• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

Pot selection exercise – contorted quince

December 3, 2019 by Jonas Dupuich

Now that temperatures have cooled a bit, I’ve started repotting. Sometimes I return trees to the pots they were growing in, and other times I select new containers.

Here are eight options I considered for a contorted flowering quince. Do you have a favorite?

Yamaaki

Pot #1 – round Yamaaki

Japanese unglazed

Pot #2 – unglazed Japanese

Jan Rentenaar pot

Pot #3 – Jan Rentenaar

Blue pot

Pot #4 – round Japanese

Chamberlain pot

Pot #5 – Vicki Chamberlain

Chamberlain

Pot #6 – Vicki Chamberlain

Bunzan

Pot #7 – Bunzan

Bunzan

Pot #8 – Bunzan

Clump style bonsai like this contorted quince can look good in a variety of containers. Glazed choices are more common than unglazed for flowering trees (the flowers are pale orange) and I wanted to go with something glazed to provide color to the garden and to potential displays.

I limited my choices to relatively round containers as the square and rectangular pots I have strike me as too formal for the tree, and oval containers make more sense when there is an obvious main tree or an established front. As I’m just beginning to work with this tree, it’s nice to use a pot that looks good from all angles.

As for the specific choices, I found Pot #1 has a good shape for the tree but is a bit large and lacks color. A glazed version of pot #2 might work, but it too was on the large side.

The Rentenaar container, pot #3, could work, but the mound needed to cover the roots would have been fairly large making the lower part of the composition take up too much visual mass. A smaller version could work, but then the question of how to complement a deciduous container in slab or stone-like container comes up. Any suggestions?

I find pot #4 acceptable, but it lacks character and the lip is a bit wide for the tree. I liked both of Vicki Chamberlain’s containers for the tree, #5 and #6, but again, each was slightly larger than what I was looking for.

The final options were from Bunzan. I prefer pot #8 overall, but liked that #7 was shallower and lighter in color.

Contorted quince

Contorted quince in a Bunzan pot – 11″

After seeing the tree throughout the year I’ll likely have new ideas about which container suits the tree best. And in one or two years, I’ll plan to make another switch.

One Week left in Kickstarter Campaign for Pacific Bonsai Museum Book

The Pacific Bonsai Museum has reached 77% of their goal to produce a book featuring the stories of thirty trees from their collection.

I’m excited about the project because there aren’t many books that show long-term bonsai development. Although before and after transformations can be exciting, bonsai take on their best characteristics over time. This book promises to offer a glimpse at this process with explanations from the curators.

To order a copy or learn more about the project, visit A Gallery of Trees: Living Art of Pacific Bonsai Museum on Kickstarter.

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by Kit

Filed Under: Display Tagged With: Flowering Quince, Pots

Previous Post: « New book – The Little Book of Bonsai
Next Post: Thinning shohin Japanese maple »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carlos says

    December 3, 2019 at 5:05 am

    Hi Jonas! Do you repot all trees in winter or only quinces? Why is this?
    Thanks in advance!
    Carlos

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      December 3, 2019 at 8:23 am

      Hi Carlos! Some of my deciduous trees start growing in early January so December is a good time for me to repot them. Plum and quince are some of the first to start growing in my garden. Even some of my pines are producing new roots now so I plan to do a lot of repotting from now through February.

  2. Edward Stanton says

    December 3, 2019 at 6:04 am

    Jonas, Another beautiful post in your “choose-a-pot” series. (Have you thought of putting them all together in a book?) My question has more to do with the tree than the pot. I have what I believe is a Contorted Quince from Warren Hill’s garden, which I leave outside in temperatures above 28F. It’s still green and has not lost many leaves here in zone 6, where we’ve already had several freezes. So I’m curious to know why your Contorted Quince has lost all of its foliage in a much warmer climate: did you defoliate? And if so, why? Thanks, grateful for your good work!

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      December 3, 2019 at 8:31 am

      Great question (and suggestion) Ed! I’d love to collect several years worth of these posts – will be sure to do a few more this year.

      What I’m finding with deciduous trees is that the health of the foliage in fall is a result of how old the leaves are and how healthy the tree is. Deciduous trees that I’ve defoliated still look great and those that have their leaves from spring (Jan/Feb) are mostly yellow or brown. Health is the other big factor. This quince grew in the shade for most of the year and the leaves weren’t as hardy as they might otherwise be, plus the soil wasn’t great. I thought now would be a great time to repot so the roots could get started as soon as possible in new soil. Will be curious to see how the tree does this spring.

  3. Lars Grimm says

    December 3, 2019 at 6:33 am

    I like pot 5 but maybe I would plant it a little higher in the pot so the ‘nebari’ would look more in sync with the depth of the pot.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      December 3, 2019 at 8:25 am

      Thanks Lars – I think that would be a great way to go with #5.

  4. eric morlet says

    December 3, 2019 at 10:02 am

    hi jonas ,

    Is the flowers white or red ?
    if white , your choice Bunzan is good . too colored for me but whynot!!

    if red , i prefer Chamberlain’s pot (but smaler of course) .

    thanks for your very interesting newsletter

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      December 3, 2019 at 10:11 am

      Thanks Eric! The flowers are pale orange. Were they red the Chamberlain options would provide great contrast with the flowers.

  5. Carol says

    December 3, 2019 at 11:38 am

    4

  6. Charlie Mosse says

    December 4, 2019 at 10:07 am

    I like Lars’ choice of the Vicki Chamberlain pot but, if it were a bit smaller like the Bunzan pots.
    I too hope you can create a pot selection book. These posts are very helpful and easy to follow.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      December 4, 2019 at 12:37 pm

      Thanks, Charlie! Will keep the camera at the ready.

  7. Stefanos Papavasileiou says

    December 6, 2019 at 11:46 am

    Hi Jonas,

    Probably will not help you much…but the simple No 5, only because I am a Greek : ). This colour in combination with white are the colors that dominate in most houses in Agean sea.

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2025 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT