving to reduce the thickest branch stub will alleviate that. Meanwhile start to build some branches from the new shoots that have sprouted.

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The other one has more movement in the trunk but it also has the problem of reverse taper where the original trunk and a couple of branches grew. The scar where the original trunk was removed is currently large and flat. I'm planning to hollow that out a bit until the taper looks better. Still not certain which angle to use for the viewing front or whether to keep either or both of the smaller trunks. All that will become clear after the initial carving and as the branches start to develop.

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[terryb]

Plumless... feeling empty inside... BUT ALL I CAN FIND ARE UGLY GRAFTED STICK FREAKS!!

Don’t talk to me. I’m sulking right now.
Just carry on with the pics please …don’t want one anyways.

I had my eye on some seedlings but was beaten to them by the council "weeding" crew. They missed a small stunted, damaged one -will see if it reshoots.

[shibui]

Edit to my post above: turns out those white flowers are indeed plum - Prunus 'Elvins' I believe.

Feral plums along the sides of the road are now starting to flower as well as the ornamentals in gardens around town. I've noticed 'Elvins?' and a double pink flowered variety today.

[Watto]

Thanks Shibui, I was worried because my cherry never flower this early.
I noticed that Sno has a plum with some movement which is difficult to find, usually they are straight when you find the wild ones.

[shibui]

I noticed that Sno has a plum with some movement which is difficult to find, usually they are straight when you find the wild ones.

Straight trunks are far more normal on most plants and that's what most people collect. Many just take the first trees they see. I look at all the wild trees but pass on most. If you look long enough and in the right places you will find the more interesting trunks.
Trees that have fallen or been pushed over then continued to grow. Trees that have been grazed and continued to grow. Trees that have grown up through other plants forcing twisted trunks. Trees that have multi trunks and low branches so you can eliminate redundant parts and just retain parts with better taper and interesting movement.
Collecting crap trees is useful to learn what works and what doesn't but really good potential is not common. You really need to look at a lot of possibilities and take just the best.

[Sno]

Thanks Shibui, I was worried because my cherry never flower this early.
I noticed that Sno has a plum with some movement which is difficult to find, usually they are straight when you find the wild ones.

Jeez boys you aren’t looking hard . I snuck down to Canberra to go to a Canberra Bonsai society meeting because it was such a miserable day in the mountains . On the way home I dug this one .

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.it may not turn out to be much but it does have some wild movement . There was a few more similar there which is now a secret spot .
So My secret spot is part of the the old Monaro Highway . I was half way through digging when a high way patrol copper drove up next to me and asked me what I was doing . Here I am under a big old plum tree digging one of its off spring , which has become a dumping ground for old batteries , asbestos and even some old adult videos ( this is our society ) .
My inner thoughts were ‘here we go ‘. But with a smile and spade in hand I approached his vehicle and said ‘hi I grow bonsai and I am digging up a tree to turn it into a bonsai . With out letting him answer I continued on that I was driving home from going to a CBS meeting in Canberra and that I had some bonsai in the car which I had taken for” show and tell “ and he could have a look if he wanted .
Well to my dismay he declined to look at my trees , saying it was ok . I repeated that he was more than welcome to look at my trees and I was happy to show off my trees . He said “ no it’s ok he had a report of suspicious activity and he was just checking it out . I said he should come and check out the tree I was digging because it had some great movement . He declined , I was a bit disappointed because I was excited with my find . I think he thought I was a bit crazy .