Nodding Banksia (Banksia Nutans) - Western Australia

[Patmet]

Picked up this Banksia Nutans in April this year. It is a very interesting species of banksia native to my local area of Albany WA across to Esperance. It is unique in that it has downward hanging flowers that “nod”, hence the name Nodding Banksia. It also has red/brown peeling mature bark according to Wikipedia. It grows as a bushy shrub rather than a tree in nature, but I think it could be a very unique and charming specimen as a bonsai styled with some sort of tree form. It has very attractive new Purple-ish growth contrasting with the bright green old leaves. The pictures I have taken just don’t do the colours justice in person.

Since acquiring this one I did a re-pot into a nicer well draining media, and a decent cut back, but nothing too major until I found out how it would respond. So far it has responded well to that pruning with a fair amount of backbudding and elongating shoots. I’m letting go for a bit to get nice and strong before I remove some more of the branches - It has two sections with multiple large branches stemming from the same spot that have created thickenings, but that is just what I have to work with on this particular specimen. I’ve taken cuttings from the first prune to get some younger stock to experiment with, so hopefully I can get some of those to strike.

I’ll keep this thread updated with how I go with this species after some more trialling.

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[Jan]

Well, now, this is interesting.

I look forward to seeing how this one progresses. I'm loving the look of the foliage, the flowers and the interesting growth pattern of the flowers. I'll have to check it out to see how it goes with cold (it can snow here) but I might have to see if they are available on the east coast.

Best of luck with it and I look forward to your updates.

Jan.

[Patmet]

Well, now, this is interesting.

I look forward to seeing how this one progresses. I'm loving the look of the foliage, the flowers and the interesting growth pattern of the flowers. I'll have to check it out to see how it goes with cold (it can snow here) but I might have to see if they are available on the east coast.

Best of luck with it and I look forward to your updates.

Jan.

Would be intersting to see if they are available on the east coast, because even here they aren't commonly seen in cultivation. It is quite uncommon to find these at nurseries. I know you can definitely buy seeds online from Australian Seed. No idea how they would respond to frost. I know the humidity would be the biggest challenge for over east as with most WA species this one is sensitive to dieback.

[Patmet]

Just a little update on this one. The trunk has started to thicken, and the swollen knuckles where too many branches were originally growing are slowly starting to blend into the thicker trunk. I've managed to get decent backbudding so far with new branches forming lower down which I'm very happy about. All in all so far so good with this species.

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[GavinG]

This is going to be great fun - it's forming up already. I believe there are a couple at the Botanic Gardens here in Canberra, planted in what looks like almost pure grit, on hillocks, so we'll see how they go.

Please keep posting this,

Gavin

[Patmet]

It's been a little while since I updated on this. It's still going good. I've since potted it into an oversized Luke Parsons bonsai pot I had on the shelf. Also in volcanic based bonsai substrate now. I wanted to see how the roots went being reduced. It hasn't missed a beat which has been encouraging.

In October last year I gave it a decent cut back and wire. I removed some branches that were growing too close to others, starting to create some bulges.

It's in a free growth state now. I want to try get some wire on some of this new growth before it gets too stiff. Still not sure about the lowest right branch, whether I end up keeping it or eventually it goes. I've been trying to encourage growth closer to the trunk which has worked to an extent.

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October 2023 work

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Jan 2024

[EdwardH]

I like the direction that you are taking this experiment. So far it looks like a very good species to work with. Keep up the good work