My Kurume Azaleas

[barrosinc]

I want to start a thread where I can show the work for my 3 kurume azaleas, apparently they are Kurume Fucsia (seems to be missing a last name) and Kurume Hinomayo Fucsia.

azalea kurume fucsia:

http://www.barrosinc.com/360-bonsai-photography-azalea-kurume/

azalea kurume fucsia:

http://www.barrosinc.com/360-bonsai-photography-azalea-kurume-2-2014/

azalea kurume hinomayo

http://www.barrosinc.com/360-bonsai-photography-azalea-hinomayo-kurume-2014/

I was thinking shohins for all. At most 8inch.

 

[Jester217300]

I like the first one a lot. Great trunk movement, branching, and trunk size for shohin.

 

[barrosinc]

Thanks!
I think I dont have a trunk for more than a shohin.
I would love to airlayer like 3 branches from the number 2, and start propagating it for my garden.

 

[Stan Kengai]

Thanks!
I think I dont have a trunk for more than a shohin.
I would love to airlayer like 3 branches from the number 2, and start propagating it for my garden.

Azaleas also easily propagate by cuttings. Take cuttings when the new growth is about 3-4 inches (8-10 cm), which happens in late spring here.

Kurume are very slow to thicken, so it's nice that you have a little size on those trunks. Frankly, I think Kurume are best as shohin, as larger plants can be visually overwhelming when in flower.

 

[barrosinc]

Azaleas also easily propagate by cuttings. Take cuttings when the new growth is about 3-4 inches (8-10 cm), which happens in late spring here.

Kurume are very slow to thicken, so it's nice that you have a little size on those trunks. Frankly, I think Kurume are best as shohin, as larger plants can be visually overwhelming when in flower.

Why not airlayer and get bigger trees sooner?

What does this mean? "as larger plants can be visually overwhelming when in flower." that when in flower they are huge and have tons of flowers? isn't that the point?

 

[barrosinc]

in spring can I just plant all the pruning I do to these trees in pots and hope some grow?

 

[Stan Kengai]

Why not airlayer and get bigger trees sooner?

You certainly can air-layer, especially if you have an interesting trunk shape. I was trying to point out that azaleas are also very easy to grow from cuttings.

What does this mean? "as larger plants can be visually overwhelming when in flower." that when in flower they are huge and have tons of flowers? isn't that the point?

Kurume flower profusely (extremely densely) and have relatively small flowers for an azalea. Their natural habit is to turn into a big ball of flowers. Fine texture combined with vivid color in a large plant: it is a sensory overload. Your eyes can't settle in one area when viewed up close. On a small plant or in a landscape setting, it is not overwhelming, in my opinion.

Of course, this can be overcome to an extent by training your plant to be tiered or have tiered pads where there are breaks in the flowers and to thin them so that you can see through them a bit.

in spring can I just plant all the pruning I do to these trees in pots and hope some grow?

Yes, you can, and you will probably get a few to root.

 

[barrosinc]

I actually love a ball of flowers azalea bonsai!

 

[barrosinc]

Do you think the hinomayo one would look good as a bonsai?

 

[Jester217300]

Do you think the hinomayo one would look good as a bonsai?

It's hard to see the full trunk because of the camera angle but it also looks like it has good lower movement. Just don't remove the wrong branching when you reduce it

 

[barrosinc]

But the foliage seems quite scarce, leaves are tiny. I think it will look like twigs all year round.
I think it has a decent trunk, I haven0t really looked yet.

 

[Jester217300]

Once you know the trees are healthy you will need to chop it and remove all of the foliage to begin training them as bonsai. The leaves are supposed to be small.

 

[barrosinc]

leaves are minuscule! not even tiny! LOL

 

[Stan Kengai]

It looks like one of the semi-evergreen varieties. Most of the leaves you're seeing aren't normal leaves, they are protective coverings for the flower buds.

 

[barrosinc]

It looks like one of the semi-evergreen varieties. Most of the leaves you're seeing aren't normal leaves, they are protective coverings for the flower buds.

do these semi-evergreen work as bonsai? Or will it be better off in my garden?

 

[barrosinc]

It's hard to see the full trunk because of the camera angle but it also looks like it has good lower movement. Just don't remove the wrong branching when you reduce it

Digging a bit, trying to disturb the roots the least possible, the hinomayo seems to have a nice trunk! Nicer than you can see in the pics

 

[Stan Kengai]

do these semi-evergreen work as bonsai? Or will it be better off in my garden?

They work fine as bonsai. The more you can keep them out of frost, the more leaves they will keep. Something like a covered porch or protected against the side of a building will help.

 

[barrosinc]

So I am chopping all the flowers of for this year to get as much growth possible.

Any help on virtuals for these? On johng videos he always leaves a bit more branch to keep some room for dieback.

Do Shohin seem like the only option??

 

[barrosinc]

does that seem like the possible outcome?

 

[Jester217300]

I would say it's too big based on the trunk size. You also still have 4 branches coming from the same point on the trunk which will worsen the reverse taper you already have. If you take off the two on the right and leave the two on the left of the virt you can easily cut out the reverse taper and maintain the movement that the left most branch offers.