Barbados Cherry cascade...

susieq14114 · Sep 14, 2013

Malpighia Glabra, commonly known as Barbados Cherry.
I could have posted this under flowering, fruiting, tropical or cascade, since it's all of those.

This tree is about 24 inches from the bottom tip of the cascade to the apex. I love the bright pink flowers that are followed by blood red berries. When the bonsai gods are smiling, the red berries are still on the tree when the next round of flowers appear. These guys bloom/berry all Summer long. The pot is not ideal for it, but it was the only cascade-type pot I had on hand.
It's a semi-cascade for now, until I find the right pot.

I started it from a cutting 15 or so years ago.

Redwood Ryan · Sep 15, 2013

Beautiful!

susieq14114 · Sep 15, 2013

Thank you. These trees are very forgiving to work with and easy to start from cuttings. I've actually had trimmings that fell on the soil, root right where they fell. There are some things you need to know about them though....

I have it in the house for a day or 2 so I can enjoy the blooms/berries. But then they go back outside in the full sun. They are very brittle when they get woody so wiring has to be done when the branch/trunk is still green stems.

Because they grow so fast, traditional style wiring would be useless. They swell with growth so quickly that you'd have wire marks/damage if you didn't cut off the old wire and rewire every few weeks. Years ago, I learned to "loose coil" wire..... you just wire around the selected branch or trunk, as if it were much larger in thickness. It looks like a copper spring around the branch, not actually touching in most places. Then you bend the "spring" with the branch inside of it. This allows the wires to stay on a very long time. When you remove the wire, DO NOT try to unwind it. You just cut it off or the, now wood and very brittle, branch or trunk might snap.

They also need to be kept trimmed or they get very spidery and willowy very fast and the spaces between sets of leaves, gets larger. I used to keep about 50 of these guys going......keeping up with the trimming during the growing season, didn't leave time for much else. LOL I finally sold off 3/4 of my entire bonsai collection just so I could get back to enjoying working with them and not feel stressed about keeping up with it all.

Poink88 · Sep 15, 2013

Nice. I have one also...then took several cuttings this year. Mine doesn't grow nearly as fast as you described. Maybe I need to replace the soil it came in next year. I love the flowers and the fruits.

Thanks for sharing your experience with it.

susieq14114 · Sep 15, 2013

"Mine doesn't grow nearly as fast as you described."

I might have exaggerated a tiny bit...LOL It seems like every time I looked at them, they needed rewired. 2 or 3 times during the growing season. Loose wiring allows me to leave the wires through a growing season and then some, if need be. I do hit them hard with a high nitrogen fertilizer at the end of our Winter season here and then again, midway through the season.

I never meant to get hooked on these trees..... Actually started out with a different Malpighia. Coccigera or Singapore Holly. Not as brittle when woody, the flowers are a much paler pink and those darn little "holly-like" leaves will eat you alive when you are working with the plant. I still have 3 of those and I do love them but they are harder to get ramification with. The oldest one is almost 20 years old now and has a wonderful trunk. Just not the nice branching that you get with Barbados Cherry. I also tend to procrastinate doing the work on them until they get so out of shape that I can't stand it....mainly because of those little points on the leaves.

The BC's are just so much friendlier to work on.

tmmason10 · Sep 15, 2013

What a nice cascade! Thanks for sharing.

Cadillactaste · Sep 15, 2013

That is beautiful! Thanks for sharing...

susieq14114 · Aug 22, 2017

Just an update on the Barbados Cherry cascade..... I had mentioned that they are awfully brittle and break easily. This past Spring, we had a severe storm with high winds. When I went out to my bonsai shelves, next morning, it had snapped off right at the base. Broke my heart. I'd been working on that tree for nearly 2 decades. I still have an informal upright BC. I took some cuttings from it and they're doing well, but I'll never have another BC that large. I'm scaling back, size wise, anyhow. That was one of my last larger pieces. I'm going to miss that tree

GSCarlson · Aug 22, 2017

milehigh_7 · Aug 22, 2017

susieq14114 said:
Just an update on the Barbados Cherry cascade..... I had mentioned that they are awfully brittle and break easily. This past Spring, we had a severe storm with high winds. When I went out to my bonsai shelves, next morning, it had snapped off right at the base. Broke my heart. I'd been working on that tree for nearly 2 decades. I still have an informal upright BC. I took some cuttings from it and they're doing well, but I'll never have another BC that large. I'm scaling back, size wise, anyhow. That was one of my last larger pieces. I'm going to miss that tree

I'm really sorry to hear that. I know how it feels to lose an old friend like that.

Cadillactaste · Aug 22, 2017

Like Clyde says...it would be like losing an old friend. No words can buffer that sort of direct hit to ones heart. Sincerely sorry to hear about this. It was a beaut.

My husband told me recently...not to focus on what I felt a hard loss...but the joy it brought to me. Embrace that time as the prize it was.

JoeR · Aug 22, 2017

susieq14114 said:
Just an update on the Barbados Cherry cascade..... I had mentioned that they are awfully brittle and break easily. This past Spring, we had a severe storm with high winds. When I went out to my bonsai shelves, next morning, it had snapped off right at the base. Broke my heart. I'd been working on that tree for nearly 2 decades. I still have an informal upright BC. I took some cuttings from it and they're doing well, but I'll never have another BC that large. I'm scaling back, size wise, anyhow. That was one of my last larger pieces. I'm going to miss that tree

I hate that so much for you, this tree was actually what got me to buy my BC, which is probably my favorite tree. I can't imagine the attachment after almost 20 years. Pictures of what is left?

You had said that they can easily get too leggy, which is exactly what mine did- how do you correct that? Can you cut branches back and not leave any leafs on them?

susieq14114 · Aug 22, 2017

JoeR said:
I hate that so much for you, this tree was actually what got me to buy my BC, which is probably my favorite tree. I can't imagine the attachment after almost 20 years. Pictures of what is left?

You had said that they can easily get too leggy, which is exactly what mine did- how do you correct that? Can you cut branches back and not leave any leafs on them?

I have had mixed results, cutting back and not leaving leaves... I think the woodier it is, the slimmer our chances are...but if the trunk too leggy, I'd try an air layer. They make cuttings so easily that I think an air layer would do well. If you cut back as far as you can and still have leaves, you might get some new growth popping out behind the old leaves..... It's always good to give the tree regular "haircuts" during the growing season. It's really important to not let it get away from you.....

susieq14114 · Aug 22, 2017

Cadillactaste said:
Like Clyde says...it would be like losing an old friend. No words can buffer that sort of direct hit to ones heart. Sincerely sorry to hear about this. It was a beaut.

My husband told me recently...not to focus on what I felt a hard loss...but the joy it brought to me. Embrace that time as the prize it was.

It's hard not to feel loss when you've invested so much of yourself in the process, sometimes decades..... I started a San Jose' juniper from a cutting, back in the early 80s. It went through a lot of re-stylings, over a 30 period. I loved what it had become...a really impressive literati. Then it started to decline and I couldn't figure out the problem. When it died, I was devastated..... But I still get excited over creating a new piece. I still dig through nursery stock, looking for a shrub with "good bones". We know we're going to lose some, along the way. Focus on what's ahead..... It's all we can do.

Carol 83 · Aug 23, 2017

That was a beautiful tree, it would have broken my heart to lose it. I have a weeping Barbados Cherry that I like alot. It's just about to bloom again. Fun trees.

susieq14114 · Aug 24, 2017

Carol 83 said:
That was a beautiful tree, it would have broken my heart to lose it. I have a weeping Barbados Cherry that I like alot. It's just about to bloom again. Fun trees.

They are fun and so forgiving to work with. I have started a few cuttings this year, from the one I have left. I had been thinking of letting one of them grow in it's natural, weeping form. I bet it's beautiful..... probably something like the wisteria in form?

Carol 83 · Aug 24, 2017

susieq14114 said:
They are fun and so forgiving to work with. I have started a few cuttings this year, from the one I have left. I had been thinking of letting one of them grow in it's natural, weeping form. I bet it's beautiful..... probably something like the wisteria in form?

Not much to look at, I've only had it a few months.

susieq14114 · Aug 24, 2017

Carol 83 said:
Not much to look at, I've only had it a few months. View attachment 158109

It's a lovely BC. I would suggest a little more trimming, just to keep the spaces between the leaves, shorter and the leaves themselves, smaller. Are you going for a cascade or semi cascade? I know I have a hard time with the idea of trimming them as they're about to bloom....LOL Then, the berries are coming on and we don't want to miss that....sigh. But aggressive trimming on these guys, will get you a lot of development.

susieq14114 · Aug 24, 2017

JoeR said:
I hate that so much for you, this tree was actually what got me to buy my BC, which is probably my favorite tree. I can't imagine the attachment after almost 20 years. Pictures of what is left?

Hi Joe, sorry I didn't reply to your last question about photos of what's left....nothing was left..... It snapped off at the roots/soil level....believe me, if there was anything left to try and save, I would have made the effort. I now have a fairly large, empty semi cascade pot, staring at me when I go into my work area..... I probably should get rid of the pot because I don't plan on having anything that large again...but you know what they say about plans...... Thanks for asking.

Carol 83 · Aug 24, 2017

susieq14114 said:
It's a lovely BC. I would suggest a little more trimming, just to keep the spaces between the leaves, shorter and the leaves themselves, smaller. Are you going for a cascade or semi cascade? I know I have a hard time with the idea of trimming them as they're about to bloom....LOL Then, the berries are coming on and we don't want to miss that....sigh. But aggressive trimming on these guys, will get you a lot of development.

Ha, I actually just trimmed it last week, but obviously not enough! I know if you let them get too long, they will start dropping leaves on the branches closest to the trunk. It is already showing growth from the pruning I did a week ago. Better get back after it. I'm thinking semi-cascade.

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