Beauty Berry "Profusion" I picked up today.

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Found this interesting piece if material at my local nursery. Read up a little on here regarding the species, looks like this one is Callicarpa bodinieri. Am I correct in thinking this is an American version of beauty Berry?







From what I read the American version has larger leaves and the berries just appear at the apex of growing stems - anyone have this cultivar that can confirm this growing habit? It also has the beginning if an interesting hollow, I'll likely chop this tree down to just above it.

 

[0soyoung]

I concur with your I.D.
I think you are correct about its shortcomings (which, ironically, are big leaves and long internodes).
I like your plan.

My suggestion is that you cram it into the smallest pot you can this spring (e.g., 2.5" dia), as many species self-miniaturize in this condition. If you have a pot humidity tray/saucer, fill it with sand and sit your little pot of callicarpa on it and it should be no more of a problem watering than anything else you've got (water the whole works, sand bed and pot, when you water).

I'm very interested in how it works out. The thing is that internodes are forever - once you've got short ones, you can subsequently thicken if you want a bigger image. On the other hand, an itty bitty could be lots of fun, if it is indeed possible.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

that you cram it into the smallest pot you can this spring (e.g., 2.5" dia), as many species self-miniaturize in this condition. If you have a pot humidity tray/saucer, fill it with sand and sit your little pot of callicarpa on it and it should be no more of a problem watering than anything else you've got (water the whole works, sand bed and pot, when you water).

I read that these things are usually chopped to 6 inches in the ground, but it would survive that much chopping as well as that big of a root reduction? I'm down with that plan as it sounds like a lot of fun but I'd hate to murder the thing haha. Further reading indicates I should do all of that within the next couple weeks.

 

[0soyoung]

I read that these things are usually chopped to 6 inches in the ground, but it would survive that much chopping as well as that big of a root reduction? I'm down with that plan as it sounds like a lot of fun but I'd hate to murder the thing haha. Further reading indicates I should do all of that within the next couple weeks.

Now that you bring it up, I chopped one in our garden to 6 inches and that was the end of it.

So you may want to 'chase the foliage' down this year instead. The process would be to cut it down to the lowest visible buds. I'm not sure how this will work with callicarpa. With maples, the largest buds are at the tip and the bud pairs get smaller getting closer to the roots. One can cut back to the the lowest clearly visible buds and some more will become visible that can be cut back to, before bud break.

A good supply of cytokinins (made by roots) is necessary for bud release, so you are quite right - you don't want to do heavy root work until later, after you've whittled it down.

btw, they take forever and a day to thicken, so small is the way to go.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Well I did some more reading and saw that this cultivar is considered pretty Hardy. I went ahead and cut it down to the lowest leader and reduced and arranged the roots a bit and put in a training tray. I also found a sucker on it's own roots system and got a mame started from the deal. I'll keep it out if freezing weather and allow it yo grow untouched through 2019. Let's see what happens!

 

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Update: its doing well! Letting it grow out and gain some strength.

 

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Update: Ended up dying off last year due to a bad spider mite infestation that cropped up.

 

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Update: Ended up dying off last year due to a bad spider mite infestation that cropped up.

I thought I'd expound on this a little bit here. 2020 will be full year 3 in the hobby for me and this and a ficus were the only two trees that died off on me in 2019 (out of a collection of 30-35 pre-bonsai in various stages of growth and development). This beauty berry was killed by spider mites. The ficus was killed from its roots in a small pot completely drying out. Both of their causes of death were due to a lapse in diligence. Since I started doing this, I have been a "check on trees every day" kind of guy. Its helped me stay on top of things and even if my trees don't look the way I'd like them to artistically, I'm proud to say they all tend to be healthy and vigorous growers. However, this due diligence comes at a price of sinking deep into research in books and online articles about bonsai and horticulture, and for those first couple of years it seemed like I had a crises every week, resulting in hours of time. Close to the end of summer in 2019 I got pretty burned out on it. I'd water my trees as needed but I was doing the bare minimum and not pulling trees to check closer. That's when the spider mites hit and they had a chance to do their damage for several days before I noticed them (all the tiny webs and small debris dangling) I got myself in check and spent the next couple of days spraying out the canopies to knock them down and then hitting with a miticide. Same thing happened indoors this winter. Had a few days where it all felt like a chore and I didn't check on my indoor plants individually and because the ficus was in a small pot, it had already dried out fully by the time the other ones showed signs of needing water. So there is my story of two deaths, probably of many to come. Happy Sunday!

 

[JoeH]

for what its worth bodinieri is a Chinese species. Americana is or course the native one. Surprised it succumbed to mites, I rarely see anything bothering the native ones here. I have several in my landscape, purple and white berry varieties.

 

[Carol 83]

I thought I'd expound on this a little bit here. 2020 will be full year 3 in the hobby for me and this and a ficus were the only two trees that died off on me in 2019 (out of a collection of 30-35 pre-bonsai in various stages of growth and development). This beauty berry was killed by spider mites. The ficus was killed from its roots in a small pot completely drying out. Both of their causes of death were due to a lapse in diligence. Since I started doing this, I have been a "check on trees every day" kind of guy. Its helped me stay on top of things and even if my trees don't look the way I'd like them to artistically, I'm proud to say they all tend to be healthy and vigorous growers. However, this due diligence comes at a price of sinking deep into research in books and online articles about bonsai and horticulture, and for those first couple of years it seemed like I had a crises every week, resulting in hours of time. Close to the end of summer in 2019 I got pretty burned out on it. I'd water my trees as needed but I was doing the bare minimum and not pulling trees to check closer. That's when the spider mites hit and they had a chance to do their damage for several days before I noticed them (all the tiny webs and small debris dangling) I got myself in check and spent the next couple of days spraying out the canopies to knock them down and then hitting with a miticide. Same thing happened indoors this winter. Had a few days where it all felt like a chore and I didn't check on my indoor plants individually and because the ficus was in a small pot, it had already dried out fully by the time the other ones showed signs of needing water. So there is my story of two deaths, probably of many to come. Happy Sunday!

Totally get it. The holidays this year were extremely stressful for me. Thanksgiving and Christmas were so close and I had to do both big family meals, besides the shopping, cleaning etc. I too, was neglectful of watering, and my trees suffered also. Since you admitted if first, I actually killed a ficus also, who'd a thunk it could be done? Not even a cheapo Wal-mart job, a fairly decent green island from a bonsai nursery. It was in a shallow pot and I just forgot about it, literally. Confession cleanses the soul!!