Bougainvillea defoliated

Its been awhile since I've posted any photos of trees....I think the most recent have been elms I've collected. This Boug is the 1st tree I collected, styled and exhibited. Most recently in Rochester at the 3rd National exhibition. Once I got the tree home last Tuesday I decided to defoliate the tree.

The blooms are magenta. The tree is 32 inches tall. Every branch was grown from a bud over the past 6 years. The deadwood has persisted for 5 years now.

Hope you enjoy the update.

wow how calssy !

lovely

Really interesting to see the tree defoliated, after having seen it covered with leaves in Rochester. Thanks for posting! Can you share some info about the history of this tree, and how you manage to grow it so well in a colder climate?

Thanks Chris. It was great meeting you and other IBC'ers in person at the show.

As for the bougainvillea. For 5 years I have grown the tree in a very sunny window during the winter and watered once per week in a hot shower. As soon as night time temps are in the 60's it goes out into full sun.......sun up to sun down. It has been happy so far and has grown well. By June it looked OK, but not its best and looked its best in late August. Feed was a balanced 20-20-20 soluble feed.

This past year I purchased a 1000w metal halide lamp and humidifier. August 2011 - current It received 17 hours of direct light and stayed around 85F all winter. It was very very happy and grew extremely well.

Generally, I allow new shoots to mature before wiring and clipping back to I follow a cycle of grow, wire, clip, grow wire, clip back to a new shoot emerging from a leaf axial. As for blooming, allowing it to dry was not helpful, high phosphorus was also a bust. Lots of water and a twice weekly feed of 20-20-20 will reliably produce small flower buds within 2-3 weeks. They will mature and blossom about 2 weeks later.

Thanks & hope this helps someone out.
Neil

God I hate you Neil! (you know I really don't)

That's so freakin beautiful, and I LOVE the pot choice.

I thnk that the dead wood is too big, on deciduous trees , particularly with softwood trees , dead wood disappear over time

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Thanks Russell..... I appreciate the comment very much.

I believe the pot choice was good, but after some conversation with a couple of professionals at the exhibition, I may change it up.

ABCD,
Yes, the deadwood will disapear over time. However, this has persisted for several years without rot due to my growing conditions as well as my annual cycle of burning, brushing and lime sulfuring.

Thanks for the virtual. The deadwood does appear large in comparrison to the defoliated canopy. The tree is much more visually balanced with a full head of foliage. About 1/3 of the deadwood peaks out past the leaves. Maybe the best is someplace between your virtual and the current photo(?)

Take care guys.
Neil

That is one great looking bougainvillea Neil, and I enjoyed looking at it in person in Rochester. The defoliation really exposes the amount of work put into this tree ! Congrats !

Ed

You can also use minwax wood hardener or Git Rot (an epoxy marine wood preservative) to further harden/coat the deadwood. I prefer the Git Rot as it gets drawn into the pores better and stabilizes any rot.

Thanks Neil! I've never had success with bougainvillea in the past, but maybe with your suggestions I'd be willing to try again...

As for reducing the deadwood...maybe a little, but not as much as shown in the virt by abcd.

And speaking of preserving deadwood...Kathy Shaner suggested something called "PC petrifier" last week. Has anyone used that?

Nice Bougie in the cold climate Neil.

Don't reduce the deadwood even a bit...It will provide a good contrast when the tree got flowers. being shown naked like this picture here is another story, but this is a flowering bonsai thus that point should be taken into consideration too. And keeping the deadwood for so long is an achievement by itself.


5 years wow!

regards,
jun

Hi Neil! Congrats on the show first off! And your bougie is looking really good, nice to see it with no leaves. And I agree with Jun, with foliage and flowers, the deadwood is in proper proportion to me.

We need to get together soon again I hope ;-)

Chris

I too, agree with Jun, the deadwood is fine as is (the virt is fine, too, but not necessarily finer than what's there now). Your tree could be as the huge forest tree might look just a few years after a hurricane twisted the top off -- as they do.

I just caught the critique of this tree on YouTube... I have to agree its a wonderful tree that will only get better - I think the deadwood will make more sense in the future as the image matures.

I agree with Jim, Jun and Russell. Except for the hate part....LOL

Stunning work. I love seeing trees defoliated and that's what I'm shooting for with my raintree. Naked is where it's at for me. No pun intended.

Have a great weekend!!!!
Sam

coh wrote:...speaking of preserving deadwood...Kathy Shaner suggested something called "PC petrifier" last week.

I just read the info and reviews of this product online. Being water based & environmentally friendly, I will be trying it for sure. Thanks!

Wondering if you might post an update. Curious if you ever tried pc petrifier? How'd it turn out?

Very nice, that way of fine branching I like to achieve on my trees, an update would be appreciated