Prunus angustifolia

[pjkatich]

Happy New Year to everyone.

P. angustifolia is a species of plum that is native to North America and is known locally as the Chickasaw plum. According to my reference material, this species of plum was cultivated by native Americans (Chickasaw Indians) before the arrival of European colonists.

Here is a current photo of one of my Chickasaw plum bonsai.

IMG_0029b.jpg

This particular tree was grown from a stump that I collected in 1993.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Paul

[astroboy76]

i like it alot. do u have any pics of it in flower?

[Damian Bee]

Hi Paul,
Its great, I like the movement in the branches and the trunk with the deadwood, it gives the tree a wild and dramatic look
If I may, there is a bit too much going on with the branches (in competition with the trunk) or they are a bit out of proportion (to me) with the trunk (too much space between the bends) and need some cutting back but I don't know what the end plan is for this tree and I am not sure how these trees grow.
Anyway, I have several plums which I dug out of my Grandmothers as suckers, this tree has given me some inspiration for them

[bodhidharma]

Hi Paul, lovely tree. Any thoughts, well, no. Just more ramification to take it from lovely to stunning

[Ozmad]

Hi pjkatich
for me the main front hanging branch needs to come up more, following the line of the next branch on the left side of it. The first 2 branches on the main trunk i would remove to open the space up on the main trunk, this shows the main trunk off better.Also on the main hanging branch there is a near the top of it that comes straight out towards you, at the end of that branch the twig goes to the right. It needs to be shorten by at least half it's length. If it has a bud on the opposite side to it going the other way(to the right) it would really suit that branch. Other than that ramify, ramify, ramify. i have done a virtual on it, but it seems it doesn't what to post,I will keep playing around to see if i can load it

[pjkatich]

i like it alot. do u have any pics of it in flower?

G'day astroboy, I appreciate you taking the time to comment on this tree.

Unfortunately, I don't have any recent photos of this tree in flower. Over the years, this particular bonsai has not been a dependable bloomer. However, there appears to be a good number of flower spurs on the tree this year. I'll post a few photos of the tree when it does flower.

Cheers,
Paul

[pjkatich]

Hi Paul,
Its great, I like the movement in the branches and the trunk with the deadwood, it gives the tree a wild and dramatic look
If I may, there is a bit too much going on with the branches (in competition with the trunk) or they are a bit out of proportion (to me) with the trunk (too much space between the bends) and need some cutting back but I don't know what the end plan is for this tree and I am not sure how these trees grow.
Anyway, I have several plums which I dug out of my Grandmothers as suckers, this tree has given me some inspiration for them

Hi Damian,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this tree. I appreciate the constructive feedback very much.

In regards to your comments about the branches, yes, there is a bit of clutter. However, for Prunus bonsai this is not uncommon. Some of this is due to the growing habits of this particular species. Keep in mind that for Prunus species the main goal is to provide a branch structure that shows the flowers well. This means that you do not always adhere to the standard branching practices.

Good luck with your plums,

Cheers,
Paul

[pjkatich]

Hi Paul, lovely tree. Any thoughts, well, no. Just more ramification to take it from lovely to stunning

Hey bodiharma,

Thank you for the positive feedback.

Unfortunately, with regards to ramification, this is probably as good as it will get. This species does not lend itself to very fine ramification. This is mainly due to the growing habits of this species. Even in the wild, they do not develop a very dense canopy.

Regards,
Paul

[pjkatich]

Hi pjkatich
for me the main front hanging branch needs to come up more, following the line of the next branch on the left side of it. The first 2 branches on the main trunk i would remove to open the space up on the main trunk, this shows the main trunk off better.Also on the main hanging branch there is a near the top of it that comes straight out towards you, at the end of that branch the twig goes to the right. It needs to be shorten by at least half it's length. If it has a bud on the opposite side to it going the other way(to the right) it would really suit that branch. Other than that ramify, ramify, ramify. i have done a virtual on it, but it seems it doesn't what to post,I will keep playing around to see if i can load it

G'day Ozmad,

I appreciate you taking the time to do a virtual of this tree.

I think your vision has a lot of merit and I will take your suggestions into consideration as I move forward with this tree.

It's always good to get constructive feedback like this.

Thank you very much.

Cheers,
Paul

[lennard]

I think your vision has a lot of merit and I will take your suggestions into consideration as I move forward with this tree.


Cheers,
Paul

Very nice tree Paul. Do you have picture from the current left hand side?

I do like Ozmad's virt - makes the tree a little lighter.

Lennard

[pjkatich]

Very nice tree Paul. Do you have picture from the current left hand side?
I do like Ozmad's virt - makes the tree a little lighter.

G'day Lennard,

Thank you for taking the time to comment on my tree. I appreciate the compliment very much.

Here are a couple more photos from different angles.

In this group of photos, the tree is being turned counter clockwise from the original picture. This series shows the left side of the tree around to the back.

IMG_0021a.jpg

IMG_0022a.jpg

IMG_0036a.jpg

IMG_0039a.jpg

Cheers,
Paul

[Damian Bee]

Thanks for the tip on the prunus flowering Paul, I have an Apricot in a box which is a confusion of leaves at present, if you have time I will post it (or perhaps that would be better done in late Autumn here, August) as I am stumped with it at the moment
Any help is good help.

[pjkatich]

Thanks for the tip on the prunus flowering Paul, I have an Apricot in a box which is a confusion of leaves at present, if you have time I will post it (or perhaps that would be better done in late Autumn here, August) as I am stumped with it at the moment
Any help is good help.

Damian,

I would be more than happy to help out if I can.

One thing I would recommend is looking at photos of established Prunus bonsai. This may help train your eye.

Good written information on the styling of Prunus species is a bit elusive. If you have access to a copy of Bonsai Techniques II by John Naka, you will find some short. but informative sections covering the styling of Ume bonsai.

A photo of the tree without leaves would offer the best opportunity to offer some constructive advise.

Cheers,
Paul

[pjkatich]

It looks like spring has arrived in my little corner of the world.

Here is a current photo of this plum tree in bloom.

IMG_0001a.jpg

IMG_0010a.jpg

I hope you enjoy.

Cheers,
Paul

[Damian Bee]

PJ, that is a nice mantle that tree has
When it comes time to shape up the Apricot I will post it up.
I really like that trunk movement. I can get my hands on John Naka II. Thanks for the tip