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AZCricket
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To Bonsai a Rose Bush?

Specifically a miniature rose.

I am brand new to Bonsai, but for the longest time I have wanted to bonsai a miniature rose. I know they can be a finicky plant at times, but I have a South-facing balcony and I could easily do this outside.

Would this be an OK medium to begin with? Or would I be better off with an actual tree?

Thanks for any input!

~Cricket

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Gnome
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Cricket,

Although I have never worked with Roses I'm sure that others have. The thing that beginners often overlook is that quality bonsai are generally not grown out, but instead they are cut down. If you can locate an older shrub it will give you a substantial head start towards styling a credible bonsai. Of course bonsai can be grown out but this is a time consuming process that is fraught with many stumbling blocks.

Norm

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AZCricket
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Gnome wrote:...quality bonsai are generally not grown out, but instead they are cut down.
Oh, yes. I'm aware of that much, at least. I've actually been doing a fair amount of reading and video watching, so I've come to know at least the theory of how it is done (just haven't had an opportunity to put into practice for myself, just yet, heh)

Though the idea of finding an older specimine is definitely one I will keep in mind. I realiz, now, that I have at least a year before I'll have the space to do any major work (root trimming etc.) to the thing, so I'll probably let it grow out over that time, even with an older plant, before starting too much.

Well, if, that is, I can keep from getting too inspired hehe :oops:

Thank you for the advice!

tomc
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I sat on my hands for a while to let others put their two ...¢ worth.

In my trials rose both doesn't flourish under root pruning, or prune and back-bud all that attractively.

All my candidates went into landscape use.

As said by a guy who's still looking for examples of Pedro Dot's Ti, Mi, and Si mini-rose...

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AZCricket
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I actually happened upon a wonderfully old specimen yesterday in my grandmother's yard (if it's the same plant I think it is, it's at least 10 years old). It had gotten too big for her wants (shot off into three) so I took the largest and smallest portions of it and left her the medium. (it's dark right now, but when the sun comes up I will take a couple pictures)

Though, having taken them and worked with them a bit just to get them into "travel size," I can see what you mean about being difficult to work with to make attractive, tomc. The largest one I think I might be able to make into a decent "Wind Swept," but even as I was looking at it I was noticing that it would be a chore to get it into any sort of attractive "tree" shape. If it can be done at all. All of the rose bonsai photos I had found online were rather odd-looking, and I had wondered why...well, now I know heh.

Anyway, I'll get those pictures up after a while, and I'll keep your words about the root trimming in mind, tomc. That was actually one of the things I was a little worried about when considering a mini rose. My mom had one for the longest time (think this plant might actually be the one, thus the guessing of the age) and I remember her saying it was temperamental.

Guess we'll just see how it goes. I'll keep you guys updated.

~Cricket

tomc
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Pedro Dot's "little" three, are I suspect worth growing out in trays mostly unpruned.

His breeding was-is the step down to a rose bush looking really incredibly small example.

*Sigh*

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AZCricket
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Alrighty, got those photos. The early-morning light is a little harsh, so it might be a little difficult to see some of the detail (pictures don't really do them justice, imo) but you can get the basic idea of what they look like.

I've got several angles of both.

"Big Mama"

[img]https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Miyuko142/bigmama1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Miyuko142/bigmama2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Miyuko142/bigmama3.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Miyuko142/bigmama4.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Miyuko142/bigmama5.jpg[/img]

"The Littl'n"

[img]https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Miyuko142/littlen1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Miyuko142/littlen2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Miyuko142/littlen3.jpg[/img]

I actually managed to get a hold of my mom to ask her about the original plant. She, too, is uncertain whether it's the old one she had long ago, but gave me an estimate of at least 15 years old for this one.

I'm going to let both of them bush out a bit, though I'm still thinking 'wind swept' for the Big Mama bush. Not sure what I'm going to do with the little one, though...might try my hand at a semi cascade? Depends on how it grows in.

TomM
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ROSES ARE RED, BONSAI ARE GREEN
NOT ALWAYS THE CASE
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN
ROSE BUSH IN A POT
NOT PLEASING TO SOME
YET SOME WILL BE PLEASED
YOU MIGHT SAY "WHY NOT?"
MOST ROSES ARE RED, MOST BONSAI ARE GREEN
THIS ART FORM OF OURS
ALLOWS IN-BETWEEN
IF RULES CAN BE BENT
JUST LOOK TO NICK LENZ
TAKE TREES TO EXTREME
CREATE WITH YOUR EYE
AT PEACE WITH NATURE, MAKE BONSAI SUPREME.

vuonhongvanloan
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Hi, I'm from Vietnam, and I have video about how to bonsai roses. I would like to share with you. and I hope to receive your feedback.


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rainbowgardener
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I hadn't thought about roses as a bonsai. When I read this, I went looking. Most of the images I found didn't look very successful as bonsai to my eyes. The ones that were most successful tended to be made from several plants to help give a tree shape.

Image

What I discovered is that usually they take a trunk from a full sized older rose bush, to give the bonsai a better trunk, and then graft branches from miniature roses on to that, to have more proportionate flowers.

imafan26
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I would think roses are hard to bonsai because they are heavy feeders and require regular pruning and annual hard pruning if you want to see any flowers. The branches are not very flexible when they get older so you will have a small window to work with the shape and you will probably only be able to bend the youngest ones. Then there are the thorns. It would have a high light requirement. I would think it would be better as a pot plant than as a true shaped bonsai, but if you are game and don't mind the pain working around the thorns, go for it.

vuonhongvanloan
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Dear imafan26,
You said very accurate, Rose branches are brittle, so it is difficult to wire Bonsai trees to shape and bend the branches.

tomc
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Snaps fingers. Still wishing for examples of Pedro Dot's, Ti, Mi and Si. *sigh*.



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