[Natural] Melaleuca Ericifolia - Ryceman3

[Ryceman3]

I am having a thing for paperbark mels at the moment and I found this guy today which I also think will do well in this comp. They have nice fine foliage and a propensity to develop quite quickly.

Wiki says :
Melaleuca ericifolia, commonly known as swamp paperbark, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and the genus Melaleuca, native to south-eastern Australia. It is a rather variable species and some specimens resemble Melaleuca armillaris but its papery bark and smaller, more prolific flower heads distinguish it from that species.

And the pics :

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[Ryceman3]

As with my other Mel entry, this one also got a repot today and a bit of a foliage trim at the same time. It has shown some nice growth over the last 4 weeks or so and seems to be nice and healthy to date, hopefully it will continue to push new growth after this :

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Again, like my other Mel, I have cut back the foliage hoping for a bit of back budding that may make my styling options a bit clearer. The smaller branch that comes out over the top of the trunk from the base was one of the reasons I found this tree interesting when I got it, although I'm not sure exactly how I'll incorporate it into the final design - plenty of time to figure that out I guess.

[Ryceman3]

Update : Gave it a bit of time to recover from the previous work and then put a bit of movement into that branch I was talking about. My plan for this is??? GROW!

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[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Coming along nicely R3. You've done well with wiring some movement into that straight branch - no snapping?

[Ryceman3]

Coming along nicely R3. You've done well with wiring some movement into that straight branch - no snapping?

I might have heard one or two protest creaks and cracks along the way ...
I think it should be fine though - it has continued to put on green since then so that is a good sign.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Yeah, I strategically snapped a few branches on my comp tree whilst wiring recently. I said a few cuss words... but it's all good.

[Rory]

Looking great. These make beautiful Bonsai. Can’t wait to see this one develop.

[Ryceman3]

Looking great. These make beautiful Bonsai. Can’t wait to see this one develop.

Cheers Rory, and I agree - lots of good characteristics in these to develop a decent bonsai. I reckon there are a lot of Mel species that you can say that about, I have a project coming up just to prove it!

[boom64]

Well done R3 ,
Going to be a beauty ,love that wired branch. Looking forward to see were you take it. Cheers John.

[Ryceman3]

After watching a weekend of natives getting worked on and in exhibition, I felt like I should get out there and get some stuff done on a few of my own. This one had a bit more wire added and a few bends incorporated. How much of these branches/trunks I actually keep I'm not entirely sure, but I reckon a bit of movement was required so I stuck a bit more in. I gave it a small cut back (not below green) to try and encourage some buds lower down, I think that'll be it until Spring for this tree.

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[Ryceman3]

Update time ...

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[Rory]

Great progress on this. This should go ballistic over the next months.

[Ryceman3]

Did a bit of work on this during the week so probably time to update the thread.
It had grown on well to a height that was making it problematic to remain on the shelf so I cut it back pretty hard and did a bit of wiring.
It's going along quite nicely, at least I'm happy with it.

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[KIRKY]

Looking good, these are one of my favourite Mels.
Cheers
Kirky

[Ryceman3]

Looking good, these are one of my favourite Mels.
Cheers
Kirky

Thanks Kirky, I like 'em too. Nice small foliage, they grow like stink and don't mind being wired/chopped/manipulated/whatever. Definitely lots of positives that's for sure.