Plum air layer

[greg27]

I'm a huge fan of Watto's amazing plum tree (https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/view ... 32&t=27791), so I decided to attempt to shamelessly copy it, beginner-style, more to see how I went than anything!

I air layered a plum tree I have growing in my back yard a couple of months ago, and chopped it off a couple of weeks ago after the endless rolls of heatwaves were over. It seems like it has a mass of roots in its pot which is nice.

Just this morning I noticed a nice surprise - it's well and truly confused about what season it is!

[shibui]

Well done on the successful layer. Not sure what you are planning with such a straight trunk though

It is not unusual for flowering trees to produce a few flowers at the end of summer. There are some wisterias flowering here (garden) at the moment.

[greg27]

Not sure what you are planning with such a straight trunk though

This one's definitely more about the air layer attempt than anything, but I'll see what I can make out of it to keep the experiments going.

The parent tree (and the two others I have, purchased and planted at the same time) have only ever flowered in spring so it struck me as unusual, but the weather's been all over the place so who knows.

Now that I've taken my photo would it be worth removing the flowers so energy goes towards growth? The parent does produce some fruit but not a lot.

[shibui]

I don't think one flower is going to exhaust the tree.
out of season flowers don't usually set fruit but feel free to take it off if you think it might be fertilised.

I guessed you may have been honing skills rather than producing fantastic bonsai potential. Trees like these may never produce show stopping bonsai but they are great for learning and practicing techniques. I can see some branch development and some carving practice coming up