Purple Bougainvillea Progression

[ColinFraser]

This one has a subtle bit of purple in that I think would be a good match:

 

[ColinFraser]

 

[Carol 83]

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Imagine how awesome it would look in that pot with some purple flowers.

 

[ColinFraser]

Imagine how awesome it would look in that pot with some purple flowers.

Haha, next year, I hope

 

[Carol 83]

Haha, next year, I hope

I actually have a couple nice ones I got from @milehigh_7, that have some crazy long branches that need tended to. But I want to see it bloom before chopping them off. You are just braver than I, and much more experienced. But flowers or not, I think that pot is perfect for it.

 

[sorce]

I'm thinking I'd like to slip it into one of these Dick Ryerson pots too:
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Nice!

Sorce

 

[drew33998]

Is it leaning back? Otherwise great progression.

 

[ColinFraser]

Is it leaning back? Otherwise great progression.

It's fairly close to upright, but the lower trunk does move away a bit, while the apex comes forward again. Your comment is well taken though- it could probably stand to be tilted a bit more forward at the next repot. Thanks

 

[GrimLore]

I'm trying to get this compact and start ramifying it.

I gave the plant I mentioned earlier another haircut - you brought me luck! While cutting I found several places where it is finally budding on old wood!

Grimmy

 

[SU2]

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Thanks a ton for posting this, have saved every picture in a 'progression album' (I have many that I like to refer to, all are bougies which are my fave plant right now! I collect larger yamadoris and I root lots of large hard-wood cuttings)

I've got a couple q's I'm hoping to ask you, first is stopping the flowering cycle - have you been doing that for a while? When mine start seeming like they're going into bloom (first sign is usually seeing fast growth slow quickly when the tree looks great / conditions are great), I use some nitro to push them to stay in vegetative state (or even prune if I'm lucky enough that the area is ready for a pruning!) I'd love to know I could just cut-off the flower-bracts at the petiole and be done with it - is this bad for it over time, does it 'need' to flower? Have two right now that are ~1wk into flowering cycles, going to have to test this out on one of them to compare responses I'm worried it'll just try to shoot out more flowers if I cut them!

Second Q is how long you've had this, the date at the top of the thread says 2016 but on the first page you refer to 2015 so I suspect something's wonky with the dates - how long was the time between the first and last (nursery-bought, and latest bonsai) pics?

Lastly, great tree!! Love it!!!

 

[ColinFraser]

Thanks a ton for posting this, have saved every picture . . .
. . . Lastly, great tree!! Love it!!!

Thank you!

. . . stopping the flowering cycle - have you been doing that for a while? I'd love to know I could just cut-off the flower-bracts at the petiole and be done with it - is this bad for it over time, does it 'need' to flower?

No, it doesn't "need" to flower. I've removed all of the bracts/buds whenever I think of it for the last couple of years . . . I do the same thing with pomegranates in development at the nursery - no sense letting them flower or fruit.

Second Q is how long you've had this, the date at the top of the thread says 2016 but on the first page you refer to 2015 so I suspect something's wonky with the dates - how long was the time between the first and last (nursery-bought, and latest bonsai) pics?

Nothing wonky with the dates, I just had the tree for a couple of years before I started this thread. I bought it at a landscape nursery in 2014, worked it all through 2015, and then started this thread in early 2016 by posting a serious of photos from the previous years' work. The most recent photo I posted was taken this June, so around three years now from buying it as raw landscape nursery stock.

 

[SU2]

Thank you!


No, it doesn't "need" to flower. I've removed all of the bracts/buds whenever I think of it for the last couple of years . . . I do the same thing with pomegranates in development at the nursery - no sense letting them flower or fruit.


Nothing wonky with the dates, I just had the tree for a couple of years before I started this thread. I bought it at a landscape nursery in 2014, worked it all through 2015, and then started this thread in early 2016 by posting a serious of photos from the previous years' work. The most recent photo I posted was taken this June, so around three years now from buying it as raw landscape nursery stock.

Thanks for the details!

And re flower removal, do you simply remove the shoot with the bracts as it appears? My approach has been to let it swell, let the actual flowers inside the bracts open-up, then I pull it (or prune that area, if it was ready) I'd been doing it that way since I wasn't sure if repeatedly depriving it of flowering could be bad in the long-run somehow (hormonally or something, I mean it's basically being neutered over and over!) and figured that at least letting the flowers open before cutting-off that flower-shoot was safest approach! If you've got years of doing this though I'd certainly just copy what you do, like specific details would be great do you like to try to prune or pinch when you do it, do you do anything else at that time etc etc? Am hoping to keep mine in vegetative growth as much of the time as possible, at least their first couple years after collection, so had been pruning and fertilizing with that in-mind!

 

[ColinFraser]

I wasn't sure if repeatedly depriving it of flowering could be bad in the long-run somehow (hormonally or something, I mean it's basically being neutered over and over!)

I don't think this is a useful analogy. I'm not aware of any horticultural reason that they must flower (though I'm open to evidence). Besides, I have a neutered dog, and he's great

I'd certainly just copy what you do, like specific details would be great do you like to try to prune or pinch when you do it, do you do anything else at that time etc etc?

Whatever you do, don't do that, hahah! You'd have to start with dramatically increasing your alcohol consumption Seriously though, I'm just sharing my experience with my plants in my (Southern California) climate. I'm NOT obsessive about optimizing this - every so often, I walk by the tree, see that it's flowering, make a mental note, and then cut all the flowers off when I get around to it. Sometimes that's right away, and sometimes it's not - contrary to appearances, I have a real non-bonsai life too!

 

[ColinFraser]

I encourage you to experiment with your trees in your climate and see what works for you/them.

 

[ColinFraser]

I just realized I have this tree here at the nursery with me, so while I'm back at this thread, I might as well update it. Here's the growth since the last post in June (edit: I may have actually done one small round of cutbacks between then and now) . . .


And it is just beginning to think about flowers again

 

[ColinFraser]

I reckon I have just enough warm weather left for one more round, so here we go . . .



And a couple of other angles:

 

[GrimLore]

I reckon I have just enough warm weather left for one more round, so here we go . . .

Nice! Two weeks back I moved our Mother plant to full sun, let it wilt at Greg's @Bonsai Nut suggestion in another post. I since have been flooding it daily and have the same results although late in season here. It will come inside in two weeks but I am guessing Crystal will want it on the Dining table until they wilt and it gets trimmed Did you stress it for the late season Bracts as well?

Grimmy

 

[ColinFraser]

Thanks!

Did you stress it for the late season Bracts as well?

Not intentionally
As usual, I removed the flowering shoots I found, mostly just as a byproduct of cutting back to the first couple of nodes in most places.

 

[SU2]

I don't think this is a useful analogy. I'm not aware of any horticultural reason that they must flower (though I'm open to evidence). Besides, I have a neutered dog, and he's great


Whatever you do, don't do that, hahah! You'd have to start with dramatically increasing your alcohol consumption Seriously though, I'm just sharing my experience with my plants in my (Southern California) climate. I'm NOT obsessive about optimizing this - every so often, I walk by the tree, see that it's flowering, make a mental note, and then cut all the flowers off when I get around to it. Sometimes that's right away, and sometimes it's not - contrary to appearances, I have a real non-bonsai life too!

Haha good stuff, thanks

 

[SU2]

I encourage you to experiment with your trees in your climate and see what works for you/them.

Absolutely!! I've spent almost a year doing mostly bougainvilleas, have quite the collection of them now lol and have gotten to the point I feel I'm getting decent at them, problem with that is they're so damn different from other species that a good amount of what I've learned as far as how a tree handles insults just won't apply to other trees (for instance, yesterday I found the first buds on my 'club', a ~1' tall x 5" wide piece of thick-barked bougie trunk, I put the bottom 20% in a container of perlite, it's the most ridiculous 'truncheon' type cutting you've ever seen, the things bougies can do are incredible!!)

I just realized I have this tree here at the nursery with me, so while I'm back at this thread, I might as well update it. Here's the growth since the last post in June (edit: I may have actually done one small round of cutbacks between then and now) . . .

Very appreciated! I've got a folder "Progression Series" that I keep albums in of stuff like this, thanks for updating it I love to see how raw material develops into bonsai over time!!