AusBonsai

i rescued this plant off hard garbage about two years ago. it was horribly pot bound and had two leaves on it. it was also VERY dry.i brought it home, re-potted it, fertilized it and gave it a good drink. It has bounced back and is very happy now.
i was wondering if anyone could id it for me and if it would be a good bonsai.
im very new to the world of bonsai so have very little knowledge as yet but i am looking forward to learning the art.

Could it be a Schefflera or Tupidanthus?

the leaves to me look a bit like an umbrella tree. but they look a bit small for this species???
and the i think the genus is quite large aswell. so im not entirely sure about this either. i am sure someone else can put there 2 cents in and help
it looks like its got plenty of branching so style wise there is plenty of options, just have to find it

I think Grant and Jamie are both right.
The only difference is Grant has given you the Botanical name where as Jamie has given you the common name.

I am not enamoured of them as Bonsai personally. Does not mean much though because there are a lot of them out there.
Pup

Pup wrote:I think Grant and Jamie are both right.
The only difference is Grant has given you the Botanical name where as Jamie has given you the common name.

I am not enamoured of them as Bonsai personally. Does not mean much though because there are a lot of them out there.
Pup

i would of given the botanical name if i knew it
as for them as bonsai, i have seen a few that are of reasonable quality

Yep - I agree with everyone! Just call me a "YES - MAN" !!

Leigh Taafe wrote:Yep - I agree with everyone! Just call me a "YES - MAN" !!

OK yes man

Dot Koreshoff showed one a few years ago and it looked quite good. It was multi trunked and the new leaves after defoliation were quite small.

You can often find some that were used as indoor plants and then discarded when they get big or ratty.

And yes Shefflera and Tupidanthus are both forms of Umbrella plant.

yer. looks just like an umbrella tree. I have seen a lot of these that are just plants put in pots in normal nurseries but have also seen some beautiful ones.

Thank you guy's. That's a great help.
I think i will get a bit more experience with bonsais before i try it on this plant. i would hate to muck it up.

Au contrere. Its a great plant to muck about with and practice.

It is almost indestructable.

Grant Bowie wrote:Au contrere. Its a great plant to muck about with and practice.

It is almost indestructable.

from what ive seen...true that!

OK, ill give it a go .
Thanks again.
Does anyone know any good beginner bonsai sites????

Spekky wrote:OK, ill give it a go .
Thanks again.
Does anyone know any good beginner bonsai sites????

...your on the best one mate

everyone here is really good with help and the forum is a wealth of information. use the sites search engine for what you want and i am sure you will come up with a lot

enjoy.

regards jamie

edit- heres just one thread i found about umbrella trees on the site, gives you an idea of what you could do viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1906&p=18264&hilit= ... ree#p18264

hmmmmmm........www.bonsai4me.com has some fairly good way of explaining the easy techniques and the hard ones