Wood used for Christmas Colored Flame Yule Logs? What type of wood and its' thickness would be get the best results for making Christmas colored flame yule logs?

I would like to try and make colored flamed yule logs this year. What type of wood would get the maximum amount of absorption of the mixture of colored solution into the wood? What would be the thickest circumference that would enable the colored flames last the longest?

Most internet sources suggest newspaper, wood chips or pine cones. I would like to do the same using wood in the form of small logs, in order to make it resemble a real Christmas yule log for a fireplace. They may take up to a month to dry, prior to using.

 

Helpful Sources: 

How to Make Colored Fire

The History of the Yule Log 

Add Color to Fireplace Flames for Christmas 

Yule log (Wikipedia)
You want a wood with high porosity to take up as much of the mineral laden water as possible. Perhaps balsa if you can find a block of it, poplar or willow would be good too. Cedar might work.

Hardwoods will definitely not work well .. nor will any pine variety as their natural pitch will resist water uptake.