Fair price for melaleuca bonsai?

[Ginger Marie]

Hello,

I live in Florida and my son and daughter-in-law live in WA (she is Australian). Their first anniversary is coming up and since paper is the traditional gift for the first anniversary I was thinking about purchasing a melaleuca bonsai from a nursery that is close to where they live. They love to garden and had a bonsai tree at one time before they were married but with moving around I think it was gifted to a friend.

Melaleucas trees were brought to Florida from Australia in the early 1900’s to ‘dry up’ the marshes and even the Everglades to help the citrus industry and land developers. Of course that wasn’t the best of ideas and the melaleuca is now considered an invasive plant species here in Florida. I grew up just calling them ‘paper trees’ not knowing the history of the trees.

Anyway because of the connection between Florida and Australia I thought a melaleuca bonsai would be a cool gift.

The bonsai nursery I contacted has a fairly large melaleuca (129cm tall) that he sent me a photo of and I like the look of it even though it seems large for a bonsai tree I think? I don’t know much about growing/cultivating bonsai trees.

My question is - what would be a fair price for a melaleuca bonsai of that size?

As I said I don’t know much about bonsai trees so I don’t know what someone would normally pay for them.

Thank you in advance for any information or advice.

[greg27]

Their first anniversary is coming up and since paper is the traditional gift for the first anniversary I was thinking about purchasing a melaleuca bonsai from a nursery that is close to where they live.

That is a really cool idea. Love it.

There's no strict size definition of a bonsai; they can be relatively large or tiny. Do you mind posting a photo of the tree here? There are a lot of factors that influence price.

Melaleucas trees were brought to Florida from Australia in the early 1900’s to ‘dry up’ the marshes and even the Everglades to help the citrus industry and land developers. Of course that wasn’t the best of ideas and the melaleuca is now considered an invasive plant species here in Florida. I grew up just calling them ‘paper trees’ not knowing the history of the trees.

I love mels, they're beautiful trees (and many species are great for bonsai!) but even here in Australia some species are considered weeds in certain areas where they've been introduced. All good, we'll just dig them out and use them for bonsai

[shibui]

Big is a comparative term. Most people think of bonsai in terms of the tiny trees that are sold in shopping malls at Christmas but those are far from good bonsai.
At bonsai shows we tend to see many larger bonsai, 2-3 feet tall, that look far more spectacular than the smaller ones and usually end up winning prizes.
Medium and larger bonsai are also far easier to keep alive. Tiny pots dry out in a few hors and trees tend to die quickly, especially for beginners. Medium and larger trees are also far easier to style to look like trees because there is room for real branches and lots of leaves.
The height of any tree is not fixed. Height can usually be reduced, depending on what other options the tree has.

Price is relative. Trees that have taken many years to develop will cost more than simple sticks. Impressive trees that look spectacular will attract a premium. Like all art, the better they look the more someone will pay.
Everyone will have different opinions on what any particular tree is worth. All you can do is decide am I willing to pay that much?

I am assuming the bonsai in question is in WA somewhere? Interstate quarantine means we cannot send trees from Eastern states to WA.

As Greg has said, no-one can assess the worth of any bonsai without seeing what it looks like.

[Ginger Marie]

Thank you for the responses to my post!

The nursery is located in Perth, close to where they live.

Here are some photos of the tree that he sent. I have asked what species of melaleuca it is but haven't heard back yet. Looking online I thought it looked like one of these: preissiana, rhaphiophylla or cuticularis? I think these are all native to Western Australia?

Since I'm not familiar with bonsai gardening I don't know if this is either a good specimen on its own or does it have potential to work with?

Thanks again for any advice!

[tgward]

I don't buy bonsai so am in the dark with prices----would be interesting to know when it was collected and potted into that large pot-- I personally would need the foliage to be more lush or at least some signs of significant new shoots. Given that ,it looks as if it has excellent literati character potential.

[shibui]

I'd be pretty confident that tree would have been collected wild. The trunk has great character and it looks like there is new growth indicating successful transplant but I would still ask how long it has been in the pot.
Bear in mind that the pot is probably worth close to A$100. Always hard to value a tree as so much is in the eye of the beholder but my guess is somewhere around $200-$400????? So much depends on the history. Newly collected it probably doesn't owe the collector much but if it has been kept, grown and maintained for any length of time the owner will want more to cover the overheads.

[KIRKY]

Its a great gift idea. However for that, I wouldn’t pay anymore than $150-$250 max, and thats on a good day.
Trunk has potential, as stated probably collected wild. Needs a lot of work and growth to style it into something better. Unless the potential new owners are into bonsai and know how to progress with it can’t see it developing into much.
Easier for novice bonsai owners to have something already styled to maintain than to have raw stock and not know what to do with it.

Cheers
Kirky

[Rory]

Wow, I would love to own that tree. In my opinion that is an excellent start. Gorgeous trunk!
But you have to realize that you're essentially paying for the trunk, as there isn't any real substance other than the trunk.

If I had the money I'd easily shell out $300 - $500 for that if it has been accustomed to bonsai life and not just plonked into a pot.
But the main concern I would have is to also know how long its been in the pot for, just to make sure you're buying something that is in top health.
You can pay great money for a really well styled tree, but this trunk has a tonne of natural character that would be very hard to replicate.

Having said that, I understand why Kirky says its going to be too far out of their league. This needs to go to a grower who knows what they're doing. Otherwise its going to probably deteriorate or be neglected.

[tgward]

obviously could be wrong but because of the thin lip I thought the pot was a cheap plastic training pot and possibly its' first since collection-- could affect your price

[Ginger Marie]

It looks like 2 of the plants behind the melaleuca have similar pots.

If it is a training pot does it need to stay in that pot for a period of time before transplanting to a permanent, nicer pot?

One of the other reasons I’d like to get them a bonsai as a gift is I know my son would love the challenge of making it into something beautiful and they both like learning new things together. I read some reviews about the owner of the nursery and they were very positive saying he really enjoyed helping people with their plants. He’s just not a big communicator via FB Messenger

So I think my next questions for him will be:

1) How old is it.
2) Was it collected from the wild.
3) What species of melaleuca is it and does it flower (I would like to know that).
4) Is it in a starter pot.
5) And ? ? ?

I really like the size of it (looks just like trees here in Florida only smaller) but also wished it had more foliage.

The more I’m reading about the art of bonsai trees the more interested I’m getting. Maybe I can share their hobby (if it works out) from 11,000 miles away

[greg27]

If it is a training pot does it need to stay in that pot for a period of time before transplanting to a permanent, nicer pot?

Yes ideally you wouldn't want to repot it too quickly, eg. if it's only just been in that pot for less than a year you wouldn't want to repot it this season. If it's been recently collected then there's a bigger risk that it won't survive. The age of the tree itself isn't important (bonsai is about the illusion of age rather than actual age!) but how long it's been out of the ground is important.

I'm with Rory on the $300-$500 range. Plenty of character and potential in that trunk, and if you think your son would be keen for the task then it would be a great choice. Just remember to give him the name of this site so we can all see the progression!

[shibui]

Training pot is just a term for a cheaper pot that probably does not look as good as a high end ceramic pot. Training pots can be ceramic or plastic. Sometimes they are used just to reduce the cost of the bonsai so the seller can sell at a lower price and still make a profit.

A tree can stay in a training pot for as long as the owner wants it to. The only real difference is quality and looks.

All mels flower. They sometimes don't flower well in a bonsai pot if we trim too often because melaleucas flower at the tips of new shoots and obviously can't produce buds if we keep trimming the ends of new shoots off. It is possible to have flowers by learning when and how to trim and when not to.

Jus add 'how long ago' to that question of whether it was collected.
It could also be useful to know how long since it was put into this pot as that can help determine when it might need repotting again and will let you know that it has recovered from any possible transplant shock.

[Ginger Marie]

What a great group! Thank you so much for all the advice!