calestimon speices for bonsai

[plantmanky]

Hi guys,

I'm new here and actually from the United States but have been using Australian plants for bonsai for a number of years. I have seen some great C. ridigus bonsai but I was wondering how C. Citrinus (C. lanceolatus) works. It has a broader leaf than some of the other species but it's the only one I have at my disposal. How are they at taking root pruning is my real question for sure. I have one that I've been growing up for a few years and it's got a 2 inch trunk on it now in a 7 gallon container and I am planning on cutting it back to force buds next spring. I have never worked on the roots of this tree before and don't want to do anything stupid with it. How agressively can the roots be worked on in your experience? Thanks in advance for your knowledge.

[FlyBri]

Gday Plantmanky, and welcome to AusBonsai!

I can't speak of Callistemon citrinus from direct experience, but the Bottlebrushes I have worked with took to root pruning just fine. In some cases, I have removed as much as half of the roots when taking the trees out of large nursery pots. I just found a link for C. citrinus Bonsai, and it would appear from this that they are a good specimen.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

Fly.

[Steven]

G'day Plantmanky, great to have you here at AB.C!
Even greater to hear that you are working with Aussie natives in Paducah, Kentucky. Are they readily available for you?
Regards,
Steven

[Kunzea]

Hi Plantmanky
Great to read that you are growing Aust. natives way over there in Kentucky.

I haven't grown C. citrinus, but have worked with several other species and found they are all pretty much the same. Having said that, C. pallidus has behaved a little differently. It took some 6 months or more to recover from a major repot.

The major repot referred to was the collecting of about a dozen plants some 15 years old from a shopping mall where the landscaping was being changed. We collected the trees, cutting them off at about 500mm above ground (this was below any green leaves for all of them). Many were all bare-rooted, literally. No soil left on the root system at all, only long spikey roots in the winter air. All trees survived. So I learned that one can be pretty brutal where necessary with bottlebrushes. I wouldn't normally bare-root trees, but these were pulled out by the contractors before we got to them. After that we worked infront of them, getting the trees out before they cleared them out.

Cheers
Kunzea

[Kunzea]

By the way, Plantmanky

What other Aussie natives are you growing? It would be very interesting for us down under to know what is working way up there.
Kunzea

[plantmanky]

By the way, Plantmanky

What other Aussie natives are you growing? It would be very interesting for us down under to know what is working way up there.
Kunzea

Kunzea and all,

Sorry to have been away so long but I had a medical problem (anurism on my aorta) that has kept me on my back for the last few years and I'm finally getting back on my feet and play'n with my bonsai again. Actually there are quite a number of Aussie natives that are avaliable here in the US but hard to get where I live in the middle of the country. A quick list of the ones that I'd love to play with are; Callistemon (of course since I have one), Leptospermum,Acacia,Casurina,Grevillea and others that escape me for the moment. In general, the American Bonsai community only uses Casurina to any extent and that's mostly in Florida where it has escaped and become naturalized in the environment. One of my personal goals is to popularize your Natives and see at least the ones avaliable through the nursery industry here be used as bonsai material more. Now that I'm back on-line, i'm sure that the list will grow quite a bit for sure. I hate getting old and having my memory not as agile as it used to be. I must say, I just love to be back here and reading about those Australian natives again!

Ta ta for now mates!!!
Randy Davis

[kcpoole]

Nice to see ya back Randy
Even nicer to hear you are getting more Aussie natives too

Look forward to see you sucess stories too

ken

[Pup]

Randy nice to see someone in bluegrass country trying Australian natives. The tree that probably escapes you could be Melaleuca ( paperbark ) another introduced species that has escaped in Florida.
Melaleuca decussata, it has small mauve flowers.

I have seen your C, citrinus in the alpine section in Wisley Hirticultural Gardens in the UK. So it should go well.
Of all the Calistemons I have grown, this is one that I have not. In the past when I knew very little I just watched the tree.
All work was carried out just prior to bud burst. As Kunzea has pointed out they do take brutal treat ment.

Trying our natives in your climate will be of interest to us all down under so please take care of your self and keep us informed.

Cheers Pup

[plantmanky]

Pup,

It's nice to know that Callistemon is hardy and can take some rough treatment. I've been afraid to work on the roots of the one that I have but now I'll give it a go once I chop the trunk back one more time to get it to the right size. They certainly bud back well. I have been quite suprized how hardy it has been in my unheated greenhouse this past winter when it got to -4F outside. I'm not sure how low the temp got in the greenhouse but I'm sure it was below freezing (at least I think). There are lots of your natives that I'd like to give a go at but find it almost impossible to find them where I live. I'll have to make a trip to California to see my brother and cruze the nurseries to see what I can find. I have a hankering to get Leptospermum lavigatum and have always wanted to try Grevillia noelii (not sure if it works for bonsai though). I would be intrested in knowing your experience with the species of Eucalyptis and Acacias that work well so I can look for them here in the states. I'll even heat my greenhouse in the winter to get them to survive. I have been very impressed with the pictures of your natives that I've seen here on the site! WOW is all I can say.

ta ta for now
Randy

p.s. your right I was thinking about Melaleuca but I was also think Hakea