Lyonia lucida - fetterbush

Here is one of many plants with the common name of "Fetterbush."

I've never seen another in a bonsai pot, and folks at the Native Nursery in tallahassee say it doesn't like to live in a pot. It is a native of the coastal plain swamps in S.E. USA, south of Virginia and east of Texas.

I dug this one in 1999. Surprisingly, it has thrived here in the colder NC mountain foothill areas. It is a member of the Heath family. Ericaceous -- requires acid soil.

Very nice and interesting tree Jim. I like the small flowers.

-Tim

Nice in flower.

So, I don't mean to dig up an old, obscure post, but I'd like to know how this plant is doing. Does it take well to any bonsai treatments?

I went on a collecting on a friends property, which is the sort of coastal scrub land that this plant enjoys. These were literally so thick on the ground that it was difficult to even navigate through the property. Some of then hard nice trunks in excess of 2-3 three inches. I had no idea what they were, so I didn't bother picking them up. But their beautiful flowers and bark really caught my eye, a little research lead me to this post, so I though I would ask you.

Hm.. nice tree.
Jim, have you considered something drastic?:

To answer that last post first . . . Nope. I kinda like the literati look it has now.

To Peaceful's post. It's doing fine. I trim new growth back each spring. I'm going to repot this year, and I always worry when I do because the species does not take well to living in a pot and this is the only one I've been able to keep alive. (I've had it in a bonsai pot since 2001.)

JimLewis wrote:To answer that last post first . . . Nope. I kinda like the literati look it has now.

To Peaceful's post. It's doing fine. I trim new growth back each spring. I'm going to repot this year, and I always worry when I do because the species does not take well to living in a pot and this is the only one I've been able to keep alive. (I've had it in a bonsai pot since 2001.)

Alright. The area I went to was positively loaded with Lyonia lucida, as well as tons of groundsel trees(of which I collected a nice specimen), and small shrubby oaks, which are hard to ID.

I'll try going back latter and seeing if I can collect a good looking fetterbush.