Today I decided to tackle this bougie. I had some free time due to sweet sweet Thanksgiving break. So here we go!

I cleaned it up by removing those straight dead twigs and defoliated when leaves got in the way of wiring.

Even just bending branches to get an idea about what it just look liked snapped a branch. Whoops. I wrapped raffia around it as a cast (which I think I am just gonna start calling “raffiaed” for simplication) and hopefully it will heal. It seemed pretty snug, so I’m not too worried.

I wanted to try something new. I knew I wanted to shorten the branch I am pointing to on the left. It is too long for being a low branch, and I need it to backbud. But, I thought that few inches of branch could go to use. So, I attempted my first branch grafting.

I got my teapot bougie and found a place where I thought a new branch would be helpful. I cut the chopped branch like a wedge and cut a bit into where I wanted to insert the branch on the teapot bougie. This took some work to get snug, and even harder to wrap with raffia. The raw branch kept slipping; I really needed more than two hands to do this. I will probably call on my suitemate and good friend Bela to help me out next time.

It just wasn’t working. After unwrapping and and rewrapping it in place a few times, and it kept getting out of place, I gave up. I think this was too small of a branch to graft. The main branch on the teapot bougie even tore. I raffiaed that up though. Gotta learn through trial and error!

I continued to style the bougie in the curvy lid pot. I really need to name these guys, but I am afraid that if I name them, I will have a greater attachment to them and be even sadder if they die/I kill them.

Here is the before and after shot! I shortened the secondary left branch, gave it some curve. I also curved up some of the thinner branches. Finally, I guided the trunk upwards. I wanted to do some more dramatic bending, but I want to make sure that wound heals before I push it too far.

 

I unpacked my $4 treasures to see what I was working with. I had six trunks with similar, low creeping formations. I shall introduce them individually.

Here we have an untrained child. I haven’t decided what direction I want to go with him. I am thinking about chopping of the first set of branches that go straight up in the middle. This leaves a nice tapered, semi-cascade trunk. I want this guy to recover more, to grow more leaves, before I work on him.

Once again, I simply haven’t decided how to style this guy. He is healthy and ready to go whenever I am, though. He will probably be a fun project in the near future.

Yup, that is a tea pot. I wanted to get colorful and fun pots, so I hunted down every Goodwill I could and found vessels, often untraditional. I drilled holes in the bottom of them all for drainage, and now it is an adorable pot. Most of my pots have fun stories.

I’m happy with this design! It is nicely balanced. The main trunk line is still a bit straight, but bougies are bendy and that is an easy fix. Once I have some new growth, I will be able to fill in more gaps.

 

…what is going on here? An experiment. I took the three thinnest plants and tied them together tightly with raffia in hopes that their trunks will fuse. Then I get a nice fat trunk, but it may take a few seasons. I had enough material to experiment with, so it is okay if this doesn’t work. A lot of bonsai knowledge is gained through trial an error.

And that is my bougie family!

Bougainvillea. Bounainvilluea. Boganvilla. Bougavillea.

It’s a hard name. I call them bougies.

Bougies are a great plant for bonsai- they grow quickly, have small leaves, occasionally bloom, and have flexible branches.

 

These guys are pretty sad. But- it is only because I am thrifty! A family-owned nursery was going out of business (information I found on Marketplace). They had so so many plants, from healthy to a little sad. But, the trick I have learned to test if a plant is alive it to scratch the lower trunk with your finger. If it is green underneath, it is alive. If it is a creamy wood color, it is dead.

These two bougies passed the fingernail test. Eh, yeah, the leaves are dry, but leaves grow back. I’m going to cut most of them off anyway. They were $2 each, when a Home Depot would likely sell the same (healthier) size for $15-20. At this nursery, I also got some pliers and plastic tubing. Why? You will find out in the Yaupon holly post (it is for guy-wiring).