Every once in a while a gamble pays off. Late in 2004 I was offered some trees I had never heard of from northern China. Syzygium buxifolium I discovered is a member of the myrtle family and is very tough. So with no more information than that I ordered the trees.
When the trees arrived I was delighted but apprehensive. The evergreen foliage is fantastic, light green with fine red twigging and a beautiful tiny leaf form. The trees looked very sorry planted in scabby old pots in red clay.
In spring I carefully washed away all of the clay and planted the trees into good bonsai pots in pure akadama. The initial response was trees that just sat and sulked whilst the trees that were not re-potted grew well. However by mid-summer the situation had completely reversed. By October the re-potted trees had roots literally climbing over the sides of their pots.
Early autumn and, as this tree had grown so well I decided to complete it’s first styling. Wiring is very difficult as the fine growth is easily broken.
Just two weeks later and new shoots are beginning to emerge, in December!
Fei Lian is the Chinese god of the wind, direct translation would be “flying curtain”. I thought this seemed appropriate.
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