Washington DC peach blossoms.

[kvan64]

I stumbled across a youtube video about the peach blossoms season in Washington DC. These are a mazing flowering peaches. I was wondering what type they are and if anyone have tried them for bonsai.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPUXV65RJBo

[kcpoole]

Nice find and Lovely flowers.
I assume you can speak the same language as I had No idea they were peaches Thought they were cherrie blossoms
Did the announcer say what variety?

I know Cherries are well done and Both clinton and Ray have peaches as Bonsai that flower, but I do not know the variety.
I also have a couple, but they have not flowered yet, and also one that I will be digging this winter that had fruit last year

Ken

[astroboy76]

i have several peaches. one i standard white flowering, the other is prunus percica versicolor. both have awesome flowering displays. peaches and cherries are part of the same family. sometimes it is hard to tell them apart. peaches normally have longer more slender leaves then cherries though.

here are some pics of the varierty of peaches i have. i find peaches great to bonsai, they are fast growing and flower eaily on last years growth.

prunus_persica.jpg

prunus_persica_versicolor.jpg

[astroboy76]

Most prunus adapt well to bonsai. The most common are apricots (prunus mume), peaches (prunus perscia), plums and almonds. Depending on the type, there are many variables in types of flowers, groth habit, leaf size etc.

i have all of the above except an almond. i do have a prunus elvins which when in flower is amazing to behold

[kvan64]

Yes Ken I could speak the language but not fluent enough to get the info. I wanted to find out. I watched the Vids again and found out that they are Japanese flowering peaches and got donated by Japan about 96 years ago. The flowers are just breath-takingly beautiful! Their bonsai must be good too.

And thanks Astroboy for your info. I love peaches too and have collected a few with good shapes. Can't wait to see them in flowers. Any tips for peaches to flower?

[astroboy76]

peaches predominantly flower on last years flush of growth. you have to pick between flowers and structure. once u achieve a basic framework of branches you let teh new spring shoots grow until mid summer then cut them back two 3 nodes. this will ensure the last node will leaf out next spring and the first two nodes should flower. you can also allow the spring shoots to grow till summer then tip them. this should create lateral shoots. if you tip these shoots once they hit two nodes they shoudl produce flowers too

[astroboy76]

if you cut back to only one set of nodes, they will leaf out instead of flowering.

[craigw60]

When I was in Japan I visited an amazing bonsai collection just outside Osaka. All the apricots and wisteria were stored around the back, lovely old trees lots of them with shari. When I asked them about this they told me they only bought them into the main collection for the flowering period.
Craig