If you are fortunate enough to locate the out-of-print book "The Art of the Chrysanthemum", by Tameji Nakajima, try to acquire it. It is an excellent reference & contains a wealth of info on mum (particularly bonsai) culture.

A few things I have found:
- They will require your vigilance & attention. It's easy for the plant to "get away" from you if you're not attentive to pinching, and fertilizing. Potting up is a regular requirement as well.
- It is best to decide on the form you wish to develop when the plant is a cutting. "Looking for the tree" in the plant will probably leave you unsatisfied with the results.
- Aphids will find your plant, so be prepared.
- A good source for information is King's Mums, see link below. Their site has lots of growing tips for general culture. Pay particular attention to the "gnomes". They're what you'll want for bonsai. Choose style according to plant habit. You can also order a print-out of several pages with Ken's suggestions for improved success with bonsai culture.
- Best results will be had with plants that are from late summer or Fall cuttings, wintered in a greenhouse, trained to bonsai in a single growth cycle and displayed the following Fall.
- Be happy if the plants overwinter for you w/o extensive die-back.

Good luck

Al

Here is a link that might be useful: If you click on me, I'll take you straight to King's site.

Al, Thanks very much for the very useful information. You are the best.

Regards,

Ron

Ron:

I agree with Al, if you have more than a passing interest in this subject you definitely should acquire the volume by Nakajima. There are several listed on ABEBOOKS.COM now, see link. As Al alluded to the general procedure as outlined by Nakajima is as follows.
1. Root your cuttings in the late summer/early fall of the previous year.
2. Repot as necessary throughout the fall and winter, taking every opportunity to improve the nebari
3. The existing foliage will die back; choose a new bud to become the leader.
4. Train the plant throughout the growing season.
5. Only place in a bonsai container for the fall display.
6. Old wood plants can be over wintered, although as Al states expect some dieback.

As you can see, following this very crude outline, you are about 18 months away from a proper bonsai display. The good news is that this allows you enough time to do your research, and obtain suitable plant material.

Al:

I am currently involved in my first cycle of this process and I have found that in my climate I did not have to repot nearly as frequently as Nakajima indicates. What has your experience been regarding this? What would you think about the advisability of starting my cuttings earlier in the summer in order to obtain a more established root system for the winter dormancy period?

Norm

Here is a link that might be useful: abebooks.com

Norm, thank you for the very interesting and useful information, especially the book link (I am ordering the Nakajima books today). You and Al are valuable resources of knowledge and experience and, coupled with the kindness and patience with which you respond to inquires such as mine, make significant contributions to the science and culture of bonsai. Your prized information and experiences will be incorporated in the lectures, demonstrations, and practical greenhouse applications of the bonsai portion (a small, but very popular portion of the curriculum) of an undergraduate course I teach each fall semester.

Ron

Ron:

You wrote: (I am ordering the Nakajima books today), I hope that the word books, (plural), is a typo. As far as I know all of the books listed on the page that I linked to are the same. Abebooks provides a service to various booksellers, not all of whom follow the same conventions when listing their books.
The complete title of the book in question is "The art of the Chrysanthemum: Japanese techniques for creating bonsai, cascades, giants, and other potted styles" by Tameji Nakajima, with the collaboration of H. Carl Young. The book is not exclusively about bonsai.
If you ordered multiple copies perhaps it is not too late to cancel one or more. Sorry if I inadvertently misled you.

Norm

Thanks Norm, "books" was indeed a typo.

Regards,

Ron