These photos of a very large azalea keeps coming up on my laptop’s photo library, so I thought I’d share the story. The photos were taken on May 28, 2012 just before it went to a bonsai auction. The flowers were timed perfectly for the auction which was roughly about a week from that date.
I bought this tree from an arboretum plant sale and kept it for about 8 years. I didn’t really do too much to it other than repot it and prune it back. The flowers are not only beautiful but smell amazing. The leaves are large and less ideal for bonsai but knowing what I know now, I would have kept it in my collection for it’s rarity as a bonsai specimen. The trunk of this azalea is about 10 to 12 inches wide and for that it is a very old azalea.
I decided to sell the tree because the wood on the azalea is very soft, I saw it continue to rot even though the whole tree itself is very healthy. I didn’t see a way to preserve it at the time and decided that it’s time for me to sell the tree. If I kept it, I would have continued to develop the tree into a large bonsai and grow the right side of the tree more. I would have used an epoxy type of preservative to harden the wood.
The tree sold for double what I was expecting and I bet the flowers had a lot to do with it . Never met the new owner but hope it went to a good home. By any chance the new owner reads this post, let me know how the tree is doing.