AusBonsai

all,

This morning i took izzykay out collecting Melaleucas( his first time). I took him to a spot that i hadn't been before, at first things weren't too good, it was raining and a little cold but then we came across some interesting trees, This one here is a Melaleuca Rhaphiophylla, as has been mentioned and proven by some in the past they do not like to grow past parallel, well when i saw this one ,it had to come home with me It grows up past the dead section, then down almost vertically, across a little then down and back up,, the circles are the live branches growing from the downwards growing part. The main trunk is about 140mm wide, and 450mm high.

This Banksia caught my eye on the way back to the car had to take him aswell. The trunk is about 80mm wide, and 600mm high.
Another nice trunk on this Rhaph,

All up was a good outing , i dug 6 and i think Izzy took home the same ..... we spotted some very nice ones on the way out aswell,, next time

Very nice trees Craig - wish we had the same kind of soils for collecting here

Hiya Craig,
Looks like you scored some nice trees
Let me know if you go again as would love to tag along, learn and check out your secret spots.
That's unless you don't want me to cramp your style
Cheers
Pandu

couple more

Pandu wrote:Hiya Craig,
Looks like you scored some nice trees
Let me know if you go again as would love to tag along, learn and check out your secret spots.
That's unless you don't want me to cramp your style
Cheers
Pandu

Hi Pandu, thanks and no probs mate, anytime

Thanks Tony, which one do you want

Izzy that's about the angle it came out of the ground at , i still want that one

couple more

Hi Guys , some very nice trunks amongst these . What the secret in the medium used for potting up ? , also the watering requirements for Melaluaca's ?. Do you need a good rootball to start with ?.Still struggling with collecting our Natives .Cheers Alpine

alpineart wrote:Hi Guys , some very nice trunks amongst these . What the secret in the medium used for potting up ? , also the watering requirements for Melaluaca's ?. Do you need a good rootball to start with ?.Still struggling with collecting our Natives .Cheers Alpine

Thanks Alpine, just potting up with ordinary potting mix for now.
I'm still learning mate but of all the Mels i have collected in the last couple of months, which is about 35-40 Rhaphiophylla and Preissiana ,i haven't lost any yet.Still early days for some of them and others are starting to move now, trim the foliage back some when collecting ,Keep the water up, not too much sun(not really an issue in winter) and . The trees collected with more roots are what we want but a few of the ones i have dug didn't have many and thet seem ok so far, I find them quite easy so far,, Cheers mate

Hi Craig , thanks for the heads up , i like that middle tree in the previous reply , haven't seen mela's like that since i was a kid on the other side of the Great Dividing Range . Need to get out and about these hills some more .Cheers Alpine

No worries Alpine ,

A couple more from Previous days;
Enjoy

Nice collection effort Craig

I have collected 1 sucessfully and it has been in My Diatomite / Zeolite mix for 2 years
Did a workshop with Peter Adams yesterday on it and repotted

Ken

and Thanks Ken, what species did you collect, any pics after the workshop with Peter?

Hi Craig, very nice trees mate!! Sounds like you have been busy!
Looking good, Dario.

Craig wrote: and Thanks Ken, what species did you collect, any pics after the workshop with Peter?

I have no idea what species of Mel it is

forgot the link to the thread of pics
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=8204&hilit=tsob&start=30#p98703

Ken