AusBonsai

I like arid-zone Acacias - they are often tough, long-lived, OK in pot culture, and can be spiky, ornery and grow with a mind of their own. They grow well in Canberra, although my mulga have sulked a bit through the last three wet La Nina seasons. They seem to need more generous-sized bonsai pots than exotics - my first mulga both faded and died quite quickly in small pots.
Acacia tetragonophylla, "Dead Finish" - so called because it is apparently the last to die in a severe drought. The spikes on the end of the "needles" (phyllodes) were used by First Nations to remove warts - stick three or four in, a few days of major pain, then the wart fell off.
Acacia ulicifolia, "Prickly Moses". Prickly leaves/phyllodes kept grazing animals from eating the seed pods, carefully harvested by local indigenous groups.

Other less arid shrubs, but along the same lines: Acacia genistifolia, "Spreading Wattle" - it's actually local, but it has a natural cascade habit - who could leave it there?
Daviesia ulicifolia, "Gorse bitter pea", another indigenous food source.
Bursaria spinosa, also a spiky understory shrub, with seeds and flowers that were food sources, and usefully hard timber.
Kunzea parvifolia, Violet Kunzea. it has particularly fine detailed structure - if you give up the desperate need for Stonking Great Trunks, which they just don't do, a lot of these shrubs can make complex and interesting shohin. Delicate magic.
Leptospermum arachnoides, "Spider tea-tree" - absolutely no use to anyone, but it makes its own structure and angles very early in life, more than most Leptos. I'll go along for the ride.
This is some detail from a four-year-old Homoranthus papillatus, another understory shrub - it makes very interesting shapes and veins and bark, all on a very tiny scale. They won't ever Impress Your Friends, but they have delightful intricacies.

Indigenous plant nurseries like Indigigrow at Maroubra, and native plant specialists like the Kuringai Wildflower park, or Cool Country Natives in Canberra are useful places to source them. I'm becoming interested in the use and cultural meaning of our native plants for First Nations folk.

Gavin

GavinG wrote: ↑May 26th, 2023, 6:49 pm P1060792.jpeg
Acacia tetragonophylla, "Dead Finish" - so called because it is apparently the last to die in a severe drought. The spikes on the end of the "needles" (phyllodes) were used by First Nations to remove warts - stick three or four in, a few days of major pain, then the wart fell off.
Gavin

I have trialled Leptospermum arachnoides but didn’t get enough sun to see if it was worthy.
It was pretty interesting until it died.

I thought of you lately. I saw a really cool Acacia at a native nursery, but forgot to take a photo of it. I was very tempted, but ended up spending way too much on a heap of Gum trees instead.
I’m losing patience for seedlings, and lashing out more money on larger stock is fun, but stupid…… but fun

I hope these seedlings grow fast and well for you.

I’ve also found that arid Heath material can be both a blessing and a curse for Bonsai. As long as you don’t overwater them, they can often be incredibly tough. And don’t remove too much root and just apply the ‘nibble a bit over time’ regime to the root system you usually go well.

I hope you are well and in good health Gavin.
Always a fan of any of your updates.
Rory

I would not have put A. ulicifolia in the arid category, Gavin. It's generally a coastal species and a proper pain down in the Otways when trying to get off the track to see what else is growing. Not sure it will be long lived but maybe that's just my guess. I've never even been tempted to grow it just because it is such a prickly bugger.

Pretty sure we have A. genistifolia growing down here too. It seems to like really rocky spots so I'm guessing good drainage will be important. Down here they are not prostrate but branches do grow in all directions as I recently found out while trying to cut back a 15 year old plant in one of the windbreaks here. Lots of long, bare branches. I will watch with interest for updates on that one too.

Not sure if we have Bursaria spinosa or B. lasiophylla around us. Difficult to propagate so you are lucky to find someone selling them. I've only grown them in my local bush area so have no idea if they appreciate pot culture. They all seem to be strongly upright here so it will be interesting to see how you get on with shaping it.

Kunzea parvifolia does not appear to grow in my area though I do see plenty on the sides of the road both north and south so appears to be widespread and pretty tough judging from the areas it chooses to grow. I've also managed to keep a few of these alive in pots for quite a while which reinforces the hardiness. Magnificent purple/pink flowers in spring but, unfortunately flowers on tips so I get few flowers due to regular trimming. Trunk and bark was one of the major reasons I picked this species to grow. They develop fluted, ropy trunks relatively young so what they lack in thickness they can make up for in structure. Try not to let it get out of hand. So far I have not been able to convince them to bud on old wood so grow and chop is not a viable option.

Neal, I'm turning 72 next week - trees being long-lived has become less important than it was... I'd forgotten that A. ulicifolia was local - I should have remembered. I'm growing it mainly for its indigenous connections - and it's tough and grumpy and cantankerous... I'll be pruning all the Acacias back regularly, as they don't usually bud on old wood.

Bursaria similar - remember, upright is only a cultural concept... It will get bent, leaned over, cut, and generally persuaded to become interesting. Most of these shrubbies have boring "long-thin-stalk" forms in the wild, but that doesn't have to happen in a pot. Things Will Happen.

With Kunzeas, and in fact most of them, they may not bud on old wood, but "grow-and-clip" is always possible if you're cutting back to a side branch. That will usually make an interesting angle, if you're lucky. I expect the scale of the Kunzea will be quite tiny - I will need to improve my standards of care to keep it alive, I suspect. Or get a flock of gardeners, when I get extortionately rich...

Rory, you have time that I don't. And seedlings will take a form that reflects you, right from the word go. That may not be such a good thing (joke!) but it's why we do it.

All the best,

Gavin