Don Blackmond
Omono
Nice looking tree. I like it.
A Crape Myrtle Project
- Thread starter johng
- Start date
JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
That is one heck of a tree. I'm very happy that you shared it with us. My obsession lately is with colored and mottled bark trees recently so I am loving this thread. Beautiful job getting the branching where you wanted it.
I have 2 small crapes, they are cute, but I'm a bit envious of this guy!
I have 2 small crapes, they are cute, but I'm a bit envious of this guy!
reefed419
Sapling
I see where you say the tree is easily 100 lbs. but do not see any other size info on this beauty, wondering how big the finished product is?
terry
Yamadori
Very nice John. I have a couple I am working on (several years behind yours) and am having trouble reducing leaf size. What has your experience been?
Terry
barrosinc
Masterpiece
do you have some pics with flowers??
Hey Terry...leaf size has never really been a problem with this tree. I suspect as yours develops more ramification leaf size will reduce.
Sorry Max...I can't recall this one ever blooming....maybe one or small blooms early on when I was really letting it grow out.
Poink88
Imperial Masterpiece
I have one w/ huge leaves and they reduced drastically after I moved the tree in a much smaller pot. I plan on moving it back to a wider pot next year to speed the branch thickening and healing of the trunk chop.
I'd say on average the leaves went down to 25% of the original and that is w/o ramification yet. I originally planned on grafting it because of the leaf size but now, I will just try to reduce it first.
Don Blackmond
Omono
Its coming along nicely. I feel the urge to remove the bottom left branch. Do you?
bwaynef
Masterpiece
Any plans to deal with the size of the lower branches?
Thanks Don!
Absolutely...since the beginning I knew that branch would need to be removed...now that the other branches are filling in a little bit it might soon be time. I wish there was a little more space between the next set of branches up the tree.
barrosinc
Masterpiece
these don't bloom when in bonsai pots unless you let them extend a lot?? There are so many of these trees in Santiago! I am looking around for houses going to be demolished to get my hands on one, but I kinda wanted flowers on it.
amethystearth
Sapling
They are summer blooming plants that bloom on new growth. So yeah, you want blooms, you're tree is gonna look leggy. I imagine fertilizing low nitro until the first bloom might help shorten leggy growth.
Eric Group
Masterpiece
That is true for full sized,molder varieties like the Nachez, but I think some of the newer ones, especially the drawn species bloom a little faster and easier... And tend to bloom more even if you prune them frequently... All seems to depend on the species!
Whether blooming or not, I love CM! The twiggy growth and interesting bark are attractive enough features to make great Bonsai... The fact the heal wounds well, propagate from cuttings easily take well to pot culture and are tough as nails is just icing on the cake!
Gorgeous tree John.. Great stuff man. Ima need to get a chainsaw I guess to deal with the one I got from you! I did some work on it last year... Trying to clean up the base some and find the future trunk line...
amethystearth
Sapling
fascinating thanks. have you posted this tree you speak of before? Sounds cool What's your favorite cultivar to work with?
Eric Group
Masterpiece
There are so many different types of CM I honestly cannot keep track of many the names... But I like the purple ones the most!
I generally prefer not to use the newer dwarf cultivars.. It is my own little issue I guess but I have a couple reasons why- this is stupid to many I am sure, but it kind of feels like cheating to me to bonsai a tree that was created to be a dwarf... They basically genetically bonsaied these new little CMs to have small, twiggy growth, tiny leaves... It sort of takes a lot of the challenge out! Doesn't mean they aren't cool trees when done well... Doesn't mean I am talking down to anybody who uses them or any other species of really small dwarfed tree... lord knows Chojubai could be considered sort of the same thing and they are hugely popular in bonsai right now and I kind of want one myself! It is really only these new little CMs I feel that way about for some reason... Irrational? Perhaps, but that is just how I feel about them!
I also am kind of down on some do these new varieties as well because there are literally people trying to tell you that you can't propagate them by cuttings! They view it as intellectual property or something. They created the trees and don't want us popping branches off and rooting them.. Well.. I think that is stupid! I am not against people making money off of trees, plants... But trying to control what I can do with one after I buy it? BS. One of the things I enjoy most about plants and trees is the "magic" of propagation! Someone who wants to take that away so to hey can try to corner the market on a plant? Nope... Not for me. I could "fight the power", buy one and rip off a bunch of cuttings... Be a propagation criminal... Or I could just avoid the trees and stick with the "regular" CMs which I love... I ave thus far chosen to he later.
Yeah... Most of that is kind of tongue in cheek. In truth I just haven't bought one of the dwarfs yet and may well do it one day.. til then I will continue to create my own silly excuses for why I do not own one! LOL
I love most of the dwarf varieties! Pokomoke and tightwad are my favorites. They ramify and bloom very well in containers....without leggy growth! A little more sensitive to cold temps that the standards....dwarfs need good winter protection. I don't really care for Chickasaw...it doesn't have a natural looking growth pattern to my eye....but I still have a couple. I pushed my tightwads really hard last growing season trying to develop some ramification quickly. They responded like demons and bloomed 3 separate times last year!
It will soon be time to repot this one...Eric, I could use your help, this one is such a monster!!
It will soon be time to repot this one...Eric, I could use your help, this one is such a monster!!
amethystearth
Sapling
that's awesome! I'll look for dwarves (even though they grow so slow :[ )
3 full blooms is nice. We get them more often than that outside of pots here. Maybe I could squeeze a few more out of them
Eric Group
Masterpiece
Just let me know John- You know I will help you!
