Jacaranda Trio

[MJL]

Hey Frank - nothing gained from the cuttings - none took. I forgot to take a before photo here but these bounced back from their earlier trim - I had another trim and some re-wire this morning. These are fun to look after even if they’ll never flower because I cut off the flowering branches before they mature (I think).



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[MJL]

I’m liking how this is going …
I decided to rebalance the trees and I think it looks more cohesive now. That said - I didn’t mind the other layout. Jacaranda’s are not common where I am in Melbourne but I am enjoying managing this group.








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[MJL]

I should also note that depending on where the growth comes from… I’ll probably removed weight from the top again. As always feedback welcome.


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[SquatJar]

I'm quite impressed MJL, for small trees with only a few branches you have really captured the feel of a mature Jacaranda. At least the feel of the huge one in my childhood backyard that I spent hours and hours climbing all over.

[MJL]

Thanks SJ,
More luck than good judgement but I am glad it conjures that picture.They are fun trees to work … even if there leaves are too big and very unlikely to flower as bonsai of this size. Still, I like ‘em.


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[MJL]

This trio is a satisfying group to tend. The autumn colours are pleasing and even the brown as the leaves die off in winter look ok to me. Somehow I managed to keep the leaves small - or more accurately, cutting back in late Autumn has meant that they stayed small’ish when the growing season finished. I might let it grow uncut this spring and see if it flowers - usually I cut the leaves before they have a chance to produce flowers.



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[legoman_iac]

Hey MJL,

These are looking great, and enjoying the journey so far!

This is very inspirational for me, as I have a giant jacaranda in my backyard, which drops pods most years ... hence the 80x 2 year old seedlings I have scattered around in small and large pots, which I'm experimenting with. Interesting some have shot twice the height and triple the thickness of others the same age, goes to show each mini climate makes a difference.

Hopefully in a few years I'll be near where you are at now.

Curious about the flowering, and leaf reduction. I've not thought about timing. I found the first crop of leaves generally smaller than some that were defoliated in summer, those grew back much quicker, and bigger ... not what I expected. Maybe should try an autumn haircut next time.

Also, I read somewhere they take about 7 years to flower ... so would we need to keep branches to flower on for that long, do you think?

I think they make great bonsai ... regardless of flower, though do hope for some purple highlights one day.

Thanks again for sharing!

- Daniel

P.S have a bunch more seeds (no guarantee of viability) if you wanna start some more?

[BonsaiBobbie]

This trio is a satisfying group to tend. The autumn colours are pleasing and even the brown as the leaves die off in winter look ok to me. Somehow I managed to keep the leaves small - or more accurately, cutting back in late Autumn has meant that they stayed small’ish when the growing season finished. I might let it grow uncut this spring and see if it flowers - usually I cut the leaves before they have a chance to produce flowers.



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I think it would be great to see if it flowers. Even if it gets really hairy / unkempt in the process, the flowers are just so gorgeous.

But you are right, one of the great thing about jac’s is the colour of the leaves across their cycle.

I have one I working on. I put some bends etc in it. They’ll all get cut off in, but I am hoping that will take via an air layer for another plant.

[legoman_iac]

Ooo, keen to hear how well the air layer works, and what process and materials are used!

[BonsaiBobbie]

Will let you know.

We should be losing the leaves soon and not long till they come back hard and can start the layer.

[BonsaiBobbie]

Here is my Jac layers.

Original tree

88058AB1-9010-45C6-885A-6E38E1028C6B.jpeg

Layer

FE67C5C0-9DDA-4922-92DC-D5C0F8CEB002.jpeg

Sorry no progress shots.

Essentially it was the same as any other layer.

Just sphagnum moss, plastic bag and moisture.

It was really easy to cut the bark back. Beautifully clean.

It took longer than it should have because I didn’t secure the bottom well and the moss kept slipping down (the bag I used wasn’t clear so hard to tell) and exposing the top of the cut. But it had calloused up really well.

There was a lot of last years growth beyond the layer which I just cut off.

It was hard to remove the moss from the roots so they just went in the soil.

IIRC it was losing leaves around the time I made the cut, so I took that as the sign do it down or I would lose things. It bounced back really well. I just gave it a cut before taking these pics