Koelreuteria paniculata (Goldenrain Tree) problem...

[cbroad]

Last summer I did some landscaping for a lady I've known for years in exchange for a whole bunch of "pre-bonsai" plants. One thing she gave me was a Goldenrain Tree in a 1 gallon pot; I'm not sure where she got it and whether it was seed grown or a cutting. The plant is less than a foot tall.
This winter I set up a small poly tent about 6' long, 3.5' wide and about 3.5' tall and put most of my plants that are planted in bonsai soil in there along with a few other plants (in actual soil) I felt were tender or just really wanted to baby. In there I have conifers, broad leaf evergreens, and deciduous stuff.
Last Saturday we were expected to be sunny and get in the mid to upper 60s, so before work I uncovered the tent (it gets almost all day direct sun) so I wouldn't cook the plants and I'm also aware of fungus. That evening we had a cold front coming in and the temperature dropped below 30 and it was windy as hell and by the time I got home it was dark and getting pretty cold; I was really worried about my goldenrain tree because it pushed out growth last week and I didn't want it to get fried. So, I was outside at 9:00 pm with a flashlight checking on my plants and putting the plastic back on and luckily the rain tree and everything else looked fine. I left the plastic on until Tuesday morning.
Yesterday was a nice day so I took the plastic off before work and noticed the new growth on the rain tree was flagging... (the soil was not dry) but the new growth was rather limp; definitely not desiccated from cold air. Now I'm pissed, I was so worried about the cold temps but ended up getting fungus....
Does anybody out there have much experience with Goldenrain Tree? What are the chances a small one can push new growth after already wasting some of its energy breaking dormancy? I tried looking for more buds and not quite sure I see much, the apical buds were the ones that pushed and not sure if there are any axillary ones or less dominant buds further down the stem... Not sure if this was destined to be a bonsai but I at least wanted to keep it as a specimen. Do you guys think it has a chance?

 

[M. Frary]

No one here must know the golden rain tree.

 

[cbroad]

It looks like my rain tree is going to pull through! By Saturday I saw some new buds swelling, mostly under leaf scars on the main trunk but did get one below the effected tip.

No one here must know the golden rain tree.

Yeah, it's at least a cool tree even if not for bonsai purposes. There were a few examples of bonsai on google but was mixed up with golden chain tree and other random stuff, but I did see a couple nice examples. If I can keep it alive, it might one day be worthy of a bonsai pot.

 

[bilbocannon]

Did yours survive? I picked up one of these from a local nursey's discount section. It was roughly 6ft tall, as you can tell i have cut it back. I wouldnt have a clue if these backbud well nor could i find much information about them. I have read that they are not the best subjects for bonsai but as always i love trying to bonsai the un bonsai'able.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I know the tree, have not tried to grow Koelreuteria paniculata because I took a good look at the mature trees in the landscape. They have compound leaves, which will always make styling a problem. They flower from the ends of new growth, so you will always have to let it grow out, grow out of shape to get it to bloom. Seed pods are not particularly attractive. Autumn color is minimal, basically they go from green to brown. So other than in flower, they do not have any traits that I personally find attractive enough to make them worth the effort to grow. Wisteria has better flowers, and the flowers come from old wood, which means that while wisteria is ugly most of the year, you can get it to bloom at a time when it is trimmed back to shape. So I have not found the time or space for one. Additionally, they are only marginally hardy in my area.

Now, I really don''t want to be a total ''downer'', if you really want to work with one, keep in mind the compound leaves will have to be worked into the design. Each leaf will have to represent a whole foliage pad. It will be difficult to get this to work, but it has been done with Acacia and Brazilian Rain tree, it could be worked out for the raintree. Good luck.

 

[cbroad]

@bilbocannon Nice tree! I like the trunk and the movement of the leader.

Yeah, mine pulled through! I repotted it in a 3 gallon pot with regular potting soil and beefed it up with Biotone ("i put that shit on everything") It grew three feet last year. I haven't check the root system yet but I bet it filled the pot, I'm probably going to put it in a 7 gallon or maybe even a 15. I think it can take it, they grow like weeds here. I want to see how thick I can get the trunk while in a container. I too have visions of bonsai'ing everything that probably shouldn't be, probably because I'm still a noob... I'm sure it will pass when I learn more, and learn to stop wasting time on things that will never make a good bonsai, but not yet

IMG_20160222_124729

• cbroad
• Mar 6, 2016

It's the skinnier stick in the back right.

Thanks Leo! Like you said their compound leaves will be the hardest thing to work around/with. I didn't think about the flowers growing on new wood, you're right about having to let it grow out of shape to get the blooms. Some actually have translucent pink seed pods that look like Chinese lanterns, even though that can be a variable trait I'll have to wait to see what mine actually does. I have seen nice yellow fall color on mature trees in my area but they don't last long, but again fall color is really varible year to year. Either way, these plants would have to be large for everything to be in scale as bonsai.

Like I said, I'm a noob and don't know any better

 

[Cypress187]

View attachment 96510 View attachment 96511 Did yours survive? I picked up one of these from a local nursey's discount section. It was roughly 6ft tall, as you can tell i have cut it back. I wouldnt have a clue if these backbud well nor could i find much information about them. I have read that they are not the best subjects for bonsai but as always i love trying to bonsai the un bonsai'able.

Is that sticky tape wire?

 

[bilbocannon]

Is that sticky tape wire?

Haha yes. I snapped the branch abit when bending it. I figured sticky tape would help? Im a noob.

 

[Cypress187]

Haha yes. I snapped the branch abit when bending it. I figured sticky tape would help? Im a noob.

Well it wil work, but i don't think it can win prizes with tape attached to it

 

[bilbocannon]

Well it wil work, but i don't think it can win prizes with tape attached to it

The tape is only there till if/when it heals

 

[aml1014]

Haha yes. I snapped the branch abit when bending it. I figured sticky tape would help? Im a noob.

We use grafting tape all the time at my work to wrap branches when the trees blow over and break branches, works like a charm.

Aaron