Satsuki - means an early Spring!

[Leo Schordje]

Tom will be very familiar with these.

I do a little bonsai, as my distraction from the orchids. This is my Satsuki Azalea, Asahi-no-izumi. The background of the flowers is white, with random jewel flecks of salmon pink. Occasional stripes and once in a while a completely salmon pink flower is possible. All the flowers have at least a few jewel spots. This is one of the early blooming Satsuki. Most bloom late May or early June in the Chicago area.

I can't take credit for the bonsai training this plant, I picked it up at Brussel's Bonsai outside of Memphis end of February 2011, after I gave a talk to the Memphis Orchid Society. My host, Mark (SwampRad) was great, I really enjoyed my visit. Thanks again to the members of MOS, you are a great friendly bunch of orchid growers.

typical flowers

flower with a solid color streak

I did not get any solid salmon pink flowers this blooming, but this type of Satsuki can throw them. The result is a party colored tree, with at least 3 flower types all at once. This cultivar was selected by the Japanese for the mainly white flowers, with all flowers having jewel flecks of color. Some of the other multicolored cultivars with have more flowers of a single color, without jewel markings. I now have 6 different cultivars of Satsuki. As they bloom, if I get a good photo, I will post them.

Happy Spring.

slightly darker exposure

 

[JeanLux]

Very cool azalea Leo!!!! Unfortunately, from my small experience they note easy to grow and keep / improve their form !!! Jean

 

[Shiva]

Beautiful Leo! What's the japanese word for very late spring?

 

[li'l frog]

Leo!!!! Have you looked out the window???? There's frost outside! It's too late to have an early spring.:rollhappy:

 

[Ernie]

There are a couple bushes I almost cut down in our back yard last fall. Glad I didn't- they are Azaleas and were totally covered in flowers this spring (like February). I like this little bonsai, Leo.

 

[etex]

Excellent work Leo! Beautiful plant and blooms!!

 

[Heather]

That is just lovely!

 

[NYEric]

I likr the tree form. Thanx for sharing.

 

[goldenrose]

:clap::clap: Nice choice!
Brussell's must be a huge place, when hubby & I were involved in bonsai we were always amazed at their catalog, they had a huge selection.

 

[Leo Schordje]

:clap::clap: Nice choice!
Brussell's must be a huge place, when hubby & I were involved in bonsai we were always amazed at their catalog, they had a huge selection.

Think the size of Krull-Smith, or Hausermann's, I would say Brussel's is 40,000 sq ft or more of growing space. Given their size, the variety is not that mixed. One cool thing is that they are very orderly, all the benches have large groups of a single pot size and a single variety. I picked this one out from a bench with several hundreds of this type, I spotted the plant from the main aisle some 50 feet away. It just stood out from the group of similar sized companions. So it followed me home. A lucky find.

 

[Leo Schordje]

Leo!!!! Have you looked out the window???? There's frost outside! It's too late to have an early spring.:rollhappy:

Yeah, but I don't think we'll get many more frosts, the street trees here are leafing out, mostly Norway maples. Once the maples have leaves, frost is unlikely. (though not impossible) I'm going to take a chance and put the Cymbidiums out.

 

[Shiva]

There are a couple bushes I almost cut down in our back yard last fall. Glad I didn't- they are Azaleas and were totally covered in flowers this spring (like February). I like this little bonsai, Leo.

You like to rub it in, eh! oke:

 

[W. Beetus]

Great bonsai! I like the salmon spots.

 

[Yoyo_Jo]

That's really lovely - a breath of fresh air to us still-snow-bound folks.:sob:

 

[SlipperFan]

Amazing!

Your home must look a lot like NYEric's!