Hi Josh and others,
I wonder if anyone have come across Australia native Illawarra Flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolius, not to confuse with Delonix regia) bonsai? I have searched the net but not found a single example.
I love its straight greenish trunk and I am growing a couple ~ half yo, from seeds I picked up from under the trees. It keeps growing quickly straight up and when I pruned the very tops to encourage branching, both seedlings got stunned for a month before continuing straight up from topmost lateral buds. A photo attached. My intention is to have it only 25-30cm tall, it's already ~45cm. How do I make it to form branches?
Because I haven't found any bonsai examples of such a beautiful tree, I am concerned it may not be turned into bonsai. Would appreciate comments if anyone knows about Flame tree bonsai. Cheers
i have never touched these trees personally nor have i seen any examples of them so i really cant say too much about them. i would say keep it growing and perform basic techniques and see how it reacts, if it reacts negatively then change the technique or timing.
Hi Sergy
I don't know of any flame trees being created into bonsai however I do recall my father having one from a small tree while I was a child. He planted it in the yard and it grew up to approx. 3m tall. The tree grew the same as I am seeing in your picture. I don't know off hand how you could grow it to create a bonsai. The leal branches all grow out like that with the one large leaf per branch. It will grow primary then secondary branches but the secondary only have the one large leaf.