Hibiscus & Gardenia: What Varieties Are Good For Bonsai?

[Perrywinkle]

One of my very first "bonsai trees" was a slender little barely rooted cutting of a dwarf pomegranate. I was only 14 or 15 years old. I would walk past a florist on my way to piano lessons and he had odd little cuttings of various "houseplants" in the window. Got a Cattleya orchid seedling for $4 and a Pomegranate cutting for $2. This would have been 1969 or 1970, maybe. I kept the pomegranate alive for 42 years, until it got forgotten one autumn and froze to +10 F, about 10 degrees colder than you could ever expect any pomegranate to survive. Key is that Pomegranate are hardy trees, great indoor for winter, outdoor for summer. As long as during the summer they get near full sun, they will do quite well with this routine.

I leave my pomegranates out until a few light frosts knock the leaves off. Then depending on whether I owned a house at the time or not, they would come in to the windowsill, or go under lights, or finally would spend some time in my cold well house. The well house, usually ran 32 F to 40 F, but this would only keep the pomegranates dormant until maybe early February. Then even in the dark 38 F well house, the pomegranates would start to grow. I guess their winter requirement was met and it was time for spring. I would bring them up into the windowsill or the light garden with the orchids. Then in spring they would go outside for the summer. I would prune off all the "winter growth" because that would be a little soft and weak because of low inside light, then I would move the pomegranate to full sun, and a new set of usually brightly red tinted leaves would emerge, and the stage would be set for a nice round of summer growth. Branches that are allowed to grow all summer usually begin blooming by end of July. Flowers are great. Since my pomegranate was only 12 or so inches tall, I never allowed it to develop fruit to maturity. They are self fertile, so to get fruit you only need one. I like the dwarf cultivars because the fruit is smaller, leaves are smaller, and internodes are a bit shorter. They do like full sun, but other than that, they have no draw backs.

Oh, and pomegranates can "accidentally dry out" and will bounce back. You can dry them to wilt point, and they will bounce back without loosing twigs. You can dry them to wilt, forget them an additional day, and only loose a few small twigs. These are tough, drought resistant shrubs. Now drying them out to the wilt point is not healthy, does not encourage rapid growth, but the wilt point is the most obvious sign that most of us as beginners used to get to know when to water our bonsai. Pomegranate would survive over stepping the wilt point by a day or two. (if it is not exceptionally hot and dry). Pomegranate survive heat, and low humidity well. They just drink more water. They survive cold down to maybe 27 F without serious damage, and if the time is brief, they will tolerate a few hours down to +19 F. It is best to not let them get more than a few degrees of frost, just to let them know what time of year it is.

Pomegranates are good for all "upright" styles, in that branches like to grow upwards. As long as a branch finishes above the rim of the pot the tree is in, the pomegranate will be fine. Try to make a pomegranate cascade and all the downward branches will slowly die on you. Any slanting, twisting, contorting, windswept, upright, broom, informal upright, or just "whatever" style will work as long as the end of the branch finishes a little bit higher than the start of the branch. Bark of pomegranate is smooth and tan. Plan big chops for the back side. Wood is fairly soft, so deadwood features won't last more than a decade. Usually like most fruit trees, deadwood is only used if the pomegranate you are working with has a massive trunk.

If you know anyone in California, see if they can get you a stump of a larger old pomegranate from an old Inland Empire pomegranate orchard, there you would have something fun to work with.

Cool story Leo. Sad to see an old friend go, but it gave you lots to learn from.

 

[Perrywinkle]

I just now remembered, Sea Hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus) is a very good species to work with. You will learn a lot about building ramification with that one. It's not quite in your price range, but Wigert's has some for $25. And I'm sure you can find a rooted cutting for a lot cheaper.

 

[Katie0317]

I do understand and appreciate the concern, but...

... he's dead on.
I know I can't keep either of these outside for winter. I have acquired over the past year several trees and plants that have to come inside for the winter, and so far they are all doing well, so I'm confident I can can keep gardenias and hibiscus alive with the appropriate learning curve.

I suppose my thinking with a subtropical flowering type is that it has a routine signal to tell me if I'm doing it right or wrong- namely those flowers.
It's built in guage of how happy the tree is, taking a little bit of the guess work out of it while allowing me to finally push myself and hone my skills.

So far it's sounding like hibiscus may not be my best bet for award winning bonsai, though it would still be fun. They're fairly new to the local market- at least I hadn't noticed them in the local garden centers before last spring- and I don't really know how they hold up to our climate.
Gardenias have been rather common as house plants for a long time here, but generally considered more of a specialty type. They don't like our winters or our summers much, once again forcing me to learn, and fast.

I am open to other suggestions, too, if anyone has any. These are just the two that have caught my eye for now.WW

Have you considered a sea hibiscus? Looks like a regular hibiscus if you were to plant one in your yard but in Taiwan they've been able to make the leaves on them extremely tiny. We have a sea hibiscus bonsai and it's very easy to take care of. It's been repotted, the trunk has grown and it's just a very easy keep.

Here's a nice one at Wigert's for 25.00 They encourage you to give them a call and they'll usually take a photo of a few trees so you can choose the one you want. This one's pretty, not as big a trunk as the one we bought but we paid a good bit more for the size we bought. I don't think you'll find one at a better price since I know you're budgeting for this tree.

Sea Hibiscus - 7" to 9" Pot - Wigert's Bonsai

NATIVE ENVIRONMENT: Common in Taiwan and Indonesia and found in tropical regions worldwide

www.wigertsbonsai.com

 

[Carol 83]

Dwarf Barabdos Cherry's are also an easy outdoor summer/indoor winter flowering plant that will bloom sporadically all year. I have a little pot of rooted cuttings you are welcome to if you want. It's a little too cold here to ship at the moment, but I think it's supposed to warm up next week. Bougainvillea will also bloom inside for you in the winter, given enough light.

 

[ShadyStump]

All great info!
I'm not sure what variety of hibiscus they've been selling around here, but I'd assume it's a hardy variety. Though, given that Walmart had some that's no guarantee.
@Carol 83, the cuttings you sent for my students, the ones that have survived anyway, are doing well, and once they've outgrown their current space I'll be taking home some cuttings of my own I think. I know my kids will love the bougies.
I wasn't in a hurry to get home after work last night so swung by the local garden shop to see their houseplant and tropical section. They do have a couple gardenias that look like several cuttings in one pot. They don't look the healthiest right now, so I'm still shopping around.