Tough Little John

[Aus Dog]

Ray, are you sure the pics you posted are of a Little John Callistemon, it looks a lot like a Lilly pilly

[Bonsaitrees (Craig)]

Hi Bonsaitrees,
My apologies. I used the name Little John Lilly Pilly. It should have been Little John Callistemon.

Hi Ray, Yes I figured as much , no prob. The layer shown is Lilly pilly tiny trev and you have had good success with Little john Callistemon also ,

cheers mate

[Ray M]

Ray, are you sure the pics you posted are of a Little John Callistemon, it looks a lot like a Lilly pilly

Hi Aus Dog,
Yes, your right. Sorry for the mistake. The post 2nd February is a Tiny Trev Lilly Pilly, and the post 4th February is a Little John Callistemon.

Sorry for the mix up. I guess one good thing from the mistake is that you can see both species work well with ground layering.

Regards Ray

[Aus Dog]

Ray, are you sure the pics you posted are of a Little John Callistemon, it looks a lot like a Lilly pilly

Hi Aus Dog,
Yes, your right. Sorry for the mistake. The post 2nd February is a Tiny Trev Lilly Pilly, and the post 4th February is a Little John Callistemon.

Sorry for the mix up. I guess one good thing from the mistake is that you can see both species work well with ground layering.

Regards Ray

Ray,
Might be an idea to double check the actual pics you posted, neither those posted on the 2nd or the 4th of Feb appear either in leaf & bark to be nothing like Callistemon 'Little John'.
This is a Callistemon 'Little John' I air layered last year

ljfl131.jpg

[Ray M]

Hi Aus Dog,
Your right mate. It is another Lilli Pilly. Sorry for the brain fade. I have been looking for my Little John, but can't find it. If I can't find it or another one I will get a tree and do a layer on it so Tony will have confidence to do his. Sorry again for all the mix ups.

Regards Ray

[lackhand]

Hi Aus Dog,
Your right mate. It is another Lilli Pilly. Sorry for the brain fade. I have been looking for my Little John, but can't find it. If I can't find it or another one I will get a tree and do a layer on it so Tony will have confidence to do his. Sorry again for all the mix ups.

Regards Ray

Ray, don't worry about going out and buying a new tree on my account (though if you're like me nearly any excuse will do ). I've been inspired by all of your ground layer results, and I've got enough experience with callistemon now that I'm not really that worried about success, just waiting for the right time for the plant. Since I've repotted the last two years in a row and pruned hard a few times on top of the other hardships this thing has endured, it just seems like it needs a year or so to put on some growth and recover. Good bonsai requires patience after all, something that I've gotten much better at over the past few years.

Looking back, maybe I got the order backwards and a ground layer is the first thing I should have done, but it's too late for that now. Live and learn, and I'm definitely learning a lot with this tree. Thank goodness it's forgiving.

At any rate, the picture shared are still greatly appreciated. Biggest problem is they make me want a lilly pilly, but I can't seem to find any around here.

[Ray M]

Ray, don't worry about going out and buying a new tree on my account (though if you're like me nearly any excuse will do ).

Hi Karl,
Thanks for your reply. I have found one so I'll put a layer on it just to see how it reacts. It looks like Aus Dog had good success with his layer. If a tree will air layer it will also ground layer.

Regards Ray