Azealea flowers

[Noramay]

Just couldn't resist putting up some pics of my two azeala's flowering,
have no idea what types they are, so if you have and ideas as to what they are, please let me know, also won't say no to any style ideas for them either.

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[MelaQuin]

I would not quite say 'silly'. Yes, they are a wee bit out of proportion but that just makes the mini look more mini. Once you develop more branching and ramification and more flowers it will be stunning with a small trunk and a crown of blossom.

Can I suggest you get it out of that pot and put it in something a bit larger. Azaleas like constantly moist soil [not wet but NEVER dry] and you are pushing your luck with a pot that tiny. Azaleas are usually a bit overpotted and even if you put this tree in a larger bonsai pot as a training/growing pot the tree will benefit.

The second tree needs a good cutback once the flowers are gone and it starts shooting to encourage more branches to develop closer to the trunk. I am no expert having only just added about 5 azaleas to my collection this year but I do a regular workshop with an azalea expert and what I am passing on is what she says to do.

I prefer to start reducing branch length once the tree is sending out new leaf buds. When I cut back I am pretty severe as I want the new branches to elongate and branch and still carry foliage close to the trunk. There are two philosophies with azaleas. Grow them for the flowers or grow them as a bonsai that flowers annually. Considering azalea flowers last about 2 weeks and that leaves 50 weeks of tree, I go for the bonsai/tree styling and any flowers are a joy when they are present and the tree presents well the rest of the year.

But just remember, azaleas don't like to dry out. Keep up the good work. You have the basis of two nice minis with these trees and as well as your tribe of 3, you can encourage your tree family to grow and improve under your supervision.

[MelaQuin]

The top tree would look stunning in a midnight blue pot. NOT a bright blue - the pot would fight with the flowers for attention. A glazed midnight blue or dark green would look lovely and set off the flowers beautifully. The rust pot kinda clashes with the flower colour and the flowers are so lovely you don't want any distractions from them.

[kcpoole]

Hi Nora
I like the first one as I think a few large flowers on a small tree look stunning
Any morhe than you have woud be too much for me

The second I like but I woud remove a few branches ( the back one from the low trunk) and shorten the rest back. Bring the foliage in a little closer and tip prune thru the summer to increase the denisty of foliage on each branch

Make the Aread of foliage more pronounced by creating definite "Negative spaces" between the branches

Make the overall outline more rounded and denser crown.

I have included a rough little virt of maybe give an idea of what I mean.

ps I have one with a very similar flower in the garden here

Ken

[MelaQuin]

Keep in mind the ratio of 6 to 1 - the height should be about 6 times the width of the trunk. The bottom azalea has a nice trunk but the branches are getting way out of proportion to the thickness of it. The shorter the branches the fatter the trunk looks and the older the tree looks. But this tree is young and with cutting back and styling you have a couple of years to get it in a lower and more compact and create a great setup for a crown of flowers.

[MattA]

Nora, that is a sweet little Azalea, it looks to be about 3" tall, am i close? Is there a prize if I am

Keep in mind the ratio of 6 to 1 -

Here we go again with the ratio's... No offence Melaquin but I try to ignore anything under the heading of rules/guidelines/ratios... I have seen stunning bonsai with ratios of 2:1 right up to 50:1 that work (all trees worthy of Kokufu) and even more that meet the 6:1 ratio but fail dismally as bonsai...

Please people take those books that state anything about rules or ratios & start a bonfire... your trees will never be the best they can be if you live by the tape measure and a set of rules... left back right left back right I see a goose-stepping bonsai on parade...

Matt

[nealweb]

I agree with melaquin and ken. The first one looks great. Azalea are often grown as a short tree with a think trunk. Having smaller foliage is more important than the flowers. Then the tree as a bonsai looks right. The flowers are only there for a short, beautiful, dramatic time and a few large flowers can look amazing. You see it done alot.

The second one is very nice too but I also think that you need to remove atleast one of the branches from the left hand trunk (as in kens virt) if you leave so many coming from the same spot you will often get it swelling there. I would take out the back one, and if a nice shoot were to appear slightly higher up on the middle one then i would consider using it to replace the left hand branch too. I'm not sure if I would remove the back branch coming off the right hand trunk though as it gives depth to the tree.

Nice trees! I love popping on here of an evening and seeing all these beautiful trees, what a great time of year!

[Noramay]

Thanks for all the advice guys, will defenitly give the bigger tree a good prune back and look at removing one of the branches on the left side, will do it soon as is budding everywhere and no more flowers in sight, might even take it the bonsai meeting in Sale this Sat to work on.
Thanks for the vert Ken it gives me something to aim for and without it I might have cut it back alot more.
Ok as for the little tree, sorry MattA shes not as little as you think she stands 6" tall soil to top of leaves (higher wif flower)
I will keep an eye out for another pot, didn't know what sort of flowers she would have when she was put in this one, though have had no probs keeping her moist and the pot is about 5" square so probably alot bigger than you thought Melaquin.
When I purchased her she was about 10 times the size and in a bad way, everytime I tried to do something she would snap, hence her size and shape is her own fault. the soil she was in was rock hard and wouldn't take water though she wasn't root bound and had very few roots which is why I was happy to put her in a much smaller pot to start wif.
Any ideas on what type of Azeales they are?
Thanks to everyone for the advice Cheers Nora

[craigw60]

I would hazard a guess and say your azalea is in the indica group. And I have to say I am 100% with Matt on the ratio issue.
Craigw

[GavinG]

The numbers don't matter. Everybody agrees on bring foliage back in to the trunk, to make the trunk more significant. The ratio is just an indicator.

Splendid trunk and spectacular flower on the first one - very concentrated.

Gavin

[akaruhi]

The numbers don't matter. Everybody agrees on bring foliage back in to the trunk, to make the trunk more significant. The ratio is just an indicator.

Splendid trunk and spectacular flower on the first one - very concentrated.

Gavin

Just to add a little note to all that has gone before. Yes they look like Indicas to me. Two important points to also remember are. One: The line of the trunk is very very important and can be seen in all interesting bonsai - particularly azaleas.
Two: If you have largish flowers you can either grow it tall or as a short but thick trunked small bonsai. In between sized azalea bonsai frequently doesn't work quite so well as they can look top heavy and require some field growing to establish a good trunk and primary branches..

I hope this helps - you've obviously got them nice and healthy which is essential before doing major work.

Arthur

[Noramay]

Thank you everyone for all the great advice, I will take it all on board.
Since posting this I have been keeping an eye out for a new pot for my small azeala, and have been waiting for the other to stop flowering so that I can give it a trim back, the more I wait the more flowers pop out so have decided to post a couple more pics.
I am also babysitting a friends azealea (her only bonsai) have posted a pic for any advice on styling as I will be giving it a trim before its returned to her, will take any suggestions on this too...
thanks in advance Nora