Glider

Last week I was wiring the primary branch on my best azalea (satsuki subaru). It is a thinner and better ramified branch I developed from the collar of a pencil straight (and too thick) branch that I wanted to replace.

After cutting off the bad branch, I wired the replacement and was moving it into position when 'crack!' I never seem to learn how brittle azalea wood is.

I hope it's not lost. There is a strip of intact bark behind the break, so I left the wire on (after moving the branch back slightly), sealed the break with sealing compound, partially defoliated the branch (just the biggest leaves) and have wired a plastic bag over the whole branch. It's still alive after a week, so I'm hopeful that the break will eventually heal. I'll be gutted if it dies, it's such a sweet little tree with a [i]perfect[/i[] trunk.