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Seasonal maintenance – removing flowers from dwarf flowering quince

October 6, 2020 by Jonas Dupuich

Five weeks ago I pruned and defoliated the chojubai below (see “Cutback on a white chojubai” for details). The tree produced buds right away, and within a few weeks, it was covered with flower buds.

Chojubai ready to flower

White chojubai four weeks after defoliation

I took photos every few days to catch the tree in “peak bloom” but found I liked the tree best when the buds were just starting to open.

Chojubai flowers

Chojubai flower buds

Here’s the tree two days later.

Blooming chojubai

Flowers 30% open

Two weeks later, most of the flowers were spent, but new buds were still emerging. It was a good time to remove all of the flowers so the new leaves could receive more light. If I don’t pluck them in time, the tree gets covered in fruit that redirects resources away from the branches I want to develop.

Spent flowers on chojubai

Just past “peak bloom”

After removing the flowers

After removing the flowers – 9.5″

I don’t expect so many flowers to appear with the next flush of growth, but I’ll be sure to enjoy whatever shows up when they do.

New episode on the Bonsai Wire Podcast: conversation with an apprentice in Japan!

Join Adam Toth, an American apprentice studying bonsai at Taiga Urushibata’s garden in Shizuoka, Japan, and me, for a conversation about apprentice life in the newest episode of the Bonsai Wire Podcast. Adam breaks down a typical day and shares humorous stories of how hard it can be to keep everyone happy in a garden filled with small trees.

Check out the “Chat With Adam Toth“ for the full story, or follow Adam’s journey on Instagram at adam.jp.bon.

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Filed Under: Bonsai Care Tagged With: Chojubai

Previous Post: « Bonsai Development Series #22: cutback-decandling techniques for young pines
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Terence Vaughn Krista says

    October 6, 2020 at 9:21 am

    Jonas-
    Are so many blooms something you would expect after defoliating the quince? Just wondering, could it be due to the weather? After some recent bouts of very hot weather that burned many of my trees here in the Bay Area, I have a Fuji cherry that has decided to bloom out of season and numerous Japanese maples sending out a fresh flush of foilage. Not typical fall behavior.
    Thanks!
    Terence

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 6, 2020 at 9:26 am

      Good question – I’m used to chojubai blooming throughout the year but they’ve been blooming like crazy this year. My guess is that it’s due to a combination of fertilizer and weather. I fertilized less than normal in summer but have been fertilizing a lot this fall. Combined with really warm weather, there are lots of flowers in the garden!

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