My Bonsai World

Welcome, friends. Welcome to My Bonsai World! If you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to since the hurricane, well, it’s been interesting. I’ve been all around the state, from garden clubs, private sessions, field trips, and of course, lots of time in my own garden. Let’s see…..

The CFBC had a workshop at Agresta Gardens. Our first of many. It was a good day. 

I’ve been doing many things, seeing trees, teaching, talking with people. 

In my nursery I’ve been continuing the clean up and rebuilding. I’ve even found some things I’ve forgotten I had. This looks like a good stand top. 
All my trees are still waiting for proper display benches. 

I’ve made capital purchases. 

And I collected a tree or two. Can you see that one?  It’s a bougie that was on a bench, but fell off some few years ago. It rooted through the drain holes and flourished. Which isn’t really surprising. But there it is, stuck there. 

I think I need an implement. 

In the Spanish speaking civilizations they call this a “machete”. 

That’s all I need. Chop chop! 
I know, I’m a brutal bonsai kind of guy. 

It’ll live, don’t worry. 

We don’t need no stinking roots! 

It’s not the best specimen, for growing under a bench for 8 years that is. A little fatter on top than on bottom. I can carve it though, fix that. 

Let’s put it into a pot. 

It’s a one hole pot unfortunately. I have ways to deal with that. Watch! 

Metal screen…

Wire….

Chopstick…,

Through the inside,tie the chopstick down…..

Add some tie down wire…Soil and a twist……And Bob’s yer uncle! This technique will even make this tiny, brightly colored pot, usable.

Well….maybe. Hahhah! I once knew a man with a wooden leg named “Smith”. Anyhow, the bougie just needs to grow. It has a certain raggedy potential. And it has provenance too. Rescued after Hurricane Irma. 

Another tree, one you’ve seen before, was “lost” after the storm. I found it and had to repot it. It had fallen into the brush and all the soil got washed away. Portulacaria afra. It’s weak but it’ll come back. 

The nursery is totally different now. Lots of new ground cloth and new benches. It’s coming together. Thank you all to those that helped! 

It’s so clean and beautiful, for about a minute or so. It’s getting dirty already! 

I’ve done some good carving work in my recent travels. Here’s a buttonwood. The before. 

The after 

And I put together a new YouTube video for those who were asking for one. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/BC0VRVZoxAw. Don’t worry, I’ll be working on part two soon. 

Trees, trees, trees….

Mine:

Others people’s trees:

The hurricane has ushered in our “second spring” here in Florida. All the tropicals and broadleaf evergreens are pushing new growth, so there’s lots of work there. 

And, of course, there’s still lots of other work. ​I’m having fun really. 

​So much fun that, I started this post about a month ago and I’ve been too busy to finish it. I think I have two more sets of pics I need to work into blogposts as well. 

But that’s what it means to do bonsai professionally. Not that I’m much of a professional, I like to think of myself as an artist. Sometimes I’m a bit scattered (though I do know the difference between a hormonal response to pruning and energy distribution, when it comes to trees. If you don’t, I’ll explain it, but some people should know better). 

But enough of my trees, let’s get to the point. This post is a bit like Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaraunt”. I’ve started tagging my social media photos with #mybonsaiworld. Here’s the challenge: show me your trees on social media by tagging them with #mybonsaiworld.

I came up with the tag because, well, you see, I’m a little concerned with certain “behind the scenes” chatter that I’ve been hearing. The freedom we’ve been enjoying in the bonsai world of late is in danger of being stifled. Let’s not allow it. Let’s make bonsai a personal thing, a relationship with your trees, your journey, your learning, your travels, your progress. Your trees. It’s not my world, it’s yours! Here are some screenshots of recent pics with the hashtag. 

A pic of a fellow blogger, Jonas! Nice!

Robert, nice tree! 

David in Miami, he likes those bunjin trees. 
Let’s see your best, your worst, the places you’ve been, the things you’ve learned. Let’s make bonsai into the Art it deserves to be. 

#mybonsaiworld