Flindersia bonsai?

[Hornet]

Anyone ever tried flindersia as bonsai? Any hints or tips regarding this genus? We have quite a few growing locally and they are very attractive tree's. On my way home from the dalby area today i popped into a nice nursery at the bottom of the toowoomba range. I asked the owner if they had any over grown, root bound, discounted stock in hope of finding a nice melaleuca, casuarina or eucalyptus to have a play with. They mainly had cypress, lilly pillys, a few fruit trees and a couple of flindersia australis. I picked one up for $10, approx 6ft tall, no branching or foliage down low but appears to have a nice flared base from what i felt under the soil. Hoping it will back but if i chop it low. Anyone ever worked with these?

John

[smith]

Hi
I’ve just come across this post and I’m wondering how it’s been going.

Cheers Adam

[dansai]

Hornet hasn't logged in for about 5 years so you probably won't get a response from him.

I haven't tried Flindersia as bonsai but I have grown them before. I have also grown other rainforest trees and have tried a few for bonsai and I have found that getting branching can be very difficult as they tend to want to grow straight up fast. They can get bushy when grown in full sun in the ground, but tend to only have 1 leader and no, or very spindly branches. Add to that large compound leaves and I think you will struggle to make a bonsai with them.