Twisty Callistemon

[Starfox]

Hey all,

Thought I'd share a recent purchase of a new Callistemon, it was labelled as citrinus but it may actually be be a viminalis. Not overly important I guess.
Anyway I was super happy to finally find an Aussie native from a reputable bonsai nursery here in Spain, it's the first one I have seen at least and I practically snapped their arm off as soon as it was listed.

It definitely shows the difference between bonsai people growing stock out for bonsai purposes to the normal nursery stock I can find in garden centres over here.

What is interesting is that they have scrubbed the lower bark off and presumably have carved into a scar to expose the wood beneath so I get the feeling they were possibly heading towards exposing some live veins. Not sure why else you'd scrub the bark away.

Still I'm stoked with it, plenty of options going ahead, nice beefy trunk and horrible pot.
I probably will leave it mostly alone until spring/summer now, I'll let it flower and remove what I don't want and give it a new pot too. I should probably do something about the scar to at least seal it properly until I muster up some courage to take that further, not sure what though as that is all new to me.

[Sno]

Nice score . I think they probably scrubbed off the bark when they were removing moss . Going on the moss still growing on the trunk it would of had heavy moss growing on the base . If you use a small paint brush dipped in white vinegar it will kill off the moss growing on the rest of the trunk . I have to ‘ paint ‘ some of my trees at least twice a year .

[Ryceman3]

That is a nice and interesting trunk line, very cool.
The other interesting thing in the post is the age of your Coopers stubby, it looks to have seen a bit of sun, but at least it's empty!
Good luck with the Callistemon, it looks like fun.

[melbrackstone]

Nice find! I'd do what I could to get rid of that moss and the ground cover. That stuff is a shocker, and will take over your plants, including the rest of your plants if you don't get rid of it. If you dig it out put it in a plastic bag and keep it clear of the rest of your garden.

[Elmer]

The difference in the lower bark is due to originally being below soil, it will eventually look like the upper bark given a decade.

[shibui]

I'm glad to see that we are not the only country that is plagued by that starweed in nursery pots. maybe it is such a successful invader that it is worldwide now. Take note of Mel's advice. Get rid of it now before the exploding seedpods spread seed all over your other pots and also keep watching for new ones that will come up from seed in the soil.

The trunk on that Callistemon has good shape and some interest in the dead area. Not sure about the mass of shoots at the top but I'm sure you will manage to tame them into some sort of shape given a bit of time.

[Starfox]

Nice score . I think they probably scrubbed off the bark when they were removing moss . Going on the moss still growing on the trunk it would of had heavy moss growing on the base . If you use a small paint brush dipped in white vinegar it will kill off the moss growing on the rest of the trunk . I have to ‘ paint ‘ some of my trees at least twice a year .

Cheers, yeah it's possible they did because there is loads of moss on the back too. Moss doesn't tend to last long here over summer but now it's getting cooler I think I will try the vinegar out, I would like to see what is under there and if there is any rot that needs removing.

That is a nice and interesting trunk line, very cool.
The other interesting thing in the post is the age of your Coopers stubby, it looks to have seen a bit of sun, but at least it's empty!
Good luck with the Callistemon, it looks like fun.

I was really surprised by how good the trunk is as opposed to the pics they showed. Hope they have more somewhere out back.
Ha yeah, I don't get Coopers often so I always keep a couple of old bottles as a reminder of proper beer until I make another order. They don't last long though.
Thanks

Nice find! I'd do what I could to get rid of that moss and the ground cover. That stuff is a shocker, and will take over your plants, including the rest of your plants if you don't get rid of it. If you dig it out put it in a plastic bag and keep it clear of the rest of your garden.

I have started plucking some of it out already, it goes into a garden waste bag I have that stays well away from my compost heap, the council can deal with that. I agree it's horrible stuff and must take up plenty of resources from the pot.

The difference in the lower bark is due to originally being below soil, it will eventually look like the upper bark given a decade.

Possibly that is how they started it, it's been in the pot for a while though going by the long roots coming from the drainage holes.

I'm glad to see that we are not the only country that is plagued by that starweed in nursery pots. maybe it is such a successful invader that it is worldwide now. Take note of Mel's advice. Get rid of it now before the exploding seedpods spread seed all over your other pots and also keep watching for new ones that will come up from seed in the soil.

The trunk on that Callistemon has good shape and some interest in the dead area. Not sure about the mass of shoots at the top but I'm sure you will manage to tame them into some sort of shape given a bit of time.

Between that stuff and the spurge it's an ongoing battle, I get mostly on top of it then boom it comes from nowhere. At least I can check daily and pull them as I see them.

It is a bit woolly up top and most will have to go so will look a bit bare afterwards but there is usable stuff in there. I'll ponder it over winter and see if I want to rotate the front slightly and go from there.