Purple Smokebush

This is my latest find,a Cotinus purpurea also named Purple Smokebush.

I saw this tree at Deshima bonsaishop from Teunis Jan Klein,and recognized that this tree got great potential because it got great nebari and lovely dark purple colored foliage and flowers

This tree is a bushy up-growing shrub with dark purple leafs,Autumn-color is amazing.

I ask Hans van Meer,my mentor and friend to help me with this tree.

I managed to put the large and heavy tree in my car,and drive to Hans place.

The second difficulty was to get this bloody heavy tree in my own in to Hans garden,because Hans have incredible back-pain and couldn't help me with this.

Luckily Hans allowed me to put it on his table in his living-room pffff


And both sitting on the floor in front off the tree we talked about all off the possibilities off this tree,and we made a plan for this future-bonsai.

Hans made a great future-drawing for me,so I had a mental reference for the design.

I removed the top off this tree,although it was very old and got a nice old shari,it was to long and strait and growing to far from the base off the tree.

And with removing this long part,the tree become more compact and a very believable powerful short tree

This was a great bonsai-day for me,I am lucky to have such a friend and bonsai-mentor like Hans.


At home I pruned this tree,and for now I let it grow freely two years,and style this tree again.





For more Pictures off this tree,you can look at my website under Album .
The link http://ed-bonsaiwebsite.magix.net/website/
Greetings Ed

Update from this tree
Greetings Ed

Looking good Ed. That is a species I've never worked with. How well does the deadwood survive? I'm not certain from the photo's but it appears that there a stump on the right that needs carving?

You are lucky to have Hans near enough to consult. I've watched him at work sketching and designing with huge skill and wonderful humour on a few occasions at Burrs. I am looking forward to seeing him again this year.

Hi Kev,I have preserved the deadwood with a wood-hardener because the deadwood on this specie will become soft and break off little by little
And you have seen it right,I will carve the right stump next year
And yes I am lucky to have such a friend and bonsaimentor like Hans,I have learned a lot in the couple off years from him
Greetings Ed

Update

New update

The smoke bush is a lovely tree. It has something amazing to offer all the way through the growing season. I have one as a feature tree and I would love to have one as bonsai.
I have some facination (s) on mine that I must make cuttings off.

Great tree . I love these .

Looking really good Ed. What are you doing with the deadwood preservation?

Nice Ed, I was actually looking one of these up today growing on the edge of a council estate. The colour caught my eye. Now seeing yours I'll have to go have a closer look

What a lovelly pattern on the leves Amazing

Thanks all for the nice comments,and Will, I preserve the deadwood with Alabastine wood preserver
This works very good and make your wood rock-hard
Greetings Ed

Hello Ed. Could you furnish me with some more details about Alabastine wood preserver please?

It's almost the same that Nik use for preserving deadwood.
Greetings Ed

Very nice looking tree. What is the height and trunk thickness? I can get only a rough idea
from the pictures. Just picked up one of these at a big discount (end of summer sale), it has a
nice trunk/nebari but probably needs to be grown out a bit more. I'd like to keep it a 1-person
tree, though.

Chris

Hi Chris,the height from the tree including pot is 88cm and the trunk thickness is 43,5 cm
Greetings Ed

We had one of these in the garden where I lived before I went off to university as an adult student - I wish I has taken cuttings, or an air-layer: lovely trees with great colour, and the bark has good texture, too.

Cotinus has very nice unusual flowers, I hope that you will get them on your tree one day.

Thank you Marija,I hope it will bloom next year
Before I styled this tree,it was blooming nicely.
Greetings Ed

New Photo update
Greetings Ed

I like it in leaf. Interesting looking leaves - fringed by a contrasting color. Nice.

Here a Update from this bonsai in training.
I have ask My good friend and bonsai-mentor Hans van Meer to help me with this tree.
I have styled it already,but he said to me it would be better to point almost all the leafs upright like a broadleaf should grow.
He styled it with the future in mind,and the branch setting looks better and more natural looking.
And we took a thick branch away,and when we have done this the nebari looks much better already
And I want to show you a strange fly,I call this a unicornfly.
This fly is sitting on Hans finger,and make a photo from it.
Greetings Ed

Hi Ed

Very nice tree . Removing root nebari certainly benefit. Nice foto.

Pavel

Thank you Pavel for your nice comment.
Greetings Ed

Hello Ed. Great decision to style the branch tips upwardly. A much more powerful image I think and helps show off the structure more.
I have those little hover flies in my garden. They look fierce but are quite harmless.