Escallonia, "Red Elf"

[grouper52]

My wife was going through some boxes of old papers the other day, and came out and handed me a large three-ring binder notebook. I opened it, and found it to be a journal I decided I ought to keep (for some reason - certainly not my style) of all my bonsai. I made entries from '06 - '08, apparently, and one of the trees I devoted a page to was this guy. Here's what I wrote back then:

3/25/06 - Bought $10 (was $29.95, but woman sold it at discount due to it being "distressed." Beautiful nebari. Cluster of branches - responded well to some initial rough & fine pruning. Growth/foliage scraggily, not too healthy. SuperThrive and Kelp!

7/06 - Put in ground after radical hard pruning - will train in ground to establish better branching.

11/06 - leaves still green - multiple long leaders - will trim Feb.

2/08 - Vigorous

That's all I wrote. Nothing in between, but it has grown nicely sitting in a neglected fashion over a tile for six years. I maybe eyeballed it 1-2 times each year, just to see how it was thickening up, which it did nicely. Dug it up into this pot, trimmed the thick branches, and threw it in with the crowd until today: a bit more trimming and cleaning up, and here it sits. About a foot tall.

Three nice angels shown below. I kinda like that wild aborted nebari flying off to the left in the first photo, but it probably looks a bit too phallic to carve and bleach into a jin . . . an Ent pining for the lost Ent-wives, or something . . . . .

I might also note that I have no Middle-Earthly idea why it might be called a Red Elf - looks more like a dwarf to me.

Enjoy.

 

[Bunjeh]

Just dug up a Yardmadori of this myself. We will see what happens.

 

[Vin]

That has some killer textured bark and the nebari ain't bad either.

 

[edprocoat]

I like the Horny Elf, you should jin it and carve a little mushroom head on it just for a conversation piece.

ed

 

[Bunjeh]

Back Budding

I gather from these photos that escallonia back bud pretty well. That is encouraging. I literally ripped the one I have from landscape planting in front of a building scheduled for demolition. I pruned the sheeeyyaatt out of it. Here's hoping for similar success.

 

[carp]

I like the Horny Elf, you should jin it and carve a little mushroom head on it just for a conversation piece.

ed

and feature an aloe in a bonsai pot as your accent plant.
amidoinitright?

 

[grouper52]

Here's a summer update on this little fellow, with lots of nice, small, close foliage. Enjoy!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Very nice!

 

[Giga]

Wow! this is gonna be a powerful image in a couple years!

 

[j evans]

Nice trunk, going to be a good tree

 

[sorce]

Now that's just fabulous .

Bitchin' in fact!

Sorce

 

[michaelj]

This is such an underrated and underutilized species for bonsai. They make great trees, but you rarely see them.

 

[grouper52]

Thanks all. It seems quite robust, but I'm going to just take it slow, I think, and let it grow out for another year of two. Perhaps some experimental baby-bending to see how it responds to that, but otherwise, just let it grow.

 

[armetisius]

I wasn't aware they particularly cared for being disturbed once established.
Thanks for the intel

 

[discusmike]

Cool little tree!

 

[RileyJFDB13]

Any update on this tree?

 

[Vin]

Any update on this tree?

Unfortunately, he sold or gave all of his trees away last year and moved to the Philippines. Once he settles down I believe his plan is to start another small collection. I have always admired this escallonia.

 

[RileyJFDB13]

That's unfortunate! I was only curious because I have stumbled upon some very very old nursery stock for a very reasonable price but there is little to no information on the species for Bonsai so it makes me tentative to purchase

 

[rodeolthr]

It's been my experience that escallonia as a rule are very well suited to bonsai culture. I have Red Dream in the landscape where they have outgrown the suggested height of 3-4' and are now approximately 6' tall. They have amazing twisting bases with lots of flare and great bark. I plan to dig them this year or next.

 

[Vin]

That's unfortunate! I was only curious because I have stumbled upon some very very old nursery stock for a very reasonable price but there is little to no information on the species for Bonsai so it makes me tentative to purchase

They can make outstanding bonsai but they aren't that popular anymore so people don't know much about them. They were very popular many years ago in landscaping but have been replaced by something else (who knows what it is). I have been looking for one with a decent trunk for about three years now. I have talked with a few Mom and Pop Nursery owners and always get the same reply. They have heard of it but it's not a common plant they see anymore. My search continues...