Overlooked Species?

[KikurageOtomo]

I've been quite fond of the Wax Currants I've gotten from Andy at Goldenarrow. Like the Flowering Red Currant, their bark has a lovelier tone than most of the varieties of currant intended for consumption. Much like Japanese Quince, it is a chore to maintain them as a properly "trunked" bonsai, a clump or hedge style is much more akin to their natural growth pattern. My Sansho and Szechuan peppercorn bonsai have also been responding to wiring and pruning fairly well, this year I'm interested to see how well they tolerating root reduction and pruning. If you can tolerate spines, they make novel bonsai as well.

 

[Viridian Bonsai]

Pretty cool. The hardiness is a huge plus. Wonder if the leaves reduce from defoliation or otherwise. Acer rubrum leaves will reduce substantially after defoliation for example.

I think it’s worth trying, but I also find Acer pseudosieboldianum to be less vigorous than Acer palmatum to begin with. And with A. palmatum, full defoliation isn’t usually recommended unless it’s an especially vigorous plant, at least in my understanding from watching Bonsai U.

I think the key with this species is planting tons of seeds and selecting only those individuals with smaller than average leaves. If one gets lucky with genetics they may find an individual that could be used for shohin bonsai.

Overall, I think the leaves of this species can be drastically reduced with time in bonsai culture due to increased branch ramification among other things like age, reduced pot size et cetera.