Bonsai at the Extreme of their Natural Range

[Bretts]

I have been growing Silk Floss tree Chorisia speciosa from seed. They will be heading into their second winter and are going well. I believe they are related to the Baobab tree and are tropical. Last Winter they had grown through their pot into another pot so it took me a while to get them into the shade house. I was surprised how well they handled the light frost of early Winter. They are still all in one pot, in fact I am considering leaving them like this as a Forrest but they are already in the shade house away from the hard frost that we may get over Winter.
Here is a picture in flower for those that don't know this species.

Floss%20Silk%20Tree.jpg

And a close up of the Trunk

BG - Tree.JPG

I will try to remember to upload a picture of mine and their cute little spikes that are just starting to emerge on the trunk

[Bretts]

Well I haven't seen many
Picked this up yesterday so I have something a little bigger than my seedlings to play with and see if I can grow them out here

larch.jpg

[craigw60]

Hi Brett I think you better move to Scotland with your passion for cool climate trees
Craig

[NBPCA]

Hi Brett I think you better move to Scotland with your passion for cool climate trees
Craig

Och Aye Laddie.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

Banksia serrata grows down the east coast of Australia and I believe it grows on some of the bass strait islands and just on the northwest tip of Tasmania.

A very large bonsai one in Melbourne died a few years ago and another struggled through the last summer(a cold February after some leaf stripping ).

Is melbourne at the extreme end of the range of Banksia serrata?

Has anyone else had any bad experiences with B serrata?

I am always curious about experiences with Banksia.

Grant

[kcpoole]

Banksia serrata do well in Sydney I think. I am sure Ray Nesci has at least one.

Ken

[Grant Bowie]

Banksia serrata do well in Sydney I think. I am sure Ray Nesci has at least one.

Ken

Hi ken,

Sydney is in the middle of its natural range so would do well there.

I was more interested in info from further south.

Thanks

[bodhidharma]

Mine struggle here Grant and most of mine have died. I think they are not frost tolerant . My experience has been that they stop drinking and then develop root rot. The leaves yellow and then they die. The yellowing of the leaves suggest not enough food but i know that has not been the case with mine. Q.V has a nice one though. Mind you, i have a wonderful tree growing on my property but they struggle in a pot culture.I have the same problem with figs.

[Grant Bowie]

Mine struggle here Grant and most of mine have died. I think they are not frost tolerant . My experience has been that they stop drinking and then develop root rot. The leaves yellow and then they die. The yellowing of the leaves suggest not enough food but i know that has not been the case with mine. Q.V has a nice one though. Mind you, i have a wonderful tree growing on my property but they struggle in a pot culture.I have the same problem with figs.

Thanks for that and very interesting.

In Canberra we can get frosting of some leaves of B serrata and b aemula but the trees seem hardy here otherwise.

Maybe in pot culture the trees can't take prolonged cold and frost. Is your area mostly dry or somewhat wet?

Grant

[bodhidharma]

We were dry for a long time and then the drought ended and we had non stop rain for two years. Maybe the trees could not adjust to the two extremes. I have one at the moment in a very large pot and we are experiencing sunny days, then going into very, very cold nights. I am now noticing yellowing of the leaves but only slightly.

[Grant Bowie]

We were dry for a long time and then the drought ended and we had non stop rain for two years. Maybe the trees could not adjust to the two extremes. I have one at the moment in a very large pot and we are experiencing sunny days, then going into very, very cold nights. I am now noticing yellowing of the leaves but only slightly.

Banksia do suffer from root rot in adverse conditions so that is a possibility. Leave any major work on foliage or roots till it warms up but also don't leave it till too long after Xmas just in case you have a short summer as well.

I am currently in your neck of the woods ( well within a few hundred klms) and it is cold and wet.

Grant