It's been a busy time around the PeaceLoveBonsai blog. I have several new additions to the collection that I'm excited to share and another Bonsai potter spotlight is in the works. Throw in our current giveaway over at my Instagram and all of sudden we are rockin and rollin! Exciting stuff!
As I've mentioned before, my tropical collection continues to dwindle. While I enjoy the trees and I like how rapidly they develop, the indoor work is a challenge all to itself. As I have more work to do with my outdoor trees, I might look to get rid of tropicals all together. But for now, we'll keep trucking along.
Today, a quick progression of a dwarf Schefflera I purchased a few years ago from Wigert's Bonsai. My wife and I went on vacation to Florida in the fall of 2015. I was inspired by the ginormous fig trees in the area. I knew, when I saw them, that I would want to try my hand at recreating that look. After some research, the Schefflera was recommended to me and I made the purchase.
As purchased, Summer of 2016
As is often the case, I didn't touch the tree for over a year. I wanted to learn how to care for it and didn't want to kill it. I decided to try and find a large pot for the tree so it could grow rapidly.
Repot, Summer of 2017
I potted the tree into a large round by Adam Holden. In retrospect, I believe the pot was too large for the tree. I have found that tropicals do quite well in small pots, and look better as well. So, I decided to repot the tree earlier this year.
Early Summer, 2020, before repot
And here is the tree today.
Fall 2020
I like the blue pot. I think it accentuates the green color of the leaves. After four years of ownership, I'm finally learning how to care and ramify the tree. My hope is to reduce the leave size as I increase the ramification.
Final Before & After
So, readers, what do you think? Anyone else have Schefflera Bonsai? If so, post them up, either down below or over at my Instagram. And be sure to post your progressions with the hashtag #ProgressionThursday so I can follow along!
Until next time, PeaceLoveBonsai!