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.

[melbrackstone]

This tree is still powering on, despite my severe lack of care. I have repotted it a couple of times since sharing pics here, but am now thinking this really needs a different container. It kinda looks unbalanced in this deep pot, don't you think? Any suggestions?

259823088_1273885599701730_4404404961728441743_n.jpg

[Raging Bull]

Hi Mel,
it would look better in a shallow oval pot, set closer into one end, leaving it in its current "C" shape. So very similar to what it is now but in a shallow oval.
Cheers, Frank.

[melbrackstone]

Cheers Frank, I agree a shallow pot, and set to one side. Wondering if it should be quite a lot longer as well. Was looking at rounded rectangles...

[GavinG]

Nice progression, and nice bend - that's not easy in a Brachychiton, I think!

For me, the large root mass at the base can sit very easily in the pot the depth that it is - that harmonises for me. For the health of the tree it feels a little small, but I wouldn't go too large with the pot either - the drama of the tree "flying away" would be less with a great lump of pot grounding it.

Thanks for posting.

Gavin

[melbrackstone]

Thanks Gavin, it's surprisingly whippy still, the top three quarters, at least. I've removed the wire since that photo was taken, and it needs to be done again, since it's jumped back a bit. The bottle trees are pretty tough, and this one has survived being in quite small containers compared to the one you see here. I take your point about the drama, so will think on it a bit more, thank you!