A good question. I haven't been able to find out much about care of potted
ceanothus. The info on the Web is geared toward landscape uses of these plants.
Evidently Ceanothus spp. are touchy plants and don't take to root and branch
pruning easily. That's part of the challenge in making bonsai of these guys. So
far this season I've managed to kill a C. impressus 'Vandenberg' and a C. 'Julia
Phelps'. However, I've had better luck in repotting the Point Reyes as well as a
C. thrysiflorus 'Skylark', a C. foliosa 'Concha' and a C. foliosa 'Wheeler
Canyon'. These last two I got at Las Pilatis nursery, a native plant outfit near
Santa Margarita, CA. These were all 3 gallon plants. Early last September I
carefully combed out about 75% of the nursery soil while trying to minimize root
damage. I left the roots unpruned. I repotted in 10-inch diameter plastic pots
using a 50/50 organic/inorganic soil mix: (1) Turface MVP (+12/-4), (1) Oil-Dri
(+12/-4), (1) Supersoil (+12/-8) and (1) composted redwood (unsieved). I figured
50/50 was a good place to start even though some species of ceanothus are found
growing in pure beach sand. So far these four plants appear healthy (my fingers
are crossed).

Regarding the question about pruning and blooming, I'll wait until next March to
tackle that issue. I'm just feeling my way here. Any help and/or advice is
appreciated.

Ray Schmitt, Aliso Viejo, CA
Cold Hardiness Zone 10b
AHS Heat Zone 4
Sunset Climate Zone 22






----- Original Message -----
From: "Kitsune Miko"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 7:20 PM
Subject: [IBC] Texas Ebony cascade??


So how and when do you prune your ceanothus to get it to bloom?

Kitsune Miko

rschmitt23 wrote:
I agree with Craig. Don't fight it. -I have a Point Reyes ceanothus (C.
gloriosus) that really wants to be a semi-cascade style. That's fine by me.


--
Ray Schmitt, Aliso Viejo, CA
Cold Hardiness Zone 10b
AHS Heat Zone 4
Sunset Climate Zone 22


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