barrosinc
Masterpiece
Thanks for that! I will look around.
For Satsuki lovers
- Thread starter Djtommy
- Start date
Harunobu
Chumono
If there are no satsuki cultivar, you can import seeds, grow tons and hope for a nice cultivar.
Also, smuggling in clippings and rooting them isn't completely out of the question.
I have received cuttings from Japan to Europe myself, and rooted them succesfully. I think they were in the mail for 6 days.
Also, smuggling in clippings and rooting them isn't completely out of the question.
I have received cuttings from Japan to Europe myself, and rooted them succesfully. I think they were in the mail for 6 days.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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Vireya is an entirely different type of azalea, many, especially the large flowered fragrant ones, have leaves and flower trusses that remind one more of landscape Rhododendrons, difficult to make into bonsai. However there are a handful of small leaved species and a couple dozen hybrids with smaller leaves that could make passable bonsai. I'm fond of Rhododendron (Vireya) pauciflora for its small leaves, but alas, my plant has gone to the great compost heap in the sky. Back in 2011 on IBC forum I posted a list of some of the smaller leaved Vireya that might have real potential for bonsai, the following is cut and paste from that thread.
<snip>I played with a couple Vireya a while back, there are some good species to use, and some less ideal. Most of the white flowered and very fragrant species have leaves that are too large. The leaves don't reduce enough, regardless how much ramification you get. The leaves will reduce some, but not enough.
One advantage of Vireya, they do tolerate, (some of the more epiphytic species require), a short dry out between watering. If you miss the day they need water, they don't seem to mind, as long as you get to them within a couple days of drying out. No set back if the dry out is short. They will come back if you don't water them. Not so with most terrestrial azalea.
I have grown Vireya pauciflora, very nice small leaves, one or two deep red flowers per umbel. Slow growing though and unfortunately had no fragrance. I sold the plant some years ago, don't have any Vireya right now.
Some of the Vireya species that have small leaves are anagalliflorum, taxifolium, salicifolium, saxifragiodes, rosemarifolia, stenophyllum, and hybrids like (rubineiflorum x gracilentum), (gracilentum x laetum), (macgregoriae x bagobonum), Saint Valentine (viriosum x gracilentum), and many others. Well worth spending some time researching which hybrids and species have smaller leaves.
The draw backs I see is that for all the Vireya, branching is always pretty coarse, so the fine ramification you would see in a Satsuki just won't happen. But they have a charm of their own, and if you can find a species or hybrid with smaller leaves, and intensely fragrant flowers, you can have an interesting bonsai. But if they don't submit to bonsai training, they certainly are beautiful house plants worth enjoying in their own right.
One USA source is http://www.bovees.com <snip>
The original thread is here http://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t6975p15-vireya-rhododendron?highlight=vireya
The subject of Vireya really deserves its own thread, so people can find the information shared more easily.
<snip>I played with a couple Vireya a while back, there are some good species to use, and some less ideal. Most of the white flowered and very fragrant species have leaves that are too large. The leaves don't reduce enough, regardless how much ramification you get. The leaves will reduce some, but not enough.
One advantage of Vireya, they do tolerate, (some of the more epiphytic species require), a short dry out between watering. If you miss the day they need water, they don't seem to mind, as long as you get to them within a couple days of drying out. No set back if the dry out is short. They will come back if you don't water them. Not so with most terrestrial azalea.
I have grown Vireya pauciflora, very nice small leaves, one or two deep red flowers per umbel. Slow growing though and unfortunately had no fragrance. I sold the plant some years ago, don't have any Vireya right now.
Some of the Vireya species that have small leaves are anagalliflorum, taxifolium, salicifolium, saxifragiodes, rosemarifolia, stenophyllum, and hybrids like (rubineiflorum x gracilentum), (gracilentum x laetum), (macgregoriae x bagobonum), Saint Valentine (viriosum x gracilentum), and many others. Well worth spending some time researching which hybrids and species have smaller leaves.
The draw backs I see is that for all the Vireya, branching is always pretty coarse, so the fine ramification you would see in a Satsuki just won't happen. But they have a charm of their own, and if you can find a species or hybrid with smaller leaves, and intensely fragrant flowers, you can have an interesting bonsai. But if they don't submit to bonsai training, they certainly are beautiful house plants worth enjoying in their own right.
One USA source is http://www.bovees.com <snip>
The original thread is here http://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t6975p15-vireya-rhododendron?highlight=vireya
The subject of Vireya really deserves its own thread, so people can find the information shared more easily.
Wow, great thread! I saw it when Djtommy first posted it, but missed the additional commentary RockM added. He's right on!
30 years ago, there was a seller in the US who sold the long whips. And I was able to get a couple dozen of them, and I used them to give a workshop where the participants wired them up to make the tall "flower display" kind of azalea bonsai. Like these:
These only roughly conform to bonsai "rules", and their design and purpose is to show off the flowers. Branches are spaced with the size of the flowers in full bloom in mind so that the trees can be completely covered with blooms and yet not look crowded.
John Naka wrote a book specifically on how to develop azalea into this kind of style starting with whips. That was the source of information used for the workshop I led. That, and the couple of imported azalea I had purchased that were in that style.
Note that in Japan, azalea kind of segregates the bonsai enthusiasts into two groups: azalea lovers, and azalea haters! I'm exaggerating a bit, but the people who do azalea don't do other species, and vice versa. Yes, there will be a few at Kokufu, but not many. Often, someone who does "bonsai" and also has a few azalea will tone down the blossoms and pick most of them off, leaving a few like this:
That tree would be covered with blooms if the artist hadn't thinned the flower buds.
30 years ago, there was a seller in the US who sold the long whips. And I was able to get a couple dozen of them, and I used them to give a workshop where the participants wired them up to make the tall "flower display" kind of azalea bonsai. Like these:
These only roughly conform to bonsai "rules", and their design and purpose is to show off the flowers. Branches are spaced with the size of the flowers in full bloom in mind so that the trees can be completely covered with blooms and yet not look crowded.
John Naka wrote a book specifically on how to develop azalea into this kind of style starting with whips. That was the source of information used for the workshop I led. That, and the couple of imported azalea I had purchased that were in that style.
Note that in Japan, azalea kind of segregates the bonsai enthusiasts into two groups: azalea lovers, and azalea haters! I'm exaggerating a bit, but the people who do azalea don't do other species, and vice versa. Yes, there will be a few at Kokufu, but not many. Often, someone who does "bonsai" and also has a few azalea will tone down the blossoms and pick most of them off, leaving a few like this:
That tree would be covered with blooms if the artist hadn't thinned the flower buds.
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
@barrosinc, azalea are propagated by cuttings. Not seeds. So, if you want to grow them, find a source where you can take cuttings.
barrosinc
Masterpiece
that's sounds easy
I have only seen like 1 (what I believe to be) satsuki... and it is small and cannot take cuttings.
