Prunus Mume

Oeh exciting!
Please show us the first flowers opened. This tree flowering is the start of the spring run-up time for me!
 
Wow, what an AMAZING ume and a great thread, thank you! I located some cuttings and maybe a grafted red and now I'm trying to locate Chickasaw which is a local native here. Fascinating studying up on umes - yours is beautiful!
 
Brian Van Fleet said:
Full bloom. Smells great.
View attachment 222961
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Just wow....This is what bonsai is all about, thanks a ton for sharing man this type of thing is so inspirational to amateur artists like myself!!! I'm a sucker for Umes regardless but this pic is the first time I really thought "Wow, I've gotta start thinking of how to setup proper displays!" I cannot believe I'm offering an opinion/thought in-contrary to this composition, but have you ever tried it in non-glazed? I'm very new to pot-matching but pretty sure there's a "glazed with flowers" theme/idea/norm and I just don't see that myself, I see the flowers (and the gorgeous bark on something like your Ume here) as so vivid already that IMO the more basic/understated the pot, the better!

For the branches on the top-side of the trunk after it's taken its sharp leftward bend, are those going to be removed for the final composure so you can separate the top canopy from that lower pad that comes out of the right-side of the bend? Am looking at them and thinking I'd do that (lol, says the amateur who's never once worked with such refined material!) but that I'd still be leaving them for now, as sacrifice growth to try to thin that shari and at least make it (the shari's outline) 'vertical' instead of reverse-taper'd like it currently is (is that shari an old trunk-chop wounding you're closing? The continuation of the trunk above it looks very much like an old leader-branch that was grown-out a loooong time to make that top half of the apex, if so I'd be eager to know how many# chops that leader got before you got it here!)

Sorry so many Q's and thanks again for sharing, Umes are one of my favorite species at least "ume styling culture" I guess, in fact interesting trivia I heard (god I hope I'm not messing this up!) on Bjorn Bjornholm's podcast recently- I guess Umes were amongst the first potted trees going from china to japan, he doesn't say so but if so that means they're a pretty integral tree to the start of this art-form (though my understanding is it'd have started regardless, that the start was simply a lot of "trade-based" stuff wherein you had to pot-up a tree and that it just naturally evolved from there like anything would) Gah sorry so long Umes get me going ;D
 
Hyn Patty said:
Wow, what an AMAZING ume and a great thread, thank you! I located some cuttings and maybe a grafted red and now I'm trying to locate Chickasaw which is a local native here. Fascinating studying up on umes - yours is beautiful!
Click to expand...
Whoa!!! Thanks!! Hadn't even considered we could have naturalized Prunus in the US and, after reading your post, I see that my location is **just** at the bottom of their range, I would be very very very happy to hear any updates Re whether you've had success in locating one (as I'd make it a goal to find one, although with Tampa Bay being the bottom-bound of their range I expect they'll be much fewer&further between here than in your area)

So you've got some cuttings, are they rooted? What do you mean by 'grafted red'? Lastly, am I understanding you correctly- do you mean to graft some of the cuttings/whips of traditional Ume to Chickasaw trunking/stock? If so I'm soooo eager to get in on this, heck if you can locate chickasaws (and the grafts take) but I can't locate, I'd be real happy to trade you a far bigger tree to get chickasaw stock, would love to grow a US-collected 'yamadori' 'ume'!!!
 
SU2 said:
Just wow....This is what bonsai is all about, thanks a ton for sharing man this type of thing is so inspirational to amateur artists like myself!!! I'm a sucker for Umes regardless but this pic is the first time I really thought "Wow, I've gotta start thinking of how to setup proper displays!" I cannot believe I'm offering an opinion/thought in-contrary to this composition, but have you ever tried it in non-glazed? I'm very new to pot-matching but pretty sure there's a "glazed with flowers" theme/idea/norm and I just don't see that myself, I see the flowers (and the gorgeous bark on something like your Ume here) as so vivid already that IMO the more basic/understated the pot, the better!

For the branches on the top-side of the trunk after it's taken its sharp leftward bend, are those going to be removed for the final composure so you can separate the top canopy from that lower pad that comes out of the right-side of the bend? Am looking at them and thinking I'd do that (lol, says the amateur who's never once worked with such refined material!) but that I'd still be leaving them for now, as sacrifice growth to try to thin that shari and at least make it (the shari's outline) 'vertical' instead of reverse-taper'd like it currently is (is that shari an old trunk-chop wounding you're closing? The continuation of the trunk above it looks very much like an old leader-branch that was grown-out a loooong time to make that top half of the apex, if so I'd be eager to know how many# chops that leader got before you got it here!)

Sorry so many Q's and thanks again for sharing, Umes are one of my favorite species at least "ume styling culture" I guess, in fact interesting trivia I heard (god I hope I'm not messing this up!) on Bjorn Bjornholm's podcast recently- I guess Umes were amongst the first potted trees going from china to japan, he doesn't say so but if so that means they're a pretty integral tree to the start of this art-form (though my understanding is it'd have started regardless, that the start was simply a lot of "trade-based" stuff wherein you had to pot-up a tree and that it just naturally evolved from there like anything would) Gah sorry so long Umes get me going ;D
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Well, it was in unglazed pots for the first 14 pages of this thread. I commissioned this pot last year, and was told it took 3 attempts. It didn’t quite hit the mark, but thought it would be worth the seeing the combo in bloom. I’m still not sold.

On the styling itself, I’m growing it mainly for the blooms, and for the green helmet during the growing season. At some point, I’ll need to prune it back a little harder and wire it out again. Ume don’t back-bud easily, so it’s a slow process. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying the show.
 
SU2 said:
Whoa!!! Thanks!! Hadn't even considered we could have naturalized Prunus in the US and, after reading your post, I see that my location is **just** at the bottom of their range, I would be very very very happy to hear any updates Re whether you've had success in locating one (as I'd make it a goal to find one, although with Tampa Bay being the bottom-bound of their range I expect they'll be much fewer&further between here than in your area)

So you've got some cuttings, are they rooted? What do you mean by 'grafted red'? Lastly, am I understanding you correctly- do you mean to graft some of the cuttings/whips of traditional Ume to Chickasaw trunking/stock? If so I'm soooo eager to get in on this, heck if you can locate chickasaws (and the grafts take) but I can't locate, I'd be real happy to trade you a far bigger tree to get chickasaw stock, would love to grow a US-collected 'yamadori' 'ume'!!!
Click to expand...

I haven't tried it yet but I read elsewhere that you could graft ume onto our native plums. Two of ours native to the United States are Prunus angustifolia (Chickasaw plum) which is good down to zone 5, and Prunus americana, which is good down to zone 3. A friend of mine and I obtained cuttings of Prunus americana yesterday at Plant City Bonsai in Georgia from Steve who was very sweet. As we only just got the cuttings and set them up, it'll be a while before we know what roots. Problem you need to be aware of with these two plums, and especially the angustifolia, is that these plants tend to sucker and form hedges. So suckers need to be kept cut if you want to keep the tree looking good. Some Quince are like that too. There are surely better plums you can use but the americana at least has nice small white flowers. I have read that both species can make excellent bonsai in their own right.

Rather than hijack /this/ wonderful thread, any further posting you might want to do on this topic should be started in another thread. But /first/ use the search box in the upper right hand corner of this page in the menu bar to look up what others have posted about these two plum species as bonsai already, and try some general internet searches on the topic. Good luck! ;)
 
JudyB said:
Hm, interesting. Would be good to know if it was the culprit.

I Like that pot with the tree, what is it that you're not sold on? I think the size and shape is very fitting, color too.
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Dunno, just doesn’t have the quiet, old pot feel. I don’t love the proportions or the rim, and some spots are missing glaze. I’m too picky, but at least I know what I like.?
 
Brian Van Fleet said:
Long way between Canada and Bama!
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I see sign on two of my ume that's pushing out leaves... I'm trying my best to keep it dormant until late spring.. As we have weird weather up here...could experience snow and freezing rain....right now it's 10 Celcius... Night time is like - 4 celcius..
 
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