GROWING
SATSUKI BONSAI IN NZ
Article 2 - December 2008
It is well & truly time for an update to this page, especially
as it is just a couple of days before Christmas & a week or so to the new year
of 2009. The Satsuki here are almost at the end of flowering, with Issho no
Haru still with a third or so flowers still there, Beni Botan, Chinzan, Gumpo
& one or 2 others with the last few flowers on stock plants that I can’t bear
to cut off yet, & the late few ( Pink Pancake, Pearl Bradford sport) at their
peak flowering now. I will be able to admire a couple of flowering satsuki on
the deck as we eat Christmas lunch al fresco (a gourmet ‘platter’, with a nice
bottle of ‘grape juice’ of course; with a BBQ dinner in the evening.)
Too warm
here
for the traditional Northern Hemisphere roast Xmas Dinner!
Satsuki in NZ have taken a major leap forward in the last year
or so, with more varieties found, & most successfully propagated, from old
gardens, public parks & arboretums etc. I now have a new ‘comrade-in-arms’ in
the fight to bring Satsuki into the limelight in NZ. David Kidron has recently
returned to NZ after many years overseas, & several spent in the USA, where he
had a collection of Satsuki bonsai & belonged to one of the Californian
Satsuki Societies. He has bought back a wealth of knowledge & enthusiasm, &
has been busily searching out unrecognised cultivars in the North Island.
Both David & I are collecting as many varieties as possible as
stock plants to hold for future propagation (I shall need a bigger back garden
soon!).
New cultivars found &/or propagated since the last article
include
Beni Botan
Fujimori
Kazan
Kikaku
Kinsai
Osakazuki
Shintaiyo
Shin nyo no Hikari
Yama no Akebono
Otome no Mai (this was listed in the first article as Otomeno
under ‘other’, but is in fact a Satsuki, & is often sold in commercial
nurseries under the shorter name.
Coral Cascade (aka ‘Bruce Hancock’) is a modern Harris hybrid,
bred from White Gumpo
There are also a number of other plants being propagated,
almost certainly Satsuki, but as yet without identification
Among these are a plain white flowered variety, a pink with
solid & jewel-pattern flowers, a variety similar in colour to Daishuhai but
different flower form, & a purplish pink with jewel pattern & a paler self
(possibly the Aust/NZ variety Isshu no Tsuki). This latter is from 2 sources,
my plant is described below.
Both
David & I are propagating from cuttings as fast as we can & growing plants on
as whips. I have sold 2 & 3 year old cutting-grown plants of several cultivars
at the last 2 NZ National Bonsai Conventions, & the demand suggests there is a
lot of interest in Satsuki Bonsai just waiting to be nurtured. I am scheduled
to give an hour’s demo/talk on Satsuki & Azalea bonsai at the next Convention
& with David’s aid should be able to introduce the basic techniques of
starting a Satsuki bonsai from a whip, & introduce some of the varieties
available. The convention is in mid-spring (late Oct), so not the best time
for either flowers or wiring & bending, but it will be a start.
The founding of the Satsuki Soc of Australasia in this past
year should also help stimulate some interest.
The largest/oldest Satsuki azalea I own was dug, nearly dead,
from the neighbour’s garden and has 3 trunks of approx 1.5 in diameter each on
a fused base – it is now growing strongly in a large pot and I allow it to
flower (I spotted it while still in the garden when I saw a single 2-toned
purply-pink flower) and am starting the process of conversion to a bonsai.
Much of the top growth has been aerial layered off or used for cuttings. It is
still many years work to produce a show-worthy bonsai however.
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