AusBonsai

Hello All

Well I have some inspiration after seeing some beautiful flowering (thanks kcpoole) trees. Now I have never looked at trying my hand at flowering trees but I think I would like a few just sitting on the shelves and see what happens over the years.

So I only have the big B shed to go to and get some stock and I was wondering what I should look for. Any help would be great.

I do like white flowers but would be happy with pink as well.

Cheers

Crepe myrtles are hardy. You can get hybrids which are powdery mildew resistant and they come in a few colours including white. You can get white bougainvilleas occasionally too, but I haven't seen any where you are shopping. Bougainvilleas are very hardy in the warmer climates.

How about Azalea's ? Surely they are easily available over there ?

I haven't had much luck with getting my Crepe myrtle to flower but Bougainvilleas and Azaleas are going well.

Here are some of my trees that are in flower at the moment.

Creeps flower at the tips of current season growth in spring/summer. Are you pruning it off accidentally? Mine are all junior plants so I have to let them go nuts sending shoots everywhere to get flowers. I still don't know what colour 2 of them are, ha!

I have chopped it back really hard now and will re-pot it in spring to see if that makes a difference.

It had never looked the best, it always looked like it got sunburnt. lol
I'm going to move it to a cooler spot in the garden.

I think it was PaulM's advice, and I have been doing it for a while: prune the crepe myrtle fairly hard in winter, pinch back to two leaves twice in the new season, then leave it to grow long to set flower buds, using a flowering fertiliser. You need a reasonable size tree so the longish shoots don't look too much out of proportion. Spend a few years to get a nice meaty trunk - ground grow it for a few years, or in large pot, long and thick each year and cut back once in spring. Develop the branches later.

Should be more grown, I think.

Gavin

Bouquet - go the plum mate, everyone should have a prunus in their collection.
OK - I like plums.

Thanks for all the replies guys. As I said I only had the Big B to get a few little trees. I will get a couple shots and a description of what I purchased.

I do love your pink flowering azalea mtarros. How old is that one and was it grown in the ground. The nerbari on her is magnificent.

Thanks I like her nerbari too

The azalea was just a big clump style that I picked up from a standard nursery and I just cut it back to one single trunk line and rebuilt it all.

I have had it about 3 years below is the progression comp awhile back.
viewtopic.php?f=145&t=9222

thanks for the compliment and glad I can inspire others
Azalea, flowers in spring and in leaf all year round so look good at any time
Bougy, Flowers in Autumn and some are semi deciduous, Very hardy.
Hi biscus, larger flowers and larger trees will suit them, but lovely in leave and super easy to look after.
Any of the prunus varieties, ( I do not have any, but think that) they Flower in Autumn and fruit thru spring if you are lucky loog good thru winter with bare branches

Ken

The picture of my Azalea was only taken yesterday and its in full flower.

The only issue that I have had with my Azalea is the lace bug, I have to always spray it stop it from coming back.
I was told you have to spray all of you Azaleas but if your neighbour has one with lace bug its going to keep coming back.

You can get Hibiscus with a smaller flower, I have a white one in the front garden and its almost 3 times smaller that the red one planted as the back yard.

Ok so I have taken the plunge and purchased a couple of Azaleas and Camellias from the big green shed. A couple 100mm and 200mm pots. Nothing special and the trunks wouldn't even be 1cm.

So a couple questions:
1. Can I bare root the nursery stock now removing all the soil so I can get them into an open mix.
2. If the trees can be bare rooted, when would be the best time to get them into growing pots in an open mix.
3. Would I be correct in thinking just fertilize heaving and give it time to fatten the trunks.
4. Let it grow free for a couple years then prune hard, repeat every year.

Again thanks for any advice.