Hand-me-down Carissa

[ABCarve]

This is another tree which was given to me in spring 2016 by a good friend when she could no longer care for them. It began its training in 1972 and was in a 6" X 11" round cascade pot. Nary a green leaf on it. Its trunk emerged from the pot and turned 90 degrees to hang perfectly vertical. Its line extended 38" below the bottom of the pot. You can see the 90 degree turn in the trunk.
I removed it from the haydite /bark soil mix and put it in a much larger pot with good substrate. Let it grow and get healthy. Summer 2016.

 

[ABCarve]

Spring 2018 began the air layer of the long extended cascade. July 7 the air layer was successfully removed and the parent was put into a more appropriate sized pot.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Spring 2018 began the air layer of the long extended cascade. July 7 the air layer was successfully removed and the parent was put into a more appropriate sized pot.

Who made this pot, if I may ask?

 

[ABCarve]

Who made this pot, if I may ask?

David Bennett Sorry I didn't clean it up but I'm just waiting to see if it grows moss.

 

[ABCarve]

New pot and a little tilt

 

[Carol 83]

Really nice. I don't know why more people don't grow them. Did you make the pot?

 

[ABCarve]

Really nice. I don't know why more people don't grow them. Did you make the pot?

I think they're great for bonsai. This will start flowering in a month or so and will bloom all summer. Very fragrant!! I hope the repot/root reduction doesn't make to much of a set back. The pot is mine.....I know......chicks like purple.

 

[Carol 83]

I think they're great for bonsai.

Me too, pretty forgiving and

Very fragrant!!

And

chicks like purple

 

[ABCarve]

So it's been 4 years now for an update. I've shortened the cascade and filled in the front. Keeping the sphagnum on the top of the soil has been problematic. This year I cut a piece of bird netting about an 1-1/2" larger than the perimeter of the top of the pot, cut a hole in it for the nebari, then put a slit in it so it could go around the trunk. I made two long staples from aluminum wire to hold the seam in place. I then used a narrow putty knife to tuck the extra 1-1/2" of netting between the inner edge of the pot and the new soil. You can spray the hose right on it and it stays put. I thought you'd want to know!

 

[pandacular]

WOW! My jaw dropped when I scrolled to this pot. Astoundingly beautiful, well done, and on the tree too!

Do you make many smaller pots? I think your bold styles of both form and color would be very popular in shohin, where it seems there is a lot more fun and variety in pottery.

 

[rockm]

So it's been 4 years now for an update. I've shortened the cascade and filled in the front. Keeping the sphagnum on the top of the soil has been problematic. This year I cut a piece of bird netting about an 1-1/2" larger than the perimeter of the top of the pot, cut a hole in it for the nebari, then put a slit in it so it could go around the trunk. I made two long staples from aluminum wire to hold the seam in place. I then used a narrow putty knife to tuck the extra 1-1/2" of netting between the inner edge of the pot and the new soil. You can spray the hose right on it and it stays put. I thought you'd want to know!

View attachment 529879

Nice Job on this! I have a weak spot for carissa. My mom had a very large mature twin trunk carissa bonsai for almost 20 years. She got it in 1980 something (what's up with carissa and the 70's BTW?) from a florist friend. It loved extreme full sun in Texas all summer. Overwintered inside against a sliding door. It Flowered and fruited all summer. Finally died after being attacked by squirrels. I inherited the pot, which I still use (a Chinese made oval).

 

[Michael P]

My first bonsai was a carissa that started as a one gallon nursery plant in 1975. It survived my decades of ignorance, and is now undergoing a multi-year renovation. It is "my eldest child".

Mine has always been very reluctant to flower. Any suggestions?

 

[rockm]

My first bonsai was a carissa that started as a one gallon nursery plant in 1975. It survived my decades of ignorance, and is now undergoing a multi-year renovation. It is "my eldest child".

Mine has always been very reluctant to flower. Any suggestions?

hard, sometimes extreme pruning. That worked on the one my mom had. Also, from what I've experienced, they don't seem to like aggressive root work, which seems to inhibit flowering a bit.

 

[Michael P]

Thanks, hard pruning is planned for the spring anyway.

 

[ABCarve]

This flowers but not prolifically. Never has more than 8-10 flowers at a time. It doesn’t fruit. This thing fills the pot with roots in a season and so far it gets root pruned every two seasons. Doesn’t seem to skip a beat. The roots get so tight the core gets hydrophobic. I submerge it every couple weeks.

 

[ABCarve]

WOW! My jaw dropped when I scrolled to this pot. Astoundingly beautiful, well done, and on the tree too!

Do you make many smaller pots? I think your bold styles of both form and color would be very popular in shohin, where it seems there is a lot more fun and variety in pottery.

I do make smaller pots....however, they take me about the same amount of time as a larger pot. The only difference is how many I can fit into the kiln. So if I were to charge the same price as the larger ones I probably wouldn't sell many small pots.

 

[pandacular]

Definitely understandable to focus on larger pots for economic reasons, but there’s definitely a market for your style in smaller pots. Hopefully, shohin in the US continues to grow in popularity. I’ve always felt it’s silly that people expect small pots to be much cheaper than medium pots.

 

[ABCarve]

Definitely understandable to focus on larger pots for economic reasons, but there’s definitely a market for your style in smaller pots. Hopefully, shohin in the US continues to grow in popularity. I’ve always felt it’s silly that people expect small pots to be much cheaper than medium pots.

Roy Minari gets good prices for his shohin pots. Not my cup of tea, but it shows there is a market. To get into that market takes a lot of showing up at shows and social media presence. Making the product is only 50% of selling art. I've been in the arts, in some way, most of my life and I'm just not ready to start all that stuff all over again. I do these pots for the joy of doing it. I did some rough calculations on this years production and it worked out to about $12.75 an hour. That doesn't count for heating my studio, clay, chemicals or kiln. I'm not complaining. It's nice to have an audience here who appreciates the work.

 

[Carol 83]

This flowers but not prolifically.

Mine too but that makes it more special when it does bloom.