Candidate for Bonsai or Accent Plant? You Decide.

R_F

Chumono
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Hi Everyone,

You don't see roses as bonsai too often and this is just something I'm toying with and not taking too seriously. But I could see this being turned into an accent plant very easily with the addition of some other plants. What do you think? Which way should I go; bonsai or accent? If an accent what do you think the other plants should be?
 

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John Ruger

Shohin
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You know, you got a cool triple-trunk out of that thing. If you clip it to the shape you want, since I don't think you can really wire them, it would look pretty awsome once it hardens off. I've seen only a couple of good examples (sorry no pics) as bonsai, but the ones that were done well, are pretty interesting.

Let us know what you decide.
 
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I've never seen a rose tree... so I have to vote for accent. If accent... then for me it would be with a light barked deciduous tree. Wild roses are not as common in coniferous forests... probably has to do with the ph of the soils etc... anyway... So for bonsai purposes... maybe a beech... zelkova... hornbeam... but beech would probably be coolest.

Good luck... :)

Victrinia
 

Mike Page

Mame
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I have seen a rose bonsai. It was an old mature speciman with a large and gnarly trunk that made it suitable for bonsai. The rose under discussion here seems too petite and delicate to be a credible bonsai.
I vote for accent.

Mike
 

irene_b

Omono
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I have seen rose bonsai and considering the size it can be either...
 

rockm

Spuds Moyogi
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I've had a rose bonsai :D I beg you to reconsider, even though this one might make a nice one down the road...Mine was made from a big old stump of a wild multiflora rose. The six inch diameter stump was collected from growing up a telephone pole guy wire in a Shenandoah Valley cow pasture.

Bottom line, it was a big pain in the rear end. Needed constant pruning. The thorns caught everything that walked by. It grew virgorously and weedily--akin to a wisteria. It never failed to swallow its neighboring bonsai by the end of July. It was also an insect magnet, drawing all manner of sucking and chewing pests into the backyard, from Japanese beetles to wood borers to a plague of aphids. It added insult to injury (literally) by flowering very intermittently.

I finally "turned it loose" back into the woods after its trunk rotted through--the wood was very soft to begin with. Rot is a constant threat. It also wore out its welcome.
 

DaveG

Mame
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I have to admit that's pretty darn bad if you've gone through all the trouble to collect a plant and train it as bonsai just to get so sick of it in the end that you put it back in the wild.
 

greerhw

Omono
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Don't waste your time dude !

keep it green,
Harry
 

R_F

Chumono
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Don't waste your time dude !

keep it green,
Harry

LOL Thanks Harry. I wouldn't expect anything less from a staunch conifer dude. :D But, I love flowers and accents to boot (please don't think any less of me Harry? LOL)
 

R_F

Chumono
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I've never seen a rose tree... so I have to vote for accent.

But Vic I've never seen an azalea tree in the wild either! :D I'm just teasing with you.....

I think I'm going to go accent plant with this. Any ideas what should be planted with it?
 
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HAHAHAHAH darlin'..... That's just cuz you live in Florida... up here where they are indigenous... you get TREES of Rhodies taller than the houses they are planted next to. And in the woods... they also tower. But in other parts of the world they can literally be trees bigger than oaks.

As to what should go with it... I have no idea... does it need more distinct plants besides moss? I'm sure someone else will chime in with a more inspired idea. :)

V
 
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