Satsuki Azalea

BONSAI_OUTLAW

Stunning picture Victrinia.....Oh and the azalea looks great too.

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Glider

Feeding before flowering (usually discouraged) encourages satsukis to produce more pink (their genetic default).

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JohnQuinn

Any way to encourage more color next year??
Not unless you are skilled at genetic manipulation! It is a good idea to identify branches with interesting flower color or patterns, (you can looselty tie a wire or pipe cleaner around them to identify) so that you do not inadvertantly prune away an especially interesting feature after the blooms are gone.
Very nice tree, BTW!

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BarbaraM

Miss Vic,

The white flowers look very classy, kinda like porcelain.

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"What I like about bonsai is that it has a beginning but no end. A bud today becomes a branch tomorrow. It is like searching for the rainbw's end; the farther it is pursued, the farther away it is." John Naka

bonsaikc

I have read that the stalks or branchlets on which red or pink flowers will be produced are a darker reddish color than white one. This is one way in which we can know ahead of time what we have to work with.

The caveat is that I don't have the personal experience to say that it's so, or foolproof, or an old wives' tale...but I do know that selective pruning is the way to get more variation in your tree, so prune back what you have too much of, and keep that which you want to promote.

Nice tree, and make sure not to prune the one with the stripe, it may produce more color as it continues to grow.

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Victrinia_Ensor

Thank you so much for the compliments and the tips! I'll be sure not to lose that branch...
I would not have thought about the need to maintain that branch..... Not that it was going anywhere, but it's good to know how to THINK of it.

I don't actually mind too much that the coloration is limitied. It tooks stunning even as a white... very elegant. So I am satisfied.

Warmest regards to all,

Victrinia

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Ms. Vic

Le belle cose prendono tempo...

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JohnQuinn

This thread prompted me to reread parts of Alexander Kennedy's book Satsuki

He has an illustration similar to my graphic showing how striping on a flower may indicate the color of flowers on adjacent shoots.

Attached Images

azashoots.jpg (39.2 KB, 27 views)

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A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

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Sivananda Center