AusBonsai

Hello all

A potter friend of mine just did a couple of virts for me of my satsuki 'kinsai' in two pots i got from him. This tree started out as a big (as big as me) old stock plant that a local nursery had once been using for cuttings. I finally got it from them after weeks of consistent and determined pestering. They didn't even know what it was. The label was worn out but if you licked it and held it to the sun you could see it once said 'spider azalea' ! I hoped it might either be kinsai or chojuho (they grow both and they both have 'spidery' flowers). Arthur picked it as kinsai straight away. It got its first chop with Hiro Saitu at a workshop. After struggling to get it in the station wagon on the way in i won the 'take home a bunch of sticks in a pot' prize for the night It bled copiously at first until the roots were done, and significantly reduced, the following weekend. Now it is going well and with a long way to go i will be STOKED if it one day ends up looking like the virt. Anyhow thought i'd post it up for something to do with myself tonight enjoy.

very nice, this is going to be a corker of a tree!!! i like it, im not sure of which pot i would put it in though

Thanks Jamie The good pot is probably a way off yet anyway. Got to grow the top back and reduce the roots a bit over the next few seasons anyhow. The oval is a bit deeper which might be a safer bet in our hot dry summer but they both look good. I don't know either I'll just try and grow the tree first

nice tree mate i'd go with the rectangle if it was me. it just speaks to me more

Cheers Regan

i like this raft a lot! im not a big azalea fan but this one looks the good, great score, i can see why you pestered and pestered, i would of too!

could you give us some sizes? i dont think this tree will be a super long project to get it to a shape where you like it and get it in the pot
it would be quicker in a grow box but looks to be developing well in the pot, have you trimmed back much?

Cheers Regan, the rec does look great, i couldn't resist it.

Hey Jamie, its pitch black outside !!! but its roughly 30cms tall and 35 wide, not so big. The oval pot is 15.5" and he added an couple of inches height to the virt.
Its only had a couple of trims and a bit of wiring so far. We changed the lefthand side a bit to get a triangular shape and make the central tree the dominant one of the group.

nice stock mate and nice virt, kinsai have really nice flowers!

Cheers JayP Yes nice red flower, should look good with the black of the oval - though apparently its a very very dark green.

Hi Neal that is a magic base for an Azalea , persistance does pay off .Cheers

Great base Neal! There is no reason why it should not look like the virt. Is that the design Hiro sketched too. I would have the tops a little more rounded.
The second virt is the right pot IMO

Very nice acheivement. Was the root work difficult? What did you do to reduce the massive/woody root system? Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Alpine
Hey Ant, Hiro's sketch was slightly different. We didn't want to vary from his plan too much but because the left side shot back very well, right out to the tips but the centre only shot 2/3 of the way up the centre needed reducing a bit and the left had togo down quite a lot to balance it all up again.
Hi Kvan, the roots were quite a job. Azalea's have quite fibrous roots, but there was lots of washing out of old soil and some decent chopping. They can handle it though and it really needed it to stop it pumping so much sap out of the cut branch ends. I'll try to get the roots shallower still over the next repots so it can go into a nicer pot.

Hi Neal,I have spent a bit of time looking at your azalea which is a very fine score. You should definitely go for the more rounded outline which is very much in keeping with the species. Here in Olinda azaleas are a stock standard in every garden and they always make nice very rounded shrubs. The rectangular look is more typical of a conifer.
Craig

Hi Neal,
I love the tree thanks for sharing.
The oval pot would always be my first preference for a clump or multi trunk style.

Regards Gerard

Really great tree mate, that's got to be the best azalea stock I've seen yet! It's going to turn out a beauty this one
good luck on it.

Hugh