"J.T.Lovett" Azaleas

[johng]

It was a busy weekend...not only did I spend a bunch of time working on large Crape Myrtles but also found time to work on a new group of azaleas.

I don't remember who it was but recently some on Nut posted that their dream is to find an old mom and pop nursery with nice old azalea stock... After reading this I decided it was time to visit Keisler's Azalea Farm which is only a few minutes from where I work....and full of dream worthy material

I have bought several hundred azaleas from here over the years...many for the various landscape projects that I have worked on and quite a few for bonsai. If you have ever purchased a large Chinzan azalea from me, it most likely came from this nursery.

On this visit I decided to purchase a group of large "J.T Lovett" azaleas in 3 gallon containers. These plants are old stock and have been in these containers for more than 20 years! That can be good and bad...great development and size but the most dense root balls I have ever worked on.

The flower...

Interesting side note...after some quick research, I discovered that some claim that "J.T. Lovett" is actually not a cultivar but true R. indicum.....who knows??? I do know that there is very little difference between it and Chinzan/Osakazuki.

My typical drastic pruning techniques were employed...as you can see here, these had very nice root spreads!

What a dense rootball!

All put away in the shade until buds form (2-3 weeks). At that point I will begin introducing to the sun!

 

[JoeR]

Now that is root bound.


Ah man, its two and a half hours from me.
What a shame.


You know, I was visiting a really nice nursery in downtown Southern Pines last weekend who has a decent selection of azaleas [gumpo, etc] and it got me thinking..


Why are satsuki favored over all others, and what other azaleas are especially suited for bonsai?


Now, I know that satsukis are quite obviously everyones favorite azalea for a few reasons but I have grown quite fond of Kurume azaleas as of late. They are covered completely in blooms come spring and their leaves and flowers are smaller than some satsukis??

 

[GrimLore]

My typical drastic pruning techniques were employed...as you can see here, these had very nice root spreads!

Nice! I noticed as pictured and then checked your blog - these are not cut back as drastic. May I ask why for this cultivar?

Grimmy

 

[johng]

Nice! I noticed as pictured and then checked your blog - these are not cut back as drastic. May I ask why for this cultivar?

Grimmy

sure...totally a personal call...it was just that this material was better suited for leaving it larger than anything I have worked on in the past. I have also had more than a few requests for larger material from my customers. We will see how it goes

 

[johng]

Now that is root bound.


Ah man, its two and a half hours from me.
What a shame.


You know, I was visiting a really nice nursery in downtown Southern Pines last weekend who has a decent selection of azaleas [gumpo, etc] and it got me thinking..


Why are satsuki favored over all others, and what other azaleas are especially suited for bonsai?


Now, I know that satsukis are quite obviously everyones favorite azalea for a few reasons but I have grown quite fond of Kurume azaleas as of late. They are covered completely in blooms come spring and their leaves and flowers are smaller than some satsukis??

Joe, there is nothing wrong with using Kurume azaleas. I have quite a few...Christmas Cheer, Hino de Crimson, etc... The only drawback I see is that they do not respond as well as Satsuki to drastic pruning. Typically you will get more dieback and fewer new buds after pruning. They also do not develop as fast. Still very doable just realize that the response you get may not be as vigorous as the late bloomers.

 

[Adair M]

Good work, John!

That battery sawsall makes it a lot easier!

Reminds me, I have a zelkova stump that needs similiar treatment.

Please keep us updated on how these develop.

 

[j evans]

You are lucky to have a source so close that has such good material. All of the private nurseries in our area have closed down and now all that is left is the box stores. Excellent work as always and I look forward to seeing how they respond. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Eric Group]

It was a busy weekend...not only did I spend a bunch of time working on large Crape Myrtles but also found time to work on a new group of azaleas.

I don't remember who it was but recently some on Nut posted that their dream is to find an old mom and pop nursery with nice old azalea stock... After reading this I decided it was time to visit Keisler's Azalea Farm which is only a few minutes from where I work....and full of dream worthy material

I have bought several hundred azaleas from here over the years...many for the various landscape projects that I have worked on and quite a few for bonsai. If you have ever purchased a large Chinzan azalea from me, it most likely came from this nursery.

On this visit I decided to purchase a group of large "J.T Lovett" azaleas in 3 gallon containers. These plants are old stock and have been in these containers for more than 20 years! That can be good and bad...great development and size but the most dense root balls I have ever worked on.

The flower...

Interesting side note...after some quick research, I discovered that some claim that "J.T. Lovett" is actually not a cultivar but true R. indicum.....who knows??? I do know that there is very little difference between it and Chinzan/Osakazuki.

My typical drastic pruning techniques were employed...as you can see here, these had very nice root spreads!

What a dense rootball!

All put away in the shade until buds form (2-3 weeks). At that point I will begin introducing to the sun!

I don't know how I missed this post! These are the ones you were scoping that day I saw you here? It is funny, I got a handful of these the past two times I went! I think they are my favorites- the roots man!! Great trunks, small leaves, cool unique blooms, back bud well. These are Satsuki according to ole what's his name.. For what it's worth!

 

[Harunobu]

They do look very similar to 'Osakazuki' R.indicum.

All pictures of actual wild R.indicum I have seen show red flowers. So in a sense, this is a cultivar. Just not a hybrid with R.tamurae genes.

 

[JudyB]

Ah man, its two and a half hours from me.
What a shame.

Two and a 1/2 hours? That's nothing in terms of a bonsai safari! Or are you saying you wish it were further away, so you wouldn't spend all your time and $$ going there?
I missed this post too, these look great JohnG!

 

[armetisius]

Johng,
Beautiful finds.
Looks like it will soon be time to drive the back roads of south AL.
Used to be many little 'plots' back in the day.
Keep every body updated please.

Ah man, its two and a half hours from me.
What a shame.. . .Why are satsuki favored over all others, and what other azaleas are especially suited for bonsai?. . . They are covered completely in blooms come spring and their leaves and flowers are smaller than some satsukis??

Man its Spring; get out of the house more. Pick up a cup and a smile, hit the road, do your
shopping, ask about someplace local for lunch, ride back. Fun times for all and quality
time all around.
Well they are longer lived; stronger,more prone to back-budding, can/do have multiple flower coloring patterns both individually and/or on the same plant. Did anyone mention these actually are a lot of work to develop along the way; did I mention they live longer?Tradition?

 

[Tentakelaertje]

Lovely azaleas John.
You guys mentioned both kurume and satsuki, so I went on a search, as I still can't see the difhelped much.
How do you guys know what azalea you got? What is the difference in leaf?
Thanks in advance

 

[Harunobu]

Kurume are hybrids of R.kiusianum and R.kaempferi.

Satsuki are R.indicum or hybrids of R.indicum and R.tamurae.

You can also mix genes every other way and in the F2 generation, you get expressions of all combinations of all alleles in the gene pool.

It is easy to recognize the species. It is not hard to differentiate from pure kurume and pure satsuki. I look at an ensemble of small details. Like leaf shape, flower petal shape, stamen count, growth behavior, flower time. You can also roughly grade them on a kiusianum - kaempferi or indium - tamurae axis.

Try to go to a botanical garden with wild type species or look up the pictures.

 

[Eric Group]

Lovely azaleas John.
You guys mentioned both kurume and satsuki, so I went on a search, as I still can't see the difhelped much.
How do you guys know what azalea you got? What is the difference in leaf?
Thanks in advance

You can take into account all that stuff Harunobu said... But the way to tell the diff is easy! Kurume bloom around March and Satsuki bloom around May...

I know that is wayyyyyy too simple, but that is all you really need to know. Some Kurume have slightly larger leaves and don't back bud as well or grow quite as fast... But the easy way to tell is just by when they bloom. Additionally the Satsuki tend to grow first, then bloom while Kurume bloom then grow...

 

[Harunobu]

Indeed. Maybe the easiest way to tell, or get a rough idea, is to see what flowers first and what grows first.

When a satsuki is heavy in R.indicum genes, it is also easier to tell. Their leaves are narrow/pointy.

But I guess it depends on climate because the pictures in the OP, they don't show growth but do show a flower. It also doesn't look like R.indicum here look in winter or in spring. It does look like pictures of satsuki I have seen in winter in Japan.


To me this is the most 'pure' example of R indicum:
http://mstyasou.exblog.jp/19982250/

Of course, the population on Yakushima has been disconnected from those on the main islands, so it's not all that straightforward. If you sequence the genome, there will be all kinds of differences.

R.kiusianum

And R.tamurae aka eriocarpum aka maruba satsuki:
http://samy8940.tea-nifty.com/photos/uncategorized/2012/05/16/201205kuchiera_satsuki2.jpg

Picture says it's taken at Kuchinoerabu-jima next to Yakushima, both to the south of Kyushu.

I was always under the impression that 'Chinzan' was a dwarf mutation of 'Osakazuki' and that 'Osakazuki' is a pink mutant of R.indicum. And thus that they aren't hybrids.



R.kaempferi gives kurume large leaves and makes them grow long shoots with sparse foliage.

 

[Tentakelaertje]

Thanks a bunch guys! When stuff is in bloom I'll check up on them what they are.
Do you know if there's cultivars in existence that flower pink twice a year?
If not, I guess one of mine is just really weird.

 

[Harunobu]

You mean reliably bloom twice? Sometimes plants get confused and bloom when they shouldn't.

In the US (several people) bred for these genes and they got azalea that reliably bloom twice a year in their climate. I don't think we have those in the Netherlands. Haven't seen them for sale. And not sure if they behave the same way here as in the US.

 

[johng]

In the US, the brand name "Encore" has a variety of types of azaleas that will bloom in the spring and again in the fall. Most of my azaleas will throw a couple blooms in the fall but it is nothing compared to the spring flush.

 

[GrimLore]

In the US, the brand name "Encore" has a variety of types of azaleas that will bloom in the spring and again in the fall. Most of my azaleas will throw a couple blooms in the fall but it is nothing compared to the spring flush.

Those can be forced to bloom in December as well as most Azalea indica. They both do fine indoors up here and can be tricked into blooming by controlling the light and heat for a duration. It is the reason you can often find them in full bloom in the indoor plant section at the big box stores up here. It is interesting as I did it by moving some indoors to a different spot a few years back and had no idea why they did until it was explained to me in detail. Always learning here...

I was wondering if you have tried the PJM Rhododendron varieties yet. Here the Ramapo variety has a nice small leaf for a Rhododendron under 2 inches and a flower that does not seem to grow wider then the leaf. I am thinking at that size more may find a home here...

Grimmy

 

[Tentakelaertje]

On the Dutch bonsaiforum we figured it was indeed random flowering, as other peoples had quinces and azaleas and others bloom, too, but better be sure!
Thanks again!