AusBonsai

I recently picked up something I have absolutely no knowledge of or experience with, a Petrophile pulchella. I saw it in a local council nursery and thought that the combination of interesting bark, good movement, nice nebari and light fine foliage could make it a good choice for bonsai.

At the moment it is in some sandy potting media in a big pot and has had a couple of the longest branches chopped back and some of the foliage removed as well. I'm going to wait and see how it goes with the chops and how it buds before doing anything more with it at this point.

Has anyone had any experience with this species (or genus) as a garden plant or bonsai before?

Nope.
No experience.
Looks promising enough so far!
Keep us posted and document your findings here!

Edit just had a quick read online and they don't last overly long in Bonsai terms. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrophile_pulchella

Lovely inflorescence!

Mine is a petrophile fastigiata.
it isn't easy getting any info on it though. I do know that you should cut back 1/3 after flowering , but don't severe prune them all at once.
I only transferred mine into one of my pots prior to winter, as you can see the tops are slightly brown which occurred after i took out the new growth.
So I will be cutting a few back to see how it does.
I have noticed no back budding on it though.

joann

Ahh interesting Joannm, that species looks like it has much smaller foliage than mine. Thanks for the care advice, how long have you had that tree for?

I have kept it in a pot about 4 years . was used by a nursery as a stock plant. but the guy who had it was long gone from where I got it from , so no one else had any idea about it .

joann

P pulchella is one of the few Petrophile species that are found in the eastern States (NSW). Easy to propagate from seed. Germination is 6 to 8 weeks but all seeds will not germinate at the same time. Can be regularly pruned to keep its shape.