Contorted Japanese Flowering Apricot

[fredtruck]

An acquaintance of mine from Kyoto told me that with the ume I should try to capture it when just one flower was open. It has been a few years since I have been able to do that, but today I was ready.

Enjoy!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Awesome, great timing!

The ramification has certainly increased on this tree over the last couple years.

 

[fredtruck]

I think the ramification has increased because I put the ume in full sun. When it was in partial sun, the growth was huge but pretty coarse.

 

[augustine]

Fred,

What kind of challenges have you experienced growing ume? Fungus, bugs? What is your weather zone?

Love your tree.

Augustine

 

[bonsai barry]

Beautiful display, as usual, Fred.

 

[edprocoat]

I must echo Bonsai Barry, the photgraphy, the pot the base and of the tree is beautiful. If it were a chicken it would be impeccable ...

ed

 

[fredtruck]

I'm in zone 5. The weather here is historically violent and unpredictable, and right now, it is even more so with wild swings in temperature. That said, I've had no trouble keeping my trees healthy and growing well. Winterization is a concern. Everyone here works out some kind of solution. I've used a homebuilt version of a polytunnel, but at this point, I have a 6-car garage that doubles as a workshop and winter storage for my trees. There are both heated and unheated sections of the garage, so I can, with care, have bonsai that are somewhat out of the zone 5 range.

The main problem I've had with ume is hole shot fungus, which I control with liquid copper. I've had no other health issues with ume.

 

[jk_lewis]

I know better than to grow one of these here in the buggy, damp south -- much as ai like them.

This one, however, looks topheavy to me. That trunk and that pot seem to me to look very tippy -- especially when there is foliage.

 

[fredtruck]

While the pot is small, in relation to the rest of the tree, it is not as small as the picture leads you to believe, nor is the top of the tree as large as it may appear. The purpose of the photograph was to show the flower and the whole tree, and the best way to do that is to use a wide angle lens.

 

[fredtruck]

I shot this picture this morning. My ume is blooming away. It's as close to being in full bloom as it gets.

 

[fredtruck]

I've discovered that if two pictures are taken of slightly different rotations of the tree, and if they're displayed side by side, you can see more of what the tree and its flowers are doing. The pictures tell a more complete story. These shots were taken the 9th of January and the ume is in fuller bloom than I expected.

 

[fredtruck]

One more shot. My ume has never bloomed like this before, and it looks like even more flowers are on the way.

 

[Dan W.]

Very nice! Mine is on the way.

I like the side by side of different angles too.

 

[Poink88]

One more shot. My ume has never bloomed like this before, and it looks like even more flowers are on the way.

Awesome. I can only dream...

 

[fredtruck]

The flowers are gone, the ume has been repotted, and now new leaves are pushing through to the sun. This phase of the ume life cycle is not often photographed, but it is one of my favorites. I saw a picture of an ume in this phase for the first time in Peter Adams' book, The Art of Flowering Bonsai. To his memory.

 

[Cadillactaste]

One more shot. My ume has never bloomed like this before, and it looks like even more flowers are on the way.

This is quite amazing! I love the contorted trees...contemplating a contorted cherry bonsai...just waiting for photos.

Is this sort of a windswept style? Just beautiful...