Puerto Rican Trees

[Heinrick]

I noticed that many of the photos in the gallery are of Puerto Rico, in specifically Levittown. I lived in PR for two years some time back and I recently became interested in bonsai as a result.

I have aquired a couple of quenepa and flamboyan trees that I would like to make into bonsai to remind me of the island. The trees are currently in larger pots because I wanted to ensure that they would survive the Iowan winter. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I intend to transplant them into bonsai pots and begin shaping them.

I was wondering if there were any borinquas who frequent this sight that might be able to give me some advice on nurturing flamboyans and quenepas.

Esperaba que habian algunos borinquas que visitaran esta sitio que me podrian ayudar con el quidado de estos flamboyanes y quenepas

Thanks,

[Pedro J. Morales]

Hi Heinrick:

From those two trees Flamboyant is the one that you could use for bonsai. Quenepa is not good. Probably if you keep it in the large pot you will eat some Quenepas in a few year.

Flamboyant is a little dificult to work with because it change all the time. Let it grow until you have a nice trunk then cut it back an it will came out with new branches and a nice trunk

Good luck!

Pedro

[saint]

Pedro,
do you have any pictures of a bonsai Flaboyant?

[Gadiel]

bump

[Boriken]

Heinrick,

I too have a flamboyant bonsai that I am working with. I was able to start mine from seeds (since I didn't have room to bring any back from PR) I am keeping mine indoors next to a west window. I don't trust the western iowa weather enough to keep them outside. I used a sandy soil mixture and have had no problems.

In your case you might need to trim some roots though.

Boriken

[carledu]

Hi!

I just joined this group. My brother bought a bonsai on the supermarket last year and it almost died. Now he gave it to me. I'd like to know how to take care of him and how to work with it (it doesn't seems to be a bonsai anymore). It's a (romazeira) "Punica granatum". (sorry, but I don't know the name of these trees in English, only in Portuguese).

Also, I'd like to start my own bonsai from some tropical trees. I planted some seeds last week and they are showing there first leaves by now. The problem is that I don't know if it is a flamboyant "delonix regia" or a flamboyant-mirim "Caesalpinia pulcherrima". The leaves are basicaly the same and the tree had yellow flowers. How can I distinguished one from another?

Anyway, how far should I wait the tree to grow until doing something else?

Regards.

Eduardo S. da Cruz
Niterói - RJ - Brazil

[marcus_bc]

Hello Carledu,
Punica Granatum is known as "Pomegranate" in English ;)
Marcus

[carledu]

My pomegranate is very bad. What should I do to it?

http://www.saopedrodomarui.kit.net/bonsais/romazeira.jpg

Thanks!