Buttonbush CLUMP

[Joe Dupre']

I had spotted and marked this buttonbush on the side of the road this past summer. It was on the edge of the road in the ditch. It sat in water most of the year for most of it's life. It looks to have been hit and trimmed and pushed over by mowing equipment ( a recurring theme in my collected bonsai ). As I dug it, it seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, hiding in the aquatic vegetation. The smaller of the two was a ground layer of the large clump. There was yet another ground layer from THAT tree that was 3/4" in diameter. I planted it at the edge of the bayou behind the house.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nice find. I love the thick trunk(s) for what in my area is usually thin shrubby bush. The washtub full clump is particularly striking.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Thanks, Leo. We have a lot of swamp around here and these "shrubs" get as much as 8" in diameter where they haven't been disturbed. You can see these two have a definite lean, no doubt caused by mowing equipment.
So, people who mow highway, pipeline and power rights of way, do so sporadically. They buzz cut trees and shrubs 4" to 8" high, wait a while until they grow a bit, and then buzz cut them again. Sort of like what bonsai people do. Cool.

 

[JosephCooper]

Hmm...

I've never seen a buttonbush bonsai before, this will be interesting

 

[Joe Dupre']

Joseph, I've seen them in pictures but never in person. The leaves tend to be big, so to miniaturize them is going to be a learning experience. Some trees I grow are destined for the "interesting" category and not the true bonsai category. It's all good.

 

[JosephCooper]

destined for the "interesting" category

You are right; there are many species that do not adapt well to bonsai (like Blueberry or Guava) but are grown because not many people have tried it before and it leaves a unique specimen.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Some people get bent out of shape when I call some of my trees "bonsai", so refer to those specimens as "interesting miniature trees". As far as I know, there are no rules for that.

 

[sorce]

Dope.

Sorce

 

[Joe Dupre']

I'm back after a bit of a tangent. We fixed up our old house bought a new one, cleaned and painted every interior surface in the new one and sold the old one is a little over a month. Whew! I haven't got the permanent bonsai benches set up but have many of them displayed on the old cypress beam.

Anyway, the buttonbush has exploded with new growth. I stopped counting after 50 shoots. Lots of choices.

 

[StoneCloud]

Nice Joe!!!

How's it going with this tree? I just picked one up recently.

 

[Joe Dupre']

It's been cleaned out considerably. I got rid of a bunch of trunks to simplify the design. No currejnt pics. I'll update when it leafs out.

 

[BackyardBonsai]

The bald cypress in the river would look good in a bonsai pot.

 

[OTown]

I'm pretty sure I collected a button bush this winter. It's budding out all over the place. Can't wait to start working with it. Got any advice? Do they wire up ok?

 

[Joe Dupre']

Sure looks like button bush to me. Nice bark.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Almost forgot. Branches are a bit brittle. New shoots tend to want to go straight up so I massage them over to a more horizontal position. You have to work at pruning often to keep short internodes. I've found the tree just does not behave like popular deciduous trees. One branch splitting into two, then those each splitting into two...........that mostly doesn't happen with this tree. It's always going to have a scrubby , but interesting look. Mine is just leafing out now. I'll post pics in a few weeks.