Bonsai Ilima

Thursday, June 10, 2021 I pruned an ilima I had planted in a pot as bonsai material. Ilima is a native Hawaiian hibiscus prized for its small orange flowers used to make head lei for hula dancers. It takes about a thousand ilima flowers to make a lei. I consider it on the difficult end of the bonsai spectrum as I have already killed about half a dozen ilima transplanted from my yard. This is my first success so far so I will go slow.

The ilima is in a deep pot to accommodate the tap root for now. It's been growing in this pot for about six months now.

All I am going to do today is lightly prune it. After pruning.

I am thinking of planting it in the way oversized round Japanese bonsai pot in a few weeks if it responds well to the pruning. Pau for now.

Email Richard dot J dot Wagner at gmail dot com

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Last updated June 15, 2021 by Dr. Rick Wagner. Text and images copyright © 2021, unless otherwise attributed, all rights reserved.