AusBonsai

Hello!

I found this bad boy at Bunnings. The tag says "Serpens", evergreen, flowers. I reckon its been wrongly tagged cos the price on the pot wasn't what I got charged at the register

I couldnt find anything Serpens or snake related in here, but I think it may be an olive just going off the leaves and trunk color etc.







Alot of potential... thinking about just cutting it all back to a couple of main trunks and build up from there. Maybe I will start a progression series....

Thanks in advance for the IDing

Cheers,

Nick

Solved
By Rowan - Agapetes serpens Himalayan Lantern

kinda looks correa like but i've never seen a base on 1 like that

Agapetes serpens
HIMALAYAN LANTERN, FLAME HEATH

Plant type: evergreen shrub or scrambling climber

Sunlight: warm low sun to dappled light

Soil Moisture: constantly moist

Soil: enriched soil, acidic to mildly acidic

Tolerances: light frost

From Wikipedia: Agapetes serpens is a semi-climbing shrub species native to the Himalayas, 40–60 cm tall, grown as an ornamental for its attractive pendulous benches of red tubular flowers blooming over a long period. It is mostly grown in climates from cool temperate to sub-tropical. Propagation is from cuttings.

Thank you Rowan!

Now I just need to figure out what to do with it!

I'm not really a fan of big bases myself but in this case I am really interested to see what you do with it and if the branches ramify easily.

Yeah I'd better think on it before I go in and cut it all back...

parabola wrote:Thank you Rowan!

Now I just need to figure out what to do with it!

OMG Agapetes and a bloody nice twisted root base on it too.. you can send it straight to me.. I have been hunting one of these badboys since i sold my last one 2yrs ago... silly thing to do.. regretted selling it the moment it left my hands...Where did you get it? How many more did they have? Would you get them & post to me (begging smiley)

They dont thicken quickly but ramify easily if it is strong & healthy. They will shoot back on old wood but its best to leave some growth & wait for a bud to appear where you want before cutting back further. Repotting can be done anytime the plant is active tho best in spring. It looks a bit tight so i would just slip pot without disturbing much root for now, next september you can repot & reduce the roots to just those tuberous ones if you really want.

New shoots are very long but can be cut back repeatedly, thus giving you the ramification quickly... Mine always grew in full sun & during winter the leaves turn scarlet red the more sun they get! Followed by beautiful striped red/orange bell flowers hanging from old wood in spring, even very old bare trunks & branch bases vcan flower if the spurs are intact. They flower on spurs that are minute & barely noticable and very delicate, any handling of trunk or branchs will rub them off & reduce flowering. Tolerate wire tho watch for cutting in & scarring of the thin bark, best trained using clip & grow methods which it responds to brilliantly.

Matt

Matt! I did a search after it was ID'd and saw your thread looking for one. Seems they are not really common and I am yet to find any decent pictures of them as bonsai.

I just came back inside from slip potting it actually for its appearance there wasnt much in the way of a root system either. Nice and shallow. I have trimmed it back a bit, but am yet to take pictures. Its looking clumpish at the moment, but could go semi cascade.... or a fat based broom...

Oh and thanks for all the advice I will take it onboard.

I can put you in contact with the Bunnings I scored it from as the lady said they can order in specific species if you want you think that would apply in your region too. Thats if there is a big green building around your area?

Wow thanks dude... i will get my butt down the local green shed see what they got... If they dont have it heres hoping someone knows enough of what they doing to be able to find out where your store gets them... dont realy know how the chain works re stock etc...

The rootsystem doesnt sound right for what I know of these guys so its just as well you repotted. My guess would be its been staying too wet, while they dont like to dry out they need perfect drainage.. any wet feet will cause rot double time, those chunky roots are just water storing flesh.....

They are not common as garden plants.. even less so as bonsai 2 that i know of, the one I had and another that i saw in Geelong a few years ago (its how I got mine ID'ed). I will have a chat to the club member who bought it & see if she will let me take some pics of it for you.

Another thing to note is they do not heal well, so any big cut scars remain.

I look forward to seeing where you take it.

Matt

I really like it when someone posts a plant I've never heard of before. This one's a real doozy and I'll look forward to reading about its progress.

Ron ...

MattA wrote:... i will get my butt down the local green shed see what they got..

There's some online here (go down the page a bit):

http://www.yaminarareplants.com.au/cont ... dTrees.htm

Ron ...

EDIT: forget it: minimum order is $200!

Ron wrote:

MattA wrote:... i will get my butt down the local green shed see what they got..

There's some online here (go down the page a bit):

http://www.yaminarareplants.com.au/cont ... dTrees.htm

Ron ...

EDIT: forget it: minimum order is $200!

But they have meiniana, moorei & smithiana as well as repens One of each please like I need any more trees... I got nowhere to put them!

At $15 & $20 per 6" pot isnt bad given how hard these guys are to find nowdays... especialy smithiana! Getting to $200 is not a hard task with Yamina's range...

I could easy hit $500 on plants from their catalogue.... So many plants, so much garden to fill and then theres bonsai!

Matt