@Satsuki and Other Trees in Mack's Garden 19Renewal August 14th, 2013 |
How to grow the young trees of multicoloured flowers
I showed you how to grow the saplings and young trees of Kogetsu in Satsuki and Other trees in Mack's Garden 18. And this time I would like to show you how to grow some other young trees of multicoloured flowers. It is very difficult for satsuki enthusiasts to make a good satsuki bonsai which has a good arrangement of all multicoloured flowers that a variety has to have. Besides strictly speaking about a variety which has multicoloured flowers, there isn't only one tree that has the same arrangement of multicoloured flowers as the other trees have.
Even if a young tree of multicoloured flowers had all multicoloured flowers that the variety have to have, and a lot of branches, we don't necessarily get a good-styled bonsai because we may have to remove a necessary branch which doesn't have good-coloured flowers, and to leave the other branch which has good-coloured flowers. To resolve the problem, we can try to graft the shoots which have necessary-coloured flowers on the branches which don't have good-coloured flowers.
But it is very difficult to do so in a respect of colour arrangement, for example, because we mustn't graft a shoot which has pure white flowers on the branch which has all red flowers, even if the variety needed both colours. It depends on the nature of colours which a variety of multicoloured flowers has: a shoot of pure white flowers doesn't come from the branches of only pure red flowers except some varieties: for example, Yama no hikari whose pure white is stronger than pure red in a respect of inherited characters of colours.
If a completed satsuki bonsai has a very good arrangement of multicoloured flowers and a very good style, it is natural that it should be very expensive. But you don't have to buy it: it is a cheaper way for you to make a good bonsai of a good arrangement of multicoloured flowers and of a good style by yourselves even if it weren't a supreme class of satsuki bonsai.
Section 1. Good saplings or young trees of multicoloured flowers
Though I wrote about the details in my previous homepage, which you have to remember when you buy some saplings or young trees of Kogetsu, and when you choose some new shoots as cuttings, and when you prune the young trees, now I would like to do so again because it is very difficult to master the skill of selection (theory) and working (practice) concerning the trees of multicoloured flowers.A. The inherited character of red or purple flowers is very strong
Generally speaking, the inherited character of red flowers is stronger than that of white in satsuki. Therefore you had better buy a young tree which has a lot of white flowers. And you mustn't buy any trees which have a lot of flowers of red, fukurin and sokojiro. At the same time you have to refuse to buy any trees which have only white flowers without red blotches and stripes because it will take a lot of years for them to have some flowers of red, fukurin and sokojiro. But when you would like to buy Hakurin, you had better choose a tree which has more than three purple flowers because the character of purple in Hakurin is weaker than that of white.B. How to choose cuttings
You have to choose some new shoots by small red-striped flowers as cuttings. You mustn't choose them by large red-striped flowers. But when you take some cuttings of Hakurin, you had better them by the large purple-striped flowers. In case of Eikan the same.C. Removing unnecessary saplings in the seedling trays
You have to pull out the saplings in the seedling trays, whose new stems are red or have red stripes, and whose new leaves are red or have a lot of red stripes. Don't grow them because they will have a lot of red flowers, sokojiro and fukurin.D. The character of red or purple is weaker than that of white
Although the inherited character of red is stronger than that of white in general, in case of Yama no hikari, we can expect that a tree which has all red flowers will have some white flowers in some years. Therefore you mustn't choose some cuttings by the small red-striped flowers or jiai (pattern flowers) when you would like to have good saplings. And we mustn't buy such a tree except some varieties.
Section 2. Pruning of trees of multicoloured flowers
Since I already explained the details (theory), in section 2, I would like to explain how to prune the trees of multi-coloured flowers, using my young trees. They don't have good styles because I have grown them to present to my relatives and friends. They can enjoy only beautiful flowers.A. Asuka
This tree of Asuka had a good colour-arrangement of flowers in 2011. But I removed some shoots of purple flowers from the first left branch when I pruned it in blooming because I like the tree which has a lot of white flowers. And in 2012 it had a lot of white flowers. Taking no note of colour-arrangement of flowers, I pruned it and planted it in a bonsai pot because the soil in the pot was hard.
B. Hakurin
Though Hakurin's parent is Korin whose flowers are only purple, it doesn't have a lot of purple flowers. Therefore we have to leave them on some branches or the top of the tree. This tree had a lot of small purple-striped flowers and a fukurin, so that I could expect that it would have a few purple flowers next year.
C. Yama no hikari
Yama no hikari is a special variety in a respect of inherited character in flowers. Generally speaking, the inherited character of red in flowers of satsuki is stronger than that of white. But that of red in flowers of Yama no hikari is much weaker than that of white. It is said that the trees which have such an inherited character is in the minority.
D. Other trees which have red and white flowers.
Though I have Koka, Kaho, Sin-nikko, Seiko, Nisho no hikari, Eikan, Kobainishiki, Byakuren, Aoi no hikari, Ukigumo no tsuki, Banri no kagayaki, Meicho, Shinkigen, Koyo, these trees are planted in the large bonsai pots and the nursery: I don't have their saplings and young trees except Shin-nikko and Goko whose large tree died: I don't have a lot of good materials to show you.