Texas Ebony – Pithecellobium Flexicaule

Similar to the Brazilian Rain Tree, the Texas Ebony has compound leaves and grows thorns over the trunk and branches. Native to Texas and the Southwest United States, the tree grows well in USDA Zone 10-11.

Branch structure displays a distinctive difference for the Texas Ebony. Branches grow in a zig zag manner with thorns at the nodes. This pattern provides an obvious point for pruning the tree as a clip and grow method works very well.

Texas Ebony can also grow flowers and seed pods but I haven't seen any nor do I really expect to in the bonsai format. One thing for certain is that the tree grows pretty fast with new shoots continuing to sprout from previous cut points.

Wiring can be difficult because of the hard, woody branches and I normally just prune at the branch nodes, however, recently I’ve wired a thinner, softer branch in order to adjust its direction. It wasn’t particularly difficult and I’ll leave the wire on for the winter to see how well this may work.

This particular tree has a very twisted, serpentine trunk/root base that is definitely unusual. I continue to have mixed feelings about the look but the tree is now much more substantial so I may consider doing something with this at a spring re-potting.  

Leaf Pruning

I’ve let my small trees grow and now it’s time to do a little leaf pruning. The purpose behind leaf pruning is to encourage ramification which is the increase in branching. Another desired effect is growing smaller leaves. With an increase in the number of branches, more leaves mean smaller leaves. I’ve only done partial defoliation on two Green Island Ficus trees by pruning off the largest leaves and that has worked pretty well in reducing leaf size.

I hadn't done any pruning on the cuttings from the Dwarf African Strangler but now they've grown enough to take off a few leaves. In the Spring I'm planning to try a root over rock style with one of these and probably re-potting the other two out of their training pots. 

Before Pruning

After Pruning

Brazilian Rain Tree - Pithecellobium Tortum

The Brazilian Rain Tree is a very interesting and beautiful tree. This tree is similar to another tree in my collection – the Texas Ebony. Both of these trees have compound leaves and grow thorns on the branches and trunk.

The Brazilian Rain Tree is native to, well Brazil and is suitable for growing in USDA Zone 10-11. That means the minimum temperature should not be below around 40F. So while these trees will grow well in warm and hot summer weather outside in the US, they need to be brought inside during the colder months where outdoor temperatures will drop below the minimum.

The tree has hard wood but rather delicate soft green branches that grow out long and a little floppy that will eventually harden. What is truly interesting about this species are the leaves. The tree grows compound leaves – a shoot will have 4-6 pairs of opposing leaves and cool thing is that the leaves fold together and close at night. The same behavior can occur on very sunny days as the leaves may partially fold in order to regulate the light striking their surface. The Brazilian Rain Tree also produces white flowers but that may or may not occur with a bonsai. My tree hasn't produced any flowers.

Another unique feature of this tree are the long thorns that adorn the trunk and some of the more mature branches. Unlike the Texas Ebony, these thorns are rather large given the smaller size of my tree and almost look like short branches. I have pruned a few back to remove some clutter but generally speaking I've kept them at least at this point.

The tree that I have is maybe a few years old--- I bought it this summer so it is pretty young. I understand that more mature trees develop flaky bark that peels off to add different color and texture to the trunk.

Watering & Fertilizing

I follow the same watering method as the other trees with the soil moist to a little dry before the next watering. Most times indoors that means watering every other or third day. Good soil drainage is very important with this tree as with all bonsai.

During the summer when most of the growth takes place I fertilize every weekend with a basic 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer. I'll probably cut back to once per month in the winter.

Fall

As the calendar moves into Fall, it’s time to bring my trees inside. Night time temperatures are moving into the 50’s F so I’m bring them in a week early but better to be a little safe. I didn’t do much to these trees over the Summer but water and let them grow and they grew very well. Each of the trees developed a lot of new growth with the Texas Ebony really surprising me with its thick, new foliage and strong branches.

I will let both Ficus grow more over the Winter before I do any pruning and re-potting in the Spring but I am going to spend some time cleaning up the Ebony now. I want to prune back the very long shoot that extended the main, center branch and also clip back most of the branches to a more reasonable length that maintains some compactness to the tree.

Finally, I’ll do some pruning on the leaves by cutting any of them that are growing straight down and maintain the leaf pads.

Before pruning

After pruning

Overall not heavy pruning but a good cleanup that retains the shape of the tree. I'm trying to root the large center branch that I clipped off to hopefully grow a smaller Ebony. I haven't had success in the past with rooting Ebony clippings but this branch is much larger so maybe this will work.

Beginning

I have been interested in bonsai on and off over the past several years and had many failures like most people who start a hobby without much research. The typical small juniper is what I started with and that didn’t end very well. Many web searches, you tube videos and a couple of books later helped me get some general knowledge to build upon. This is a chronicle of my bonsai journey and some things I've learned along the way.

  

3 important things I've learned about bonsai

• Understand tree species
• Understand your growing environment
• Determine your time commitment

   

Tree Species

As a beginner, I found the most important thing to consider is the type of tree that you want to grow and it’s requirements. That juniper that everyone seems to start with is not a tree that can grow indoors. No matter how hard you try, most likely you will fail. Picking the species of tree will depend upon where you plan on keeping it, indoor or out. Ficus are a wonderful species that can be grown in both indoor and outdoor environments. They are generally easy to grow and maintain but they aren't the only options. I have a few ficus trees but I've also have some other trees that can do well indoors and out.

  

That being said, for one living in a colder climate, placing trees outside in the summer months and indoors during the winter is the best solution. Even trees that can grow indoors will maintain their health better given some time outside. More about trees later…

  

Growing Space

It goes without saying that space will dictate the direction of one’s bonsai journey. The size of trees that one can grow will be dependent on the size of space with available light. Without a large yard or greenhouse, it’s most likely that some space by a window is the only choice that will provide adequate light depending on the climate. That’s why smaller trees make sense for many people.

  

I have a couple of windows that work pretty well with trees that can grow with lower light in the colder months.

  

Time Commitment

Time commitment is a two part question to consider. Not only is this about how much time one spends on a hobby but also the time it takes to see some results. Bonsai is as much about the process as the final result but one also likes to see some results a bit sooner than later. Many tree species can take many years before meaningful results show. On the other hand, some species grow reasonably fast so that within a few years one can grow and style a wonderful tree. One can learn more quickly and fail more quickly too!