Brachychiton rupestris grotesqueii

[melbrackstone]

I bought this as tubestock in 1991. It's been ignored and left to its own devices over the years with one or two trunk chops and a bit of tie wire. A year ago I started to feed it again, and 3 months ago I potted it into this Marie Hewartson round pot.

Thoughts please? (I'm tough, I can take it.)

bottletreea1.jpg

[GavinG]

I like it. The airy foliage and the gnarly base is echoed by the airy accent leaves, on it's own over-sized base.

If it were mine, I'd have a look at tilting it a little bit more vertical. At the moment the top is too light to balance the pot and roots when it's way out the side - if it was a little more upright (not a lot) it might tie them in together just enough.

Just my 2c. It's a strong composition as it is.

Gavin

[melbrackstone]

Thanks Gavin, I'll look at lifting it a bit next repot! The top certainly is much lighter, and I can't seem to get the leaves to stay small, so it's a little bit of an experiment in what I can do with it.

Of course my next test will be finding stands that work with the both of them...I just put this together today to see if they might compliment each other. Been told that both stands are over the top, lol!

Hubby is going to get his woodworking tools slaving away on some "proper" stands for me.

[boom64]

Hi Mel ,Love the trunk and those fantastic roots. Pot is spot on. Maybe a little bit of movement in the bottom branch. Cool Tree .Cheers John

[melbrackstone]

Thanks John, it's a little "Loch Ness-ish" with those roots, so the plant doesn't sit in the right position, but definitely eye-catchingly grotesque when seen in the flesh.

I suspect I'll be able to separate and add movement to that bottom branch fairly easily, and once it's sitting up a little more should look a little better. (fingers crossed!)

This weekend I'm taking it to our club's exhibition, that way I get a taste of what it's all about, and hopefully will get some more experience on preparations necessary for a show.