Flowering Apricot.

[PeterW]

I have never had one of these but if you live in a cold climate and you have access to them, you are very fortunate. The flowers are beautiful.
Peter

[Steven]

Is this one yours Peter? If so, how are you going to tackle it?
S.

[PeterW]

Is this one yours Peter? If so, how are you going to tackle it?
S.

No sadly its not Steven

I have a friend that has allowed me to post 1 or 2 or more trees.
Peter

[Marc]

Hi Peter, I love them, everything about them. their look, their flowers, their bark, their mystical Chinese-mist-shrouded-mountain appeal..

I have never had success with them at all, ever. However, several months ago I bought some seedlings that I planted in large growing containers to give another crack. fingers crossed.

[anttal63]

i too am growing a few. i love their foliage and ramifying as well.

[63pmp]

I have some and really like them, I have a dozen cuttings to be planted out in the paddock this spring.

Pruning is tricky, as there are two types of buds, flower and leaf, some branches may mostly be flower buds, and if you accidentally prune off the leaf buds the branch will die. Also if pruned incorrectly the ramification tends grow out towards the branch tips.

Paul

[anttal63]

paul that is very interesting and much needed information. can you elaborate on the correct methods of pruning please.

[PeterW]

paul that is very interesting and much needed information. can you elaborate on the correct methods of pruning please.

Yes please Paul, tell us what ya know mate!
Peter

[Asus101]

Prunus mume: Prune after flowering.
This work is performed only after only one flower was allowed to blossom on each branch. Pruning at this time is dangerous for the beginner. If you cut without first checking for the pressance of a new bud, the branch will die. After flowering, the buds are still very small so it is better to leave the branches slightly longer than you require, wire and put movement in them and then you can when the new buds have developed.

This was printed in Jan/feb edition of bonsai focus (119 1/2009) page 71 in the article Yukio Hirose's Quest part two. Taken from Kinbon Magazine

Hopefully that helps.

[63pmp]

As requested, stuff on Prunus mume!

To start with, I have several mume trees that I use for stock plants and propagation, I don’t have any bonsai mume, but I will one day, and so swatted up on looking after them.

Training mume is all about encouraging leaf buds and developing ramification, there is a trade off between how many flowers you want and the number of leaf buds needed to get good ramification. Usually flowers are sacrificed in the early years to get good trunk and branch development. The standard pruning procedure for bonsai mume is to let shoots grow for 4 leaves, and then trim to 2. This provides the best stimulus for growing leaf buds.

On mume there are two types of buds, those that turn into flowers, called flower buds, and those that grow stems and leaves, called leaf buds. Flower buds can be distinguished from leaf buds as they are usually more rounded and plumper, while leaf buds are sharp. The closer to flowering the easier it is to tell, as obviously, the flower buds swell and the leaf buds don’t.

Ornamental mume, the only kind I know of, tends to focus more effort on flower buds then leaf buds, the leaf buds tending to form towards the ends of shoots. This is a problem in that it is possible to accidentally prune all the leaf buds off, if so, the sap flow will stop and the branch will wither and die.

Pruning can be done at three different times. The best time is just after the leaves fall off in autumn. It is harder to distinguish between the buds, however pruning at this time tends to stimulate the dormant leaf buds further down the stem. This is good in that it makes new stems closer to the trunk and develops ramification. You can also prune just before the plant flowers, or just after, as the leaves are coming out.

Trees that are a little weak tend to put more energy into flowers than in leaf buds, so a shoot may only have one or two leaf buds on it, usually at the tip of the stem. If a tree is left weak for a long period of time the leaf buds will disappear from the inner branches and the tree will develop poor ramification, making an ugly leggy bonsai. Strong plants tend to grow lateral buds on the nodes closest to the base of the branch, which are useful in forming new branches. When you prune early, just after the leaves fall, more of these buds will form.

I took some photo’s of my trees, but now is not the best time to see buds, as they are every small, but I put some in anyway. There is also pruning techniques regarding the stimulation of dormant buds, but that will have be at another time.

[PeterW]

Very informative, thanks very much for your time on that. I wish i could have them here, ohhhh maybe just one to see how it goes!
Peter

[anttal63]

paul thanks heaps for that. very informative indeed. i look forward to more.

[buddaboy]

Hi guys,
I have some pictures for you all. I havent posted these before because my tree is in development like most(all) of my others, but I have a Mume growing big & strong. We all read on these and other forums about choosing trees for your climate and not trying to get too far away from the natural environment of the trees. For the climate issue, Prunus Mume can be grown in Central Queensland. I bought a seedling on Ebay from a Brisbane seller. It has gone so good these last two years I bought another one last Nov, and it is the first tree Ive ground planted. The sellers Ebay store if anyone is interested is:
http://stores.ebay.com.au/JAC-Rare-And-Unusual-Plants

I have no affiliation with this seller except that I have bought seedlings and seeds from them and they arrived healthy & viable. This is the tree that I really worry about all the time.Anyway, on with the pics:

I prepared the pot with heavy gravel at the bottom then smaller gravel and finally potting mix.

Japanese Flowering Apricot02 27-01-2007.JPG

I allowed a sacrifice branch to grow almost at soil level to allow the trunk to develop.

Japanese Flowering Apricot06 15-05-2008.JPG

In June I finished my night shifts and the missus said "You should look at your Apricot tree."

Japanese Flowering Apricot07 17-06-2008.JPG

Japanese Flowering Apricot08 17-06-2008.JPG

I got about eight flowers all up, and they didnt last very long. I have removed the sacrifice branch last month which the scarring is healing nicely, and will repot it this July. I dont know if it will produce the mass of flowers that they do in colder climates, but I quite like the look of its foliage anyway. This tree stands in full sun in the middle of my yard all year round.
Ron

[Yuffie]

Sorry I know this is an old post, but I just bought a couple of mume seedlings from this guy on ebay. For the fruits, not for bonsai, but I can see the bonsai potential after reading up on bonsai over the last few weeks.

Anyways,living just a few suburbs away I picked the seedlings up from his place and he showed me around his garden. There were two rows of 10 years old mume planted in front of his house about 2.5 to 3 m tall, and they've just finished flowering with a few remanant flowers on a few branches of a couple of the trees.. the rest of the branches were covered densely with tiny developing fruits, so I can imagine what a spectacular display it was when they were in flowers. He said the fruits should ripe in September, but he'll need to thin the fruits to get bigger fruits ^^ So it does grow and fruit in the subtropical Brisbane...

[astroboy76]

hi 63pmp and everyone else,

here is a pic of my mume, its quite large, and has great potential but i am a littel scared to get stuck into without as much knowledge as possible. i have since cut back all the flowering shoots to 2 sets of nodes. i potted up about 50 cuttings and most still seem to look fresh so thats a great sign! i may end up with more mume then i knwo what to do with. i am also planning on taking a few airlayers off it. any advice on this tree or ideas will be GREATLY appreciated and if my cuttinsg take i am happy to share them...who needs 50! lol i will also have a few prunus percia versicolor cuttings soon. they are a multi colorued flowering peach. each branch has a mixture of crimson, pink and white flowers. i have attached a few pics. im happy to share the wealth so if anyone si interested in any cuttings, let me know and if i have great success i am happy to share

mume1.JPG

mume2.JPG

mume3.JPG

mume4.JPG

mume5.JPG

Below are just examples of the prunus persicolor versicolor

prunus persica versicolor 2.jpg

prunus persica versicolor 3.jpg