My New Azalea

[mtarros]

Hi,

I picked up this little Azalea up on the week end and was thinking of trying to make a Bonsai out of it, the only concern that I have is that the trunk is a little long?
Not sure if I can bend or pot on a different angle?

There are also some little branches growing low so not too sure I I should leave them grow to get some more thinckness in the tunk or just remove them.

I would be very grateful for any feedback on how this could be styled.

[Mitchell]

G'day Mtarros!

Lovely little plant there!

Your question is un-answerable with the current shots. What we have atm is a longish straightish trunk with a pom pom of foliage.
A lot like many of mine. I have been collecting varieties of Kurume for a few years now. Most are just growing on. I have found though when they get to this stage, it is hard to control / envisage a tree within the mass of green.

I would trim selectively, some of the branches coming from the middle, if you don't you'll end up forming a bulge on the trunk there anyway, hard to get rid of without some decent carving.
Once you trim out some of those shoots (leave plenty to work with), post some more shots.

Though in all honesty I just enjoy these plants for their floral display, some decent branch structure is good, but their pretty colours make up for alot.

Keep us posted!

[Mitchell]

Just noticed the Buzzings label.

May I ask what variety? Is it a kurume? I have found Buzzings is stocking a lot of Kurume's. I watch the stock and grab the ones that have genetic defects, like small leaves. I see thousands come through, but only take the ones which have unusually smaller leaves than the others. Probably have about 10 varieties of Kurume now. I actually found a great specimen, an Australian variety of Kurume, it has leaves 1/3 the size of a standard variety Kurume. I was particularly happy to find that one.

Thanks for your post.

[mtarros]

Hi,

Yes it is a kurume, I went to Buzzings for something else and come home with an Azalea.

There was another one that I was looking at that had a better trunk and bigger branches but It looked like alot more work.
Starting to think that I should have taken both of them.

I'll have a look at trimming it a bit on the week end and posting some more pics.

Will try and take it easy with the trimming this time.
My first tree that I tried trimming ended up looking very sad.

[Mitchell]

My advice, if you want something a bit special, collect kurume, satsuki has been down to dead and they suck at flowering (sorry sats owners, Kuru promo going on here) they are a bit unusual and i love them.

i reckon ken will back m up here, I believe he has a few as well. I would like to know why he collects them. Ken?

[mtarros]

Hi,

I have cleaned it up and there was a little bulge but nothing too big.
There are a couple of fronts that I'm looking at and it's looking better now.

I have a pot that I would like to plant it in but just wanted to find out if it's a good time or do I need to wait for it to stop flowering?
Also how much of the roots can you usualy take off before running into issues?


The pot is a lot thinner that the current pot.


I also got my self a Kirin Azalea that has much smaller leaves and alot more branch selection.