unknown satsuki

[JudyB]

I got this last year, but not knowing the variety. Looks like I got lucky with the flower color! Does anyone know what this one is? It needs a lot of work, will cut it back good this year. I'm still trying to figure out which side is the front....

 

[BackyardBonsai]

Liked! The shape of the flowers are very nice and perfect size. So is the leaf and the trunk.

 

[Silentrunning]

I got this last year, but not knowing the variety. Looks like I got lucky with the flower color! Does anyone know what this one is? It needs a lot of work, will cut it back good this year. I'm still trying to figure out which side is the front....
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Judy, I have gotten my first Azalea so I would like to ask a couple of rookie questions. My favorite view is the bottom picture. Question 1 - are you going to leave the hole in the foliage above the main trunk or are you going grow it closed? My eye is immediately drawn to it and I like it. It seems to add character. Question 2 - the branches jutting out on the left side look as if they could use something. What are your plans for that section? Thanks for any advice you can share.

 

[Doug J]

I got this last year, but not knowing the variety. Looks like I got lucky with the flower color! Does anyone know what this one is? It needs a lot of work, will cut it back good this year. I'm still trying to figure out which side is the front....
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Can't help with ID, but that's a nice little tree. Really like the flower color, and appears to have nice nebari for such a smallish Satsuki.

 

[JudyB]

Judy, I have gotten my first Azalea so I would like to ask a couple of rookie questions. My favorite view is the bottom picture. Question 1 - are you going to leave the hole in the foliage above the main trunk or are you going grow it closed? My eye is immediately drawn to it and I like it. It seems to add character. Question 2 - the branches jutting out on the left side look as if they could use something. What are your plans for that section? Thanks for any advice you can share.

The last photo is also my favorite as of now. Although the long branch is a bit more graceful from the other side...
Yes I will leave that opening into the canopy. It's just as important to have negative space as it is to fill the canopy. It gives the image so much more interest. And you can see all the great trunk curves during the summer season instead of just in winter.
Cutbacks to encourage backbudding and then cutting back to the new growth and remaking much of that left branch. It had been neglected a bit and needed repotting which I did last fall. So I'm awaiting the end of bloom and will do some cutbacks then. I like how long it is to the rest of the tree, so I'll keep that feel as I develop it. There are too many places in the upper canopy that are too straight as well, I'll wire what's not too brittle, and regrow the rest. Azaleas will give you buds easily on old wood.

 

[Adair M]

A good cutback will work wonders!

Nice little tree, Judy.

Have you considered an angle change? Using the last photo, a tilt to the right, maybe?

 

[just.wing.it]

Nice base on that one, great tree.
You DID get lucky with those blooms! Very pretty.

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Hey Judy,

I'm no azalea expert, but I have worked a bit w/ Dave Kruetz (his nursery is just down the street from me). I recently bought a Shuho-no-Hikari azalea from him. The flowers look very similar...possibly my Shuho have longer/thinner petals. But the coloring and markings look very similar. After working w/ Dave a bit, I do know that similar coloring could mean they are very close relatives. Possibly you have a Shuko-no-Tsuki or Shiho-no-Kagami. Beautiful tree!

Here's some photos of mine...

 

[JudyB]

A good cutback will work wonders!

Nice little tree, Judy.

Have you considered an angle change? Using the last photo, a tilt to the right, maybe?

Not yet, wanted to get it healthy and see if it dropped any branching before I picked angles and fronts. This is the tree that came in that awful black cauldron shaped pot with 3D squid tentacles on it that I put on auctions last fall.

 

[shinmai]

The last photo is also my favorite as of now. Although the long branch is a bit more graceful from the other side...
Yes I will leave that opening into the canopy. It's just as important to have negative space as it is to fill the canopy. It gives the image so much more interest. And you can see all the great trunk curves during the summer season instead of just in winter.
Cutbacks to encourage backbudding and then cutting back to the new growth and remaking much of that left branch. It had been neglected a bit and needed repotting which I did last fall. So I'm awaiting the end of bloom and will do some cutbacks then. I like how long it is to the rest of the tree, so I'll keep that feel as I develop it. There are too many places in the upper canopy that are too straight as well, I'll wire what's not too brittle, and regrow the rest. Azaleas will give you buds easily on old wood.

Totally agree on the open space, being mindful of that old thing about leaving space for the birds to fly through. The color of the blossoms is just gorgeous. If you can lay hands on a copy of Callaham's book, there is a section of color photos of a bunch of cultivars, and you might get lucky and find yours among them.

 

[JudyB]

Hey Judy,

I'm no azalea expert, but I have worked a bit w/ Dave Kruetz (his nursery is just down the street from me). I recently bought a Shuho-no-Hikari azalea from him. The flowers look very similar...possibly my Shuho have longer/thinner petals. But the coloring and markings look very similar. After working w/ Dave a bit, I do know that similar coloring could mean they are very close relatives. Possibly you have a Shuko-no-Tsuki or Shiho-no-Kagami. Beautiful tree!

Here's some photos of mine...

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That's nice that you've got access to DaveK. I like those blooms too. Probably some sport.
Thanks @just.wing.it I thought they'd be common pink like my Kozan...

 

[just.wing.it]

That's nice that you've got access to DaveK. I like those blooms too. Probably some sport.
Thanks @just.wing.it I thought they'd be common pink like my Kozan...

Pleasant surprise!
I love variation in one plant.

 

[JudyB]

Pleasant surprise!
I love variation in one plant.

I got a Mokko last year that has everything from whitish pink to magenta, it's gaudy but fun.

 

[just.wing.it]

I got a Mokko last year that has everything from whitish pink to magenta, it's gaudy but fun.

Haha! Wow, sounds cool!
Only gaudy for a couple weeks per year though.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

That’s a real looker, Judy! Sorry, but I don’t recognize the cultivar. I’ll keep my eye out. Here are a few resources, which require some clicking instead of scrolling, so it will take a little work.
https://www.azaleas.org/index-1997-satsuki-directory/
https://www.azaleas.org/index-1983-satsuki-azalea-directory/

This one has images:
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/landscape/Satsukipage.html

@Mellow Mullet ... ‘Dad’s Red’ ? ?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

A few possibilities...?
http://satsukimania.com/en/varieties/328-aika
http://satsukimania.com/en/varieties/145-juko
http://satsukimania.com/en/varieties/270-shien

 

[j evans]

That is a really nice tree, I love the color.

 

[Soldano666]

Boom. Awesome flowers and shape. And I'd have to agree on the last pic as the front. Maybe a little wire on that bottom branches to bring the grace to that side. I like it

 

[JudyB]

That’s a real looker, Judy! Sorry, but I don’t recognize the cultivar. I’ll keep my eye out. Here are a few resources, which require some clicking instead of scrolling, so it will take a little work.
https://www.azaleas.org/index-1997-satsuki-directory/
https://www.azaleas.org/index-1983-satsuki-azalea-directory/

This one has images:
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/landscape/Satsukipage.html

@Mellow Mullet ... ‘Dad’s Red’ ? ?

Thanks Brian, I'd been clicking thru Satsukimania, but didn't get terribly far. I'll look at these. It's not really important, but I'm OCD about keeping track lol...

Just looked at those 3 and the color is more salmon than those. The search goes on!
The worst part of searching satsukimania is wanting all those really cool colors...

 

[JudyB]

Boom. Awesome flowers and shape. And I'd have to agree on the last pic as the front. Maybe a little wire on that bottom branches to bring the grace to that side. I like it

Yeah, I'm going to cutback and try for a bud further back on that branch to add to the front part of that pad. Thanks!