Why I Oughta...

We have a pair of dwarf Umbrella container plants that Nat has had around the house for a couple of years.  One of them had prime placement on our kitchen table.  The other was neglected up in our spare bedroom between last Summer (2020) and this Winter (Jan/Feb 2021).  The one on our kitchen counter has been something we look at all the time, so I've been pruning it pretty regularly by lop'ing off the tips to try to push some new side growth.  Properly known as Schefflera arboricola ,  that particular Umbrella plant is thick and full from a few inches off the soil all the way to the top.  The pruning has worked.   The other one - the neglected one - was shaped like a lollipop.   It was angled and top-heavy.  The first thing I did was to dig it up, transplant it and straighten it out.  Then, I began to prune it.  All from the top, hoping that it would push out some new growth further down the trunk. Here's a post in mid-Feb where I did the first top-prune . And, just a week

A week ago, I shared a photo of a dwarf umbrella potted plant that I straightened out by repotting it in a slightly larger pot and giving it a haircut to try to push some lower growth.  The plant was growing at an odd angle - leaning towards the light after being neglected for months and by repotting it, I was able to stand it up straight.  But, it was still top-heavy.  Hence, the haircut. Based on my experience with our OTHER umbrella plant, I've found that if I cut off the leaders, two things happen:  first, it usually flushes out some lower growth and second, the part that I cut has some die-back...about a half-an-inch. So, when I lop'd off the leader, I left a little bit to account for the die-back.   And today? There's some good news.  First, near the top.  Here's a look at the tiny new growth that has appeared next to the top cut.  The stress of the pruning has flushed this new growth.   But, there's more.  Down the trunk - which is where I was aiming to flus

Yesterday, I posted my bonsai dreaming for the year and mentioned that one of the items on my 2021 bonsai mini-list was to try a tropical bonsai like a ficus or umbrella.  It was #8 on that list , but I'll start with it here on the blog.  For beginner bonsai hobbyists, a couple of other very common tropical to try is Dwarf or Mini Jade and Chinese Elm.  Those are interesting, but I think I came across something else that might be more my speed. I was poking around on some bonsai nurseries sites and came across a tropical called a dwarf podocarpus.  Here's the listing (below) on Brussel's Bonsai : Source via Brussel's Bonsai product listing. The common name for this is Buddhist Pine - Podocarpus macrophyllus - and is talked about in various bonsai places on the Web.    This list from Bonsai Outlet talks the benefits of giving this particular cultivar a shot.  That includes : Tolerates temperature variances.  Hard to train.  Produces cones and fruit.  And is hard to k