Hi Everyone:
Has anyone ever tried doing Mimosa, or Silk Tree? I've got several growing from seed and plan to try but I'm wondering if anyone has in the past and if so how they turned out. Some of you may say "WHY Mimosa?", but Mimosa doesn't grow in Wisconsin and I've always been in love with them when I've been south.
Thanks to anyone who answers.
Richard
Mimosa Bonsai?
It's worth a try, what can you lose?
I have not tried it myself.
Yes, and they make beautiful bonsai when the trunk finally thickens. I'd keep it in a decent sized pot (a gallon or 5) and get it outside as much of the year as possible to get 'er to thicken up.
This mimosa was given to us as a landscape tree. In 2005 it was chewed off by the dogs and left for dead and ignored. No water for over a year, save for the rain. Late last year I noticed it started to break bud everywhere. The foliage that did start to grow was killed off by the winter freeze, since it had not yet had a chance to harden off. Late this winter it was not more than a trunk. Again this spring it started to grow and is recieving some care.
Today I decided to see what lay beneath the soil line. Was I surprised to see the base.
It is 4" across the base at the current soil line. 3"+ across the trunk just above the base. It is currently 12" tall, from the soil line. However the top 4" is dead wood. The highest sign of life is on the side of the top chewed branch. The top is dead from that point up.
Not bonsai yet, but on it's way.
This message was edited Apr 21, 2007 2:59 PM
Yes it has been done.
Check out this link http://www.artofbonsai.org/galleries/valavanis.php . Bill Valavanis has created a beautifull momosa. It is second from the bottom, so scroll down.
Dale, I don't thik that's a momosa.
This message was edited Apr 23, 2007 7:34 PM
jDale, are you sure it is not a cypress?
Ya, Dale, I think that's a Bald Cypress - a beautiful one!
Rosewynd; WHERE?
Dale; Bald Cypress is a definite.
Rich; Had a mimosa seed itself in a huge pot containing a fig. Hadn't been able to decide where to put the fig, so I was keeping it in a pot. This mimosa loved it in that pot, and I had to keep cutting it down (the rood system kept me from pulling it up). Finally found the right place for the fig, unpotted it and seperated the mimosa.
Planted the fig, cut the roots of the mimosa way back to fit in a round 2 1/2" X 7" pot, and let it grow. Its now a fat 6" trunk with nice spreading roots, but have not been real successful in leaf reduction. Last year I tried cutting the leaf segments back to three pair. Hard to tell, but I think that made them smaller. I'll find out this spring when I repot and it leafs out again. No one in the Bonsai Society has had any experience with mimosa, and none of the Bonsai masters we hosted last year had any knowledge of them. So we're on our own.
Rosewynd;
Good start. Now get some good cutters (preferably 'concave'), clean up the dead wood and apply some wound paste to the cuts.
If those are unfamiliar terms to anyone, concave cutters don't make a flat cut, but a concave one so that when the bark rolls over the cut the resulting scar is not as noticeable, and heals quicker. The cut paste seals the would against moisture, fungus, and bugs while the cut heals. Both are available at most Bonsai Supply houses and nurseries.