AusBonsai

After another year I took some updated photos today in flower

I have only let a few of the foliage areas flower as I still need to develop the smaller branches, but as I am a sucker for flowers I could not resist leaving a few there to show off

I will repot and root prune in a few weeks after flowering.

Ps, Bodhi does this backdrop look OK

Ken

Only just seen this thread.... Great work on the tree! ... And the photography is improved.... Maybe multiple light sources ( both sides) with the dark background. Looking good!

kcpoole wrote:Ps, Bodhi does this backdrop look OK

That is doing beautifully Ken. The second piccy is better without the creases in the back drop. The lighting and backdrop skills needed for .."the perfect pic"..is well beyond me but i know how necessary they are to make the tree sing. When it gets a full flush of flowers it is going to be BRIGHT.

That's glowing:)

That's glowing:)

matlea wrote:Only just seen this thread.... Great work on the tree! ... And the photography is improved.... Maybe multiple light sources ( both sides) with the dark background. Looking good!

Was taken Outside this afternoo after the sun went behind a large tree and I do not have any artificial lights. Will have to invest in some tho.

Bodhi the Creases are from some bricks I use to weigh down the cloth. A little wind blowing today so had to use something. Will have to waht other solutions I can come up with

Thansk Brett

Ken

Love the tree, thought I'd post something that a friend (professional photographer) told me, work outside on an overcast day (best lighting ever) stand the tree at least 4 ft, prefeably 6 ft away from the backdrop, (not always possible I know) use a tripot if your hands are not steady. play with angles (up/down as well as side to side) When I follow her advice My photos are much better. I use the side of the house as a backdrop, but I have tried/played with tacking a sheet over the bricks. My biggest issue is what I stand the tree on...

That tree is turning into a prize specimen! Well done. However:

I believe it is Azalea kurume, - "Alba Magna" and the original tree woud have been in the ground at least 50 years before collecting

The flowers seemed a bit large to me for a Kurume Azalea, so I looked it up and there doesn't appear to be a Kurume of that name, but there is an Indica (Indian-Belgian). I found a nice website titled "In Praise of Older Azaleas" that features the Indica Alba Magna. Since you said that you estimated the plant to have been in the ground for at least 50 years before you dug it up, your bonsai may well be the Azalea indica Alba Magna.
http://gardenezi.wordpress.com/2012/06/ ... r-azaleas/

Lisa

Now I see it on the big screen that base is a ripper. Do you have any plans for replacing the high branch that is a little thick? Maybe just shorten to the first-secondary to reduce the wieght?
This will be lots of fun for you, not for me I would kill it

Thanks Lisa
I only had a Guess or hint at what it was, so will go with Indica

Brett I have looked long and hard at the branches on the left, but are reticent to remove it. The ones on the right you can see will be let go to try and thicken them up to match the others.
One on the right was grafted on 2 years ago, and the other is a bck branch. Bith need to develop some more over the next year or 2 and the lowest one on the right will also become larger as well.
Balancing the branching and foliage is where I plan to head with this one. maybe just a little disgusing in stead required on that one?

Ken

As have the weekend off work and some time to spare, I got to work on the Azalea today.
They need to be cut back to remove any wild summer growth and then be left in peace until after flowering.

I trimmed it back all over back to 2 - 4 leaves on every shoot. It will now back shoot everywhere, and set the Buds for spring flowering, and I will only selectively remove shoots i definitely do not need in the future development of the tree.

In Sydney, best not to trim Azaleas at all after January if you want to have flowers in Spring.

Enjoy
Ken

It's just amazing that you've created that tree out of the stump you started with. That upper left branch is thicker than some of the lower ones, but it looks great. Can't this also be achieved with my LA here:
viewtopic.php?f=129&t=13323

Hi Ken great achievement. Your soil does seem to work very well with this tree. If it were mine I would probably live with the thick high branch by disguising it behind some foliage - a perfectly legitimate technique used regularly by Japanese masters to disguise faults in essential branches.

That said you could remove the offending branch back the the first shoot on it (behind the branch) and allow the branch to extend again.

haveaniceday
Dennis Mc

Great looking Azalea Ken, I agree with Dennis about disguising the offending branch.

Hope you don't mind the virt.

Hi Shannon and thanks for the virt
At the end of last year I have a long discussing with Clinton re that branch and hiding it.

I wired a little shoot off it to the front and down, so that it will develop and hide the branch. Looking at your virt, it should be OK result

Ken