Thoughts on this Bougie?

[togishi]

I consider myself new to bonsai still so wanted to get some opinions on this bougainvillea. I purchased it from another bonsai artist last year (through House of Bonsai, they brokered), and have been working on it since. I am going to bring the foliage back down and need to do some wiring, but the photos should show the progression... and yes.. it needs a smaller pot.
Thanks

 

[Joedes3]

I have always wanted one but cannot seem to find the right tree.

 

[stacy allen muse]

??????????????

 

[Tona]

Hi Togishi,
I'm in SoCal also and have a few Bougies. Make sure you treat any carved/exposed deadwood with minwax wood hardener. You can use lime-sulfur first if you want the white look and then the minwax. Otherwise it will get soft and rot out quickly. Good start though. It will branch out all over the live wood for you so you can pick new branched next year. Watch the wire as they grow fast and the wire will cut into the branches within a few months.
Good Luck,
Tona

 

[togishi]

Thanks guys, I agree on pulling branches back down, the last picture shows it's current state and unfortunately, the back doesn't have much on it yet. I do need to treat the deadwood a bit more, but was going to wait til I did more work on it because as you can tell, I have been hacking away at it

 

[agraham]

Don't put it in a smaller pot. It needs to recover and once the foliage fills out, the pot it is in will be too small if anything(for both health and aesthetic reasons).

 

[tmmason10]

Thats looking pretty good, nice work with it so far.