Bonsai tree: Weekly Wire Six: A Little Tipsy

More fall color. There’s something about the fiery brilliance of fall color. Both the colors and the shape of this Japanese maple are reminiscent of the large Sugar maples that grow around here in Vermont. The photo is from Reiner Vollmari’s facebook page.

The Windy City. Next time you’re in Chicago you can visit the bonsai collection at the Chicago Botanic Garden. From what I can see from their website, it looks like a great display area with some quality trees. They claim to have “one of the best public collections of bonsai in the world” which may be a stretch, though I’ve never been there and the photos are smallish, so it’s hard to say anything definitive. It would help if there were more live links on the site and larger photos. As it is, the website serves more as a teaser than a tour.

Alive and well in Florida. One of the most active and rich bonsai schedules anywhere belongs to the Bonsai Societies of Florida. Here’s a little taste to whet your appetite.

Dan Robinson is in the midst of a Florida bonsai tour at this very moment. It’s not too late to catch him.

The tenth annual Joy of Bonsai, featuring Suthin Sukosolvisit and friends is happening Jan 13-15 in Bunnell.

The annual Ben Oki tour is also happening in January. 20 stops in 16 days!


A little tipsy. You can’t help but notice how this rather comfortable Redwood is leaning towards the wine. Bonsai Tonight.


Polshich. If you can read this, you should definitely check it out. Even you can’t read it, why not?

The artists. In our last Weekly Wire we said that Dave Piemme was the winner of our Bonsai Detective Art Contest. And it’s true, Dave is the winner (he’s already collected his $50 worth of gifts from Stone Lantern). What we didn’t say, was who all the artists are. So here’s your list: 1. Nacho Marin, 2. Ruben Roig (drawing above is his), 3. Deborah Koreshoff, 4. Rudi Julianto, 5. Patrick Giacobbe, 6. John Naka, 7. Fabrizio Petruzzello, 8. Susan Greenleaf, 9.Kevin Wilson, 10. Nacho Marin


New turntable. Stone Lantern is featuring a new Table-top turntable. It’s rugged, strong, very beautiful, the surface area is larger than other bonsai turntables and it has a range of other features that just might make it the right one for your bonsai (and other) needs.

Bonsai in Pakistan. I just stumbled across the Pak Bonsai forum. I’m not sure if we have any followers in Pakistan (we have several in neighboring India), but either way, it caught my attention.

Better hurry up if you want to make it to the 11th annual Asia-Pacific Bonsai & Suiseki Convention & Exhibition.



Satsuki care. Into Satsukis? If so, check out the care calendar for Satsuki azalea bonsai at bonsai4me.

From Satsuki Azaleas by Robert Callaham.

A little respite from your typical massive trunk, full-crowned bonsai. I like the clean simple lines of the trunk and branching and the way they serve to display the flowers in an open, loose way (but not too loose). The photo is from Paulo Roberto Marasca’s facebook page. Here are some more of Paulo’s trees.

A Literati lesson. We’ve been talking Literati bonsai recently. Maybe it’s time for someone else to say a few words. How about our friend Robert Steven? His insights are excellent and so are his bonsai. The article is from ofBonsai Magazine.



Another Literati lesson. We’ve been talking Literati bonsai here recently. Maybe it’s time for someone else to say a few words. That someone else would be Randy Clark (& a couple friends) of the Bonsai Learning Center.


A few trees from the Bonsai Society of Winnipeg (that would be in Canada, our gentle neighbor to the north).

What a great fence. I know some purists don’t appreciate manipulating plants this way, but I love. it. It’s made of Atlas cedars, a luscious plant that you occasionally see as bonsai. Unfortunately, like so many plants, they won’t grow here in northern Vermont. It’s from Russell’s Nursery’s facebook page (here’s their website). They’re in Auroa Oregon. A great place to be if you like growing pretty much everything but tropicals.

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Bonsai tree: East Bay Bonsai Society’s 50th Anniversary Bonsai Show

Source: Bonsai Tonight
East Bay Bonsai Society’s 50th Anniversary Bonsai Show

The East Bay Bonsai Society hosted their 50th Anniversary Bonsai Show at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, California, on October 8th and 9th. The show featured a workshop, demonstration and critique by Kathy Shaner, sales and vendor areas, and plenty of bonsai and suiseki. The show program included a history of “The First 50 Years of the East Bay Bonsai Society.” I’ve reproduced it here as it recognizes the considerable effort its members have made over the years to the organization and to the larger bonsai community.

“The East Bay Bonsai Society (EBBS) traces its origins to 1961 when Jack Dutro, seeking people interested in bonsai, placed a guest book at the bonsai display of the California Spring Garden and Home Show. Over a hundred and twenty-five people signed the book and ultimately met with Jack, Harvey and Grace Suzuki, Nelson and Lillian Dennis at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland on Wednesday, October 11, 1961. Jack Dutro’s interest in bonsai began in 1939 when he visited the Japanese Pavilion at the San Francisco and Golden Gate International Exhibition at Treasure Island. Jack served as the first president of EBBS, sharing his knowledge, expertise and love of bonsai with others. Other early pioneers include Harvey Suzuki, who gave the very first bonsai demonstration, Mas Imazumi, John Castle, Jack Weeks, Gene Kremer and William Penn Mott.

Coast live oak

“EBBS membership grew to over 140 during the 1960s and 1970s when its members won numerous awards for design and horticultural excellence at the Garden Show at Oakland’s Dunsmuir House. In 1996, when Jack Dutro was age eighty-seven, the Society lost one of its most cherished members.

Sierra juniper

Korean hornbeam

“The Society sponsored monthly meetings with presentations, demonstrations and workshops lead by experts from the US and abroad, providing education geared to beginners as well as more advanced bonsai enthusiasts, and mentoring by more experienced members, including Ruben G., Bob G., Dennis V., Tim K., Bill C., Randall L., Jim G., Tom C., Chuck G., Alex C. and Inge W. The personal sharing of knowledge was reinforced by publication of a monthly newsletter, edited for many years by Bob C.

San Jose juniper

Sierra juniper

“EBBS continues to sponsor a yearly bonsai exhibit, featuring display of members’ trees, offers an extensive lending library, periodic field trips, a yearly auction in July, a picnic in August and a holiday party in December. Following a decades-old tradition, members decorate bonsai trees for the holiday season and bring them to the holiday party.

Japanese black pine

Dwarf Asian pear ‘Maminashi’

“The East Bay Bonsai Society is a founding member of the Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF) which now includes over sixty bonsai clubs. Jack W. and Ron R. represented EBBS at the formative meeting of GSBF in Santa Maria in February 1978, and helped organize the first GSBF convention in November 1978 in Berkeley.

Coast redwood

Satsuki azalea – kazan

“The East Bay Bonsai Society meets at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland on the second Wednesday of each month (except August). The nearby Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt is the premier bonsai display garden in northern California, and attracts thousands of visitors each year. Many EBBS members helped fund, build and operate the Garden, notably John N. and Steve F. who were instrumental in the construction phase; Bob and Polly G., Ron R. and Karl Y. who contributed to the docent program; Marie R. and Kay H. who coordinated docent scheduling; Janice D., Linda S. and Rick T. who help maintain the trees; John N., JD L. and many others who serve as docents and support the educational program.

Boston Ivy

Japanese maple

“EBBS members continue to play prominent roles in planning and organizing annual conventions of GSBF, devoting many volunteer hours, and displaying bonsai trees which have won widespread acclaim. None of this would have been possible without the collective efforts of those who initially formed the Society and who contributed so much over the years.”

Suiseki

Suiseki

Suiseki

Suiseki

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Bonsai tree: Giant redwood – Sequoiadendron giganteum

Source: Bonsai Tonight
Giant redwood – Sequoiadendron giganteum

I don’t know why it struck me so, but one of the first things I noticed about the giants in Sequoia National Park is the ground immediately around their feet. Typically, very little grew close by, and the ground was blanketed by fallen foliage. The golden-brown setting made the base of the giants stand out. It also made me wonder about the roots. Although sequoia have very shallow roots, most lived just under the surface, denying a glance at potentially impressive nebari.

Sequoia trunk in Grant Grove

Duff at base of sequoia trunk

Many of the trees had burls or deadwood at the base, possibly signs of previous injury. The bulges below belong to the General Grant Tree.

Trunk bulges – and a jin

On only one occasion did I notice a lot of moss growing on the bark. Said to grow up to 3′ thick, the bark is usually a cinnamon color. The tree below, however, supported a great collection of mosses.

Mossy trunk

Far more common was bark like that on the tree below.

I keep seeing an Easter Island face here

Up close, the bark is relatively smooth. Some trees have deep furrows, others are smooth all the way around.

Bark texture

With hand for scale

Tapping the bark made a hollow sound – the last thing I expected from such powerful trees, but sensible enough considering the thickness of the bark. Up above, the lowest branches were sometimes found 100-200′ from the ground. The apices weren’t exactly what we look for in bonsai, but there’s no denying the age and character they displayed.

General Grant Tree apex

Large branch on the Grant Tree

And all of this, from such tiny beginnings.

Sequoia cone less than 2″ long

Apparently, cones mature after 18 months but stay green and closed for up to 20 years (says the Wikipedia). Each cone contains 30-50 scales with several seeds per scale. This means a typical 2″ cone can contain over 200 seeds. Large trees can carry, say, 11,000 cones and disperse 300,000-400,000 seeds annually. Not a lot of these sprout. Scarification happens by beetle, squirrel and fire. Young saplings do best after fire when there is little competition for light.

Baby sequoia

The foliage is scaly, not unlike other members of the Cupressaceae family.

Sequoia foliage

Foliage close-up

Young sequoia often grow close together. Sometimes they grow up that way.

Thicket of young sequoia

Teenage sequoia growing in close proximity

Sequoia’s massive size can help in fires that are hot enough to vaporize everything else. Thick bark and foliage high above the ground can help giant specimens survive fairly hot blazes. Throughout the Sequoia National Park, we saw evidence of recent and ongoing fires. The heat from these fires can dry and open the cones on the trees above which can then release seeds onto fertile, cleared, earth.

Ongoing fire damage

A large fire cleared the hillside below a few years ago which resulted in many young sequoia. This year’s fires have toasted a number of these saplings.

More fire damage

A surprising number of the trees had similar scars, and said scars almost always appeared on the uphill side of the trunk. Any ideas why? (I don’t know the answer.)

Scars from fires long past

Looking back toward a sequoia grove from the hillside with the burned saplings, I got a good look at a fairly mature tree. More than anything, the silhouette, and to a degree the color of the foliage, reminded me of eucalyptus, ubiquitous Australian trees found throughout the Bay Area. The tallest eucalyptus often grow taller than sequoia, matching the sequoia’s cousin the coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens. I’m a fan of each of these tall varieties.

Sequoia and deep blue sky

I highly recommend a visit to the park. There are plenty of big trees to see and most are half a day’s drive from San Francisco.

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Bonsai tree: Revisiting Redwood Bonsai

Off to a very good start. Though the branching is young and has a ways to go, the trunk, with its power and character, bodes well for the future of this tree. You can find it along with other quality bonsai at Bonsai Smiths.

Redwood Empire

A few posts ago, we showed four excellent Coastal Redwood bonsai from the 2011 Redwood Empire Bonsai Show (courtesy of Jonas at Bonsai Tonight). They were unattributed, so we didn’t know who they belonged to. Now, thanks to Cory Jones, we know that the first two in the post belong to Bob Shimon (Mendocino Coast Bonsai). We still don’t know who the other two belong to.

Where do they come from?

In the comments, a question came up about the origin of Coastal redwood and Giant sequoia (also commonly called redwoods) bonsai and the difficulty of finding stunted Giant sequoias that are suitable for bonsai. Bob Shimon, who knows a bit about redwood bonsai (see above paragraph) replied with what I thought was an instructive answer, though I would like to hear more about the actual origin of Coastal redwood stock.

In Bob’s own words

Bob Shimon’s comment: “It has nothing to do about finding “stunted” trees. The Coastal Redwoods are trees that have been cut back and root pruned drastically but are vigorous enough to sprout new growth and roots,which can be developed into bonsai. The Giant Redwoods on the other hand, do not tolerate root and foliage pruning very well. The branches tend to die back after pinching. I’ve only seen a couple of Giant Redwoods as bonsai.” The original post with all the comments is here.

Four redwood bonsai from Mendocino Coast Bonsai’s gallery, with the caption: Examples of redwood trees displayed at our bonsai club’s last show.

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