Rivka's Azalea 2020-2025 Contest Entry

[Rivka]

Happy to keep my pinchy fingers off of it, i have plenty others that need my maintenance. This is exactly why i ask. I see a LOT of tiny backbudding popping thru and new growth on most of what back budded last year. A few stems got munched by a squirrel in one area but otherwise it looks stable and i will plan for the fert cycle and not much else. I doubt i would get any flowers this year and would lean toward pinching them off to save energy.

The pictures in the first post of the acquisition & flowers where taken in May when I got it and it seemed recently bloomed, a few still opening. It was happy to push leaves not too long after the full chop, so some time in june. I could check my main camera data for a more precise timeline.

 

[Rivka]

While like i said, i still need to get to know the plant before i get too set in my thoughts, I could see it working toward something like
I dont see the deadwood if it is in fact dead, as playing a particularly large role. Maybe a interesting vein thru the nebari most of all.

 

[Rivka]

I have a sneaking suspicion that the connection between the left and right half of this plant is tenuous.
This is based on the ground movement when the tall section gets bumped, the root ball seems to have a disconnect like those mattress commercials where they drop the bowling ball and the wine on your wife's side of the bed does not spill.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Then you have some big decisions to make. We do not have many opportunities to style something with pizazz. Some of us have many more opportunities to just continue the design that we find in typical pedestrian nursery stock. Some people like a more rugged, craggy tree and default to 'Taters. You have something which seems to me and I suspect others as having some ability to be styled into something with it's own character.

 

[Rivka]

hmmm still wondering if i should cut this chunky stump down to get it out of the way of the many growing bits tucked under and behind it. was poking around and mocked up its removal:


this could happen with or without and further shari style bark removal. i keep reading pretty conflicting info about if deadwood can be kept from rotting properly in order to let it be a part of the trees styling.

 

[Forsoothe!]

You maintain deadwood just like you maintain your car or kitchen. Periodically, you apply a 15-20% bleach/water solution or apply lime sulfur. That will keep it light colored and free of black mold which turns it grey and consumes the wood.

You still need to get a picture in your mind's eye of what you want so you can plan the steps needed to get there. Here is a chart of styles...

What style is a fit with what you like and what fundamental wood exists now? You can see that there are many of these that have more than one stem or trunk and that they have a range of how they are brought together into one cohesive design.

 

[Rivka]

Hahah now I keep thinking of the looks I would get if I wiped down my kitchen cutting board and applied lime sulfer to it!

 

[Rivka]

Though at the end of the day, my question was not one of style, my question was simply about the mechanics of it, and probability of sucess.
I have read a ton on deadwood, and worked on some of it on conifers. I understand the theory, steps, and have the supplies.
what gives me pause is that I’m reading here and there is that on azaleas it’s doomed to rot no matter what and that you shouldn’t do it for any part that you’re hoping to include for long-term.

Now of course if this part is dead, its dead, I not “making” Shari in this case, just cleaning it up or defining it. So this is more about learning what i can best do now to avoid damage later and wishing i had known more or done different.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Many are against deadwood on azalea. Yet some magnificent trees I've seen it with. But there in questions if they made it a feature from dead wood or living. Because with satsuki anyways. You do not use concave cutters. But leave a stub...and a year later you can cut it off flush.

I have shari on my one satsuki from Don Blackmond. Went to an old email of his talking about the shari he created. Maybe this will shed light on questions you have.

The wood on satsuki is hard and does not need to be treated regularly. You can clean it up and put a diluted mix of lime sulfur on it. You can do that every 2-3 years and it will be fine.
This shari was done prior to last growing season. I removed a large secondary trunk and peeled back the bark creating the shari. When I repotted it this spring (spring in my greenhouse) I cleaned up the trunk and live vein a bit but did not treat the deadwood. You can see the growth from last season, orange/brown edge of live vein. That will continue to swallow the dead wood. Or you can take a knife and trim it back to keep the deadwood exposed.

 

[Rivka]

Yeah that makes good points. It would explain a lot of the discrepancies i read on if deadwood could be be reasonably stable on Azaleas, that the discussion sufferes from lack of clarity of what sub type and style and technique they are talking about.
Heck with both evergreen and deciduous varieties in the mix, as well as types of deadwood (small jin, vrs long shari) and if it was created from otherwise thriving tissue, or recently dead or even long dead portions and just being cleaned and refined.

The portion I'm discussing is an apparently dead older trunk, with thick chunky live portions behind and around it. I'm going to take it very slow and conservative and do my best to listen to the wood. likely pausing to watch a full spring growth before doing anything.

 

[Rivka]

I have shari on my one satsuki from Don Blackmond. Went to an old email of his talking about the shari he created. Maybe this will shed light on questions you have.

Any pictures of the ones you have??

 

[Cadillactaste]

Mine is a slender feminine thing. Roy Minarai pot.

 

[Carol 83]

Mine is a slender feminine thing. Roy Minarai pot.
View attachment 358880

Gorgeous pot!!!

 

[Cadillactaste]

Gorgeous pot!!!

Thanks...quite blessed to have it on my bench.

 

[Rivka]

Gorgeous pot!!!

Yeah I love the blue with the white flowers

 

[Cadillactaste]

Deadwood on an azalea. More than my shari.

Not the one I was thinking of. The photo is down of one that had lots of deadwood, if I'm remembering where I seen it. But this one has it just not as much.

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- Welcome to our store! Shop our selection of trees - Japanese Maple, Satsuki Azaleas, Japanese Black Pines, Trident Maple, Itoigawa Juniper, White Pine, Ginko, Chojubai, Ginko

bonsaiimportcompany.com

 

[Rivka]

Deadwood on an azalea. More than my shari.

Not the one I was thinking of. The photo is down of one that had lots of deadwood, if I'm remembering where I seen it. But this one has it just not as much.

Bonsai Import CompanyONLY THE FINEST - Welcome to our store! Shop our selection of trees - Japanese Maple, Satsuki Azaleas, Japanese Black Pines, Trident Maple, Itoigawa Juniper, White Pine, Ginko, Chojubai, Ginko

- Welcome to our store! Shop our selection of trees - Japanese Maple, Satsuki Azaleas, Japanese Black Pines, Trident Maple, Itoigawa Juniper, White Pine, Ginko, Chojubai, Ginko

bonsaiimportcompany.com

View attachment 358903

Honestly i think that one looks too contrived. Maybe its the overly white of the liversulfer, but also something about the bottom connection of it not feeling resolved.
as a metalsmith, my mentor used to always say “address the edge” and that thinking permeates everything i do now decades later.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Honestly i think that one looks too contrived. Maybe its the overly white of the liversulfer, but also something about the bottom connection of it not feeling resolved.
as a metalsmith, my mentor used to always say “address the edge” and that thinking permeates everything i do now decades later.

Not my cup of tea either. The other one was way more natural. But the image is no longer there.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Did a Google image search on deadwood azalea bonsai. Cropped showing whose image it belonged to.

 

[Rivka]

Damn you have better googlefu than i do. Those are lovely. Way more a natural aspect of the design. Thanks for showing me!