That looks like a good deal! Even considering the shipping.
Ume are trained differently than most other trees. They’re one of the rare deciduous trees that typically are developed with deadwood! (I know you’ll like that!)
Of course, the deadwood is only appropriate if the tree has old bark. Your tree has the beginnings of mature bark, but it’s not there yet.
Ume are grown for their flowers. The cool thing is they bloom really early in late winter to early spring. They’re usually the first thing to show signs of life in the spring. And then, the flowers are delicate and fragrant. Wonderful! They’re a stark contrast to the winter season.
And, when these precious flowers come from a gnarly old trunk, the contrast of the apparent age and hardship endured by the trunk and the youth and vitality as expressed by the flowers makes for an exquisite display!
So...
What I am telling you is to think long term with this tree. You’re eventually going to want to carve the trunk. Which means you need to grow wood to carve!
If this were my tree, I would seriously consider growing it in the ground for a few years to beef up that trunk. You have some good movement, but the branches have long straight stretches that will have to be removed.
Meanwhile, get another cheap one. To practice on. Make sure it blooms before you buy it. There is a yearly cycle you go thru to get both ramification and get flower production. And it’s its own thing. There’s an article in an old International Bonsai magazine (from around 1980) that details the process.
Good luck with it!
Here is a recent picture of an Ume I used to own:
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Here’s what it looked like when I showed it two years ago:
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As you can see, there’s a lot more ramification now!
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