The last bloom of the season:

Just a quick update to show how the Satsuki Azalea has changed since I got it.

The day I got it:

Today, after wiring a branch and removing a bunch of superfluous branches and many of the larger leaves:

It still has quite a way to go, but everyone at the bonsai society meeting last night told me that I shouldn’t work on it anymore than this. They said that since I had already done so much, I should just let it grow wild for the rest of the year and in the spring I can start to work on it again.

I just realized that I haven’t written about bonsai since May 8, when I wrote about the Satsuki Azalea that I got for Mother’s Day.

Well, since then, I decided to become a member of the Akron Canton Bonsai Society (ACBS) again.

I still only have one tree that could be considered bonsai, the Azalea, but I have five Japanese Maple seedlings (I have no clue what variety they are) that I collected/rescued from a neighbor’s lawn, that I plan to grow out for a few years to later use as bonsai. They don’t look to be in the best of health, but I think they’ll do okay because the soil they are in is very rich.

Also, it looks like I have established my first cutting. I’ve attempted to get cuttings from various trees over the past few years to grow them up as bonsai, but I’ve never had any success. The closest I got was with a Ficus cutting. It started to take, but then died. This time I took a clipping from the Azalea and put it in a small pot of approx half sand/half perlite, watered it, and set it outside in a shaded spot. I’ve occasionally moistened the leaves, but I’ve left the rest up to nature. I think the naturally humid summer of Ohio has helped quite a bit. I still haven’t tried to check the roots, but it’s been in the pot for over a month now and it still looks as green as it did when I put it in. So, I think it’s safe to say that it’s gonna be fine.

Earlier I said that I was going to visit a local bonsai nursery, but I still haven’t done that. I’d like to, but considering the fact I have a limited budget for bonsai in general and I still need to buy a bunch of tools, wire, etc. I don’t know if I’ll be going out there any time soon. I have no idea what kind of stuff they have and in what price range so I could end up going out there for nothing. And with the price of gas being so bad lately, I don’t want to risk it.

Later tonight I will be taking the Azalea to the ACBS meeting and getting some help from a guy who has quite a few Satsuki Azaleas. I think I’ll post something tomorrow to show it’s progression.