Bonsai Sashi-no-eda

Independence Day

2009-07-04T15:54:00.002-05:00

What is Independence Day to you? Cooking out (grilling, not to be confused with barbecuing which is smoking meat as opposed to charring burgers and dogs on a grill), picnicking, fireworks, boating, drinking, etc.? I like all those things, and think they are a big part of what makes the U.S.A. my home. The liberty to do what we wish on this birthday of our country is completely amazing.

But Independence Day is so much more. It's an anniversary of the day the United States of America declared its independence from King George of England and made it stick. It's the day the greatest Republic the earth has ever seen was born. I know there are a lot of people who want to look across the aisle from Republican to Democrat and vice versa, from liberal to conservative and vice versa, and say "I love this country (implied: more than you)."

Well, I believe that almost all Americans love their country for a myriad of reasons. I just prefer to concentrate on the things we can all agree on. Is America perfect? Of course not. But we are a country that has enshrined in its constitution the process by which we can each try to perfect her.

To that end, I want to publish again the entire text of the Declaration of Independence, that brilliant document setting forth the evidence for the need for independence:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

We spent this morning in a Prairie Celebration of this declaration, at a historic log cabin, ca. 1859, with a traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence. It was quite moving. I love this country.

Chris

Announcing a New Bonsai Forum

2009-06-21T07:38:00.003-05:00

This from John Callaway (Matsubonsai):

I'm very pleased to announce the debut of a new bonsai forum. Bonsai Study Group is an online forum dedicated to the advancement of bonsai trees and individuals as they work together to share their progress as a community. Testing has been underway for the past few weeks, and new members are now free to sign-up. There are already a number of very informative posts online and I suspect even more will soon follow.
Others are encouraged to share in announcing the new forum, but the administrators have asked that we be respectful of other forums. That means no announcement posts or signature lines on other forums, as this may be seen by some as disrespectful. Feel free to post an announcement on a personal blog and share the news via email or personal message, as you see fit.
I'm very excited about this new forum and look forward to seeing it grow.
http://bonsaistudygroup.com

I'm excited about this venue and have already started posting some of my existing content as well as a new article on candling Japanese black pines, titled, "Needle Therapy." You will find some top talent already there.

Here's what's got me so up about this forum. It's fairly heavily moderated with a completely unbiased hand. It's on-topic only, anything off topic or just for fun is in the chat room where we can build community and just get to know each other in real time.

No politics. No religion. No rants. No food fights. Just high quality posts by some top bonsai artists. I'm hoping some of those who have dropped out of the online bonsai world because of those kinds of things, will take a look and find a place where they can share their content in a give and take atmosphere.

Well done, John! See you there!

Ficus Update

2009-06-01T12:35:00.003-05:00

Here's a recent picture of the ficus after chopping the trunk way back:

I put on just a bit of wire because most of the growth is too small yet to wire. I intend to make this a wider tree by quite a margin.

The growth here is small and a bit misshapen, which I have found to be the norm after a large cutback. Since these photos, more normal foliage has replaced the small stuff and the tree is growing well.

Update update: Here are two views of the tree today. It's growing well and I look forward to working it some more this summer.

Memorial Day: Why we keep it

2009-05-22T23:48:00.007-05:00

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, the traditional beginning of summer (for a little over 40 years now). Monday is Memorial Day. Public and private swimming pools open, and backyard cookouts (in Kansas City, cooking out and barbecuing are quite different things) with plenty of beer are in abundance. Memorial day has broadened to the idea of a day to honor all our military serving anywhere in the world. And so, I honor my daughter Martha, proudly serving as a Sergeant Veterinary Technician in the U.S. Army, caring for the animals that work, the pets military families love, and the livestock indiginous people around the world depend on. I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. I can't express it properly.

I honor her husband, Craig, for his service in the U.S. Army and Purple Heart in Iraq, and his continued service with the Army Reserve.

But Memorial day began in 1966 with the idea that Americans would honor their war dead and decorate their graves to keep in remembrance the sacrifice they made. All politics aside, I wish to honor those who gave their lives so that I might live mine as I wish.

My father fought in the south Pacific in WWII, and he will not speak of it to this day. Following the war, he joined the Army and was part of the Occupation of Germany for six years. He still speaks German as if he were a native (give him a couple of days and natives ask him for directions). We went to Dachau and he would not go in with us, choosing instead to go into town for coffee. He'd been there before it had been cleaned up and the memories were far too fresh after 60+ years.

We think of our war heroes as old men like my father. But the truth is far different. I rarely thought of this until I saw this quote just today:

It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country
in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our
mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave
and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, they gave up two
lives -- the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they
died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers.
They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for
their county, for us. All we can do is remember.

-- Ronald Wilson Reagan
Remarks at Veteran's Day ceremony
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia, November 11, 1985

And so for all American war dead, defending our country or another, regardless of political ideology, I say "Thank you." You died too soon. In whatever action you fought and died, against whatever foe, for whatever reason, you did your duty. And I am free to write this.
Thank you.

Nursery Stock San Jose Juniper

2009-04-30T15:17:00.007-05:00

This is nursery stock culled by John Kirby and cut back a few years ago. He gave it to me to have some fun with.

I'm not typically a fan of nursery material, but this little tree was well chosen for good movement in the trunk. There's lots of character there to work with. It's in good health with some good low growth, so to find the smallest bonsai in the material, I removed most of the growth on the tree. I want to continue to emphasize the movement by improving the deadwood and reducing the life line on this tree, but this is enough work for now. It is responding with lots of new growth.

The most natural effect for shaping deadwood is by lifting small bundles of fibers and peeling them slowly along the trunk. They follow the natural growth lines, thus emphasizing natural movement. This is far easier with freshly jinned material, since dry wood won't peel as easily. Dry wood can also be peeled like this if it is moistened first by wrapping with wet towels until the wood is fairly wet.

Following peeling, many artists will use a torch (or sandblasting) to weather the wood and remove the small threads that persist.

Ben Oki in Kansas City

2009-04-26T18:46:00.004-05:00

bYou may know that Ben Oki is one of my favorite people in the world. Now, I was told that I "know the rules" about posting photos of the Kansas City club, but I guess I don't know them very well.

Here are a couple of pics of Ben and some of his work:

Becoming Yewish

2009-04-17T16:16:00.004-05:00

I've decided to convert to Yewdaism. Yes, that's right. I've signed up for the Yew Study Group at Bonsai Vault. It's similar to the Pines Study Group that I lead, except...I KNOW! It's yews! Except that I didn't own any yews.

Tom Brown came to the rescue, collecting the following beautiful piece of material for me. He will be shipping it sometime in the future, and I can hardly wait to start working on it.

SIDE 1

Nishiki--Cork bark Japanese Black Pine

2009-04-11T11:01:00.008-05:00

This Japanese black pine with corky bark ("nishiki") has been in my possession for a number of years. I began applying what I learned from Boon to the tree in 2004. It has developed well over the years. Here it is shortly after wiring in March 2007. The candles had been removed the previous summer, and excess needles pulled that fall. This gives it the look of a plucked chicken.

Its bark is plating nicely, but the big flaw in this tree is its graft. It's too high and will only show up more and more as the years go by. I still haven't steeled myself to try air layering on this one.

In 2008 I candled this tree, following Boon's methods of removing all the candles except the very weakest. I did this in July. Here are the results:

The tree filled out nicely with very even needles. It's coming along well. I just wired the tree last week and here it is today.

This year, I will not candle the tree. We only do that every other year for nishiki to give the bark a year to develop.

Amazing what two years can do.

What would you do with this?

2009-04-10T10:10:00.008-05:00

This tree is one given me by a dear friend who is too generous. Seriously, he helps me in many ways. When I first looked at this tree, I didn't know what to make of it, but this spring I decided to look at it with a serious eye.

At first glance, most folks would walk away from this one, thinking, " As it is now it looks like an Elephant sat on it," or "Burn pile! In all honesty there is nothing much to do with this specimen." I thought as much at first. For example, the foliage is a long way from the trunk. It is very leggy, and the coils look too regular, like a spring.

Someone suggested laying it on its side, no doubt to be a cascade style:

but this doesn't deal with the issues already mentioned.

Of course we know that one can add branches wherever one likes with proper grafting technique, so the legginess is not an issue. We are building trunks first, and without a proper trunk, a tree has no soul.

So I decided the only real option is to emphasize what the tree has in abundance: twistiness. By wiring this one and compressing the curves, I have an opportunity to produce a shohin tree with a tremendously twisted trunk. The key will be to avoid too much symmetry.

I wired the entire trunk from the base, including wrapping the wire tightly around that base to allow it to cut in just a bit and swell it to a better size. I was working by myself on the first wiring, and without help or a clamp of some kind, this was as tight as I could make the coils while compressing with my left hand and tightening the wire with my right.

Here are some photos of the result so far.

During our recent workshop, Tom helped my by tightening the guy wires further while I really bore down on the grip. Here's the result:

The important thing to know here is that anyone can do this kind of thing on a tree, it just takes some practice wiring, a little knowledge of the techniques for anchoring, and a piece of inexpensive material. Of course one could start with a tall whip and put their own bends into it, so one need not start with pre-bent material. For those of us with limited access to great yamadori material, this can be a great substitute.

April in Kansas...

2009-04-06T09:56:00.005-05:00

To the tune of "April in Paris"

"April in Kansas, winter storm warnings,
No global warming, to see...."

Pavement Ends...here on the prairie, spring comes in fits and starts. In fact, the entire winter was a roller coaster of temperatures. It seems that each month since November we have had instances of temperatures in the 70s one day and winter storms the next. April has been no exception.

Last Sunday we canceled due to ice and snow (although it mostly missed us here in Ottawa), then warmed all week until Saturday which was 70, and then winter warnings yesterday. So we huddled in the shop and worked on some trees.

Here, Mark is working on cleaning up the soil (soji) on his Korean hornbeam. We just repotted it last spring, so this spring was for working on building the structure of the branches, etc. Soji is usually performed in the fall, but it's good to do in the spring if not the previous fall. He removes about a half inch of the soil to clear it of moss, weeds, congealed fertilizer, and fine roots, then tops the soil with fresh bonsai soil to allow water to soak easily.

We left the lower branches long, to encourage them to thicken up. With aggressive feeding, these should put on several feet of growth this year which will thicken the bases. Then we will prune back and do it again until the branch bases are proportionate with the trunk. Here's the result:

Tom brought some nursery stock with him, so we gave him a good bit of chop chop.

Then we went to work on wiring technique. All in all it was a rewarding, if cold, day.

A Recent Collecting "Trip"

2009-03-23T10:25:00.008-05:00

Collecting trees for bonsai does not require a trip to the mountains. Sometimes an imagination and a willingness to ask are all it takes to find some promising material.

Here are a couple of trees I collected over the last week. This first tree is part of a hedge in front of my shop. It seems to be some type of Russian olive, although it has never produced those little red berries we used to throw at each other when I was a kidd. It does, however, have very small leaves and came with a great deal of good fibrous root, so I have a lot of confidence in this one. It will eventually be a much smaller tree. I'm looking forward to working on it next spring.

One consideration when collecting is allowing the tree time to recuperate from the operation. One year is probably a bare minimum, but longer is indicated if the tree seems to be failing to thrive. Only work on a very healthy tree.

This next tree is a Scots pine I collected from the Xmas tree farm owned by the gentleman who sells us split oak for our fireplace/furnace. It came up with few roots, so I am a bit guarded in my estimation. It was never going to make a good Xmas tree, but it does have some natural literati possibilities.

I apologize for the photos leaning to the left, I haven't reloaded Photoshop since I rebooted my laptop from disk.

Views of Past Workshops

2009-03-19T12:07:00.004-05:00

Friends gather to have fun, learn, and work on their trees.

Workshops at Pavement Ends

2009-03-17T11:57:00.003-05:00

It's time again to be working on trees and being guardedly optimistic about springtime!

This year has been a difficult winter to deal with, but not because it has been so harsh. No, the ups and downs have been very odd this year. My trees have been cozy in the shop this winter. With a big water barrel and stock tank heater, the temps in the shop have been very moderate, perfect for wintering trees.

It's time to start bringing the trees out to their summer spots, with the caveat that we could still have a long hard freeze any time. So we have to be ready to re-protect them for short times until mid April or so.

With all that in mind, it's time to begin workshops here at Pavement Ends. Click the calendar link to see the proposed bonsai schedule. This year we are going to structure workshops a bit differently.

We will have a short, formal classroom time with solid information shared so you can take notes and keep a book of bonsai techniques.

Following that, we will work on your trees, or if you do not have a tree and wish to work on one of mine, I will try to find a tree for you to work on.

I will provide all the wire for the sessions and drinks (water, pop).

I will ask you to bring a lunch and two or three trees that you would like some help with. If you do not have a tree to work on, we might be able to find you one of mine to work on for the experience.

The fee for the workshop will be $40 all inclusive. I look forward to seeing you all and some new folks this year, and to seeing some of your trees again.

Chris

"When I'm Calling Yewwwwwww"

2009-02-18T13:46:00.004-06:00

Sorry. Couldn't resist. And I'm also sorry I don't know everyone's names. I found this tree to be quite amazing. As I was standing there admiring it, the owner came over and told me the story of the amazing deadwood. It's all natural. As they were digging the tree from a yard, the old bark just flaked off showing the stunning grain. Great job and great display.

Ficus Ready to Style

2009-02-13T10:12:00.008-06:00

I can't believe I have missed posting this Ficus microcarpa here on the blog. This is the first bonsai I ever purchased. This was when the only thing I knew about bonsai, I had learned from a few books and a recurrent Master Weekend thing at the Bonsai Society of Greater Kansas City. While I've had this tree for a while, I just didn't know what to do with it for years and let it get all out of size. However, recently I have begun to work this tree.

The first photo is the original planting position of this tree. It came straight up out of the pot and bent immediately 90 degrees to the left. My first act was to change the planting angle, which required removing some worrisome roots.

The new planting angle had a nice movement to it, so I was quite pleased in May of 2005 with the way it looked. This was actually quite a few years after actually changing the planting angle.

One flaw of this tree (of which there are many) was the arrangement of the roots that clasp the trunk. They looked a little unnatural:

Notice the nice "X" at the base. I was unsure what to do with this tree until I got inspired on a visit to Fuku Bonsai on the island of Hawai'i (Big Island). I saw this tree among others, and many with aluminum foil and sphagnum moss wrapped around the trunks. I knew this was the way to remake the trunk of this tree.

So in May 2007, I wrapped long-fibered sphagnum around the trunk and held it in place with aluminum foil. I left it on through the year and this is the tree in July 2008. I am preparing to see the result and repot the tree.

During the winter, not having greenhouse access, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I placed the tree in the only south-facing window that was free, draped a clear plastic dry-cleaning bag over it, watered it well, and tucked the bag in under the drip tray. I was hoping that the added humidity and heat would keep the tree healthy and promote aerial roots. I found that this technique worked exceptionally well as the tree sent aerial roots out almost everywhere.

Following the repot:

This pot is actually at least two inches wider than the previous pot, yet the increase in trunk size makes it seem about the same size. I added some tape to bring some of the aerial roots in to the trunk and help them bond there. In future I hope to get more aerial roots farther from the trunk for a banyan style tree.

Oh, and the "X marks the spot" roots on the back of the tree?

I was so pleased with the results, I rewrapped the tree for the rest of the year. I will be starting to work on this tree for styling this May.

I know that there are many folk with a great deal more experience than me with ficus, and many around the world with far better raw stock, trees in development, and finished trees than this. I was merely pleased that I got the results I did from trying a technique that was new to me.

Chris

Majoring on Minors

2009-01-30T17:28:00.003-06:00

During my years in Bible college and Seminary (seriously, you don't want to know), one recurring phrase kept popping up from time to time: "Majoring on minors." This was because, as a devout fundamentalist, I made a big deal out of some things that weren't really that important, including hair length for men, whether women should wear pants or not, or whether or not the King James Version of the Bible was the one that was divinely and inerrantly inspired. Real important stuff.

It seems as if the threads on the web fora that get the most attention, and the most posts, and the most hurt feelings and insults are at about the same level of quality.

To Seal or Not to Seal

Foliar Feeding - Myth?

And the one I started to prove this point:

Perched water tables-myth?

Does Superthrive work? Will water droplets burn the leaves of your plant like a magnifying glass? Haven't these things received enough attention over time that we can agree that they mean nothing with regard to producing beautiful bonsai?

Why is the attention these topics receive in inverse proportion to their actual importance to the art of bonsai? One of the problems is the type of interest they receive. Picture this scenario: an article or web post is written specifically to inflame or excite others. Statements are made as to the finality and universality of the opinions expressed, with no room for dissent. Others take issue with some of the statements made, authors defend by appealing to "authority" in the most condescending terms possible, others take offense and the flame wars are on.

I spent much of my youth believing wholeheartedly that I believed the entire truth. If I was right, that meant others were wrong. And I stated so. This often left me with what I might consider "won" arguments but no one to argue with. In the passing of time, I had cause to read the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I saw many lessons in his writing from which I could learn, not the least of which was his penchant for disputation.

As he grew older and wiser, he changed his method of arguing and,

retaining only the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest
diffidence; never using, when I advanced any thing that may possibly be
disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of
positiveness to an opinion; but rather say, I conceive or apprehend a thing to
be so and so; it appears to me, or I should think it so or so, for such and such
reasons; or I imagine it to be so; or it is so, if I am not mistaken. This
habit, I believe, has been of great advantage to me when I have had occasion to
inculcate my opinions, and persuade men into measures that I have been from time
to time engag'd in promoting; and, as the chief ends of conversation are to
inform or to be informed, to please or to persuade, I wish well-meaning,
sensible men would not lessen their power of doing good by a positive, assuming
manner, that seldom fails to disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat
every one of those purposes for which speech was given to us, to wit, giving or
receiving information or pleasure. For, if you would inform, a positive and
dogmatical manner in advancing your sentiments may provoke contradiction and
prevent a candid attention. If you wish information and improvement from the
knowledge of others, and yet at the same time express yourself as firmly fix'd
in your present opinions, modest, sensible men, who do not love disputation,
will probably leave you undisturbed in the possession of your error. And by such
a manner, you can seldom hope to recommend yourself in pleasing your hearers, or
to persuade those whose concurrence you desire.

This had a great effect on me for years since. I've often wondered how anyone might convince someone of the rightness of their position without such a hedging of bets, as it were. Working through some words of Pope and comes up with this adage:

Immodest words admit but this defense,
that want of modesty is want of sense.

Of that we can be sure.

More Heat Than Light

2009-01-28T09:27:00.004-06:00

I finally got it through my thick head a little while ago that no one cares about certain things, so it makes one seem strident and out of touch to keep bringing them up.

Lest anyone think, as someone said, "You're the guy starting all the trouble on the internet," I would point you to the most recent flame wars at bonsainut. The question is one of sealing or not sealing wounds. The thread is, "To Seal Or Not To Seal?"

Of course some sock puppet decided to link to Will Heath's "Debunking" article and when someone disagreed with it, the temperature went way up. Find a common thread in almost all the flame wars of recent years. I dare you.

Brent doesn't use wound sealant, and gives a great deal of good information about them. Walter Pall agrees.

But I think some of the best posts were by Vance Wood and Al Keppler. Both mentioned that there are pros and cons and times to seal and times not to seal. Kudos for some sense in the matter.

When dealing with pruning wounds, there is a great deal of latitude as to how to cut, how to finish, and how to seal, depending on the species being cut. For instance, in his blog, ("The Great Sealant Battle"), Brent goes into excellent detail about a couple of ways to handle this. Some of these techniques work better for growing trunks, others work better for finishing trees.

Boon teaches the use of cut paste, but not just because of pathogens. It improves the quality of the healed scar in many cases. Dan Robinson, on the other hand, never saw a scar he didn't want to keep and enlarge.

I use cut paste in most instances where the cut is larger or on the trunk. With trunk chops on deciduous species, for example, it is always best to chop back higher than you intend, leaving some inches of trunk above your new leader, if possible. When dieback occurs, it will allow you to then carve the chop without experiencing even more dieback. The following series of photographs shows the process.

The tree ready for work:

Reducing the stub to the leader.

Using a grafting knife, pare the rough cut down to the finished level.

The final cut sealed.

Note that while the remains of previous trunk chops have been sealed, the current one was not when it was chopped last season. This gives much better predictability on where dieback occurs. The same can be said of pines. Leave a stub, let it dry out. It makes it much easier to get a beautiful result.

I don't think the question of wound sealant can be answered by Googling, copying, and pasting, even with attribution. I also don't think being dogmatic or bristling when someone disagrees is a very positive way to get one's point across.

Being upbeat, positive, accepting of others' right to disagree, and having a great deal of real world experience is a far better foundation for having others accept your ideas or even give them consideration.

Atlas Cedar

2009-01-26T12:23:00.005-06:00

This is a spectacular Atlas cedar from the show. Jim Gremel produces some of the best trees in the country (witness his big win at the National Exhibition in October) and cedars are some of his best. This is a fairly tall tree, and just exquisite in its detail.

Here's a bit of a side view showing the foliage pads. Great work Jim!

"Ascending Dragon"

2009-01-24T10:39:00.007-06:00

One of the thrills of working with Boon and Bay Island Bonsai is watching fine trees develop over time. This was pointed out in the 5 year retrospective book BIB put out after their 5th anniversary show. Here are three photos I personally took of "Ascending Dragon," Boon's named tree. It is a Sierra juniper grafted many years ago with shimpaku foliage.

The first photo is a scan of a snapshot I took my first summer with Boon, in 2004.

This next photo is of the same tree in 2007 at the annual exhibit:

Here's the tree as it was displayed this year. Boon has brought down the branches and has more plans in the future for this tree. The real difference between bonsai and other visual arts is the changing nature of a growing medium. You just cannot keep these trees looking the same year in and year out. Change is necessary to the health of the tree and to accommodate structural changes such as longer branches.

All that being said, this tree has been an honor to work on and to be around. It is vibrantly healthy and a real stunner.

Great Trees

2009-01-22T17:39:00.004-06:00

I am on superlative overload. How does one write about the quality of trees at the Bay Island Bonsai exhibit without repeating one's self? Let's start with a few of the better known trees:

Scott Elser's western hemlock:

It's easy to see why this tree won the "Best Conifer" award at the National Exhibition. Its naturalness and verdant growth play well against the design Scott chose for it. Incredibly, he tells me that it's only been in actual styling development for a couple of years. He collected it about 15 years ago from a roadside cut, and has done wonderful work with it in the last few years.

Notice also the frame Scott came up with to hang his scroll. When there is no good way to secure a scroll in a display, this is an elegant and simple method that looks wonderful with the tree. Here's a pic of Scott with his tree. Way to go, Scott!

Finally, here's a bit of a closer view of the tree. Scott tells me the judges in Rochester like the slightly wilder look of the foliage over something that would have been too groomed.

I do feel very fortunate to be associated with people like Scott Elser. It's always a pleasure to see him when I get out that way.

Bay Island Bonsai Tenth Annual Exhibit of Fine Bonsai

2009-01-20T16:12:00.007-06:00

Anniversaries are something special. They indicate a certain commitment, show an achievement worth noting. The longer the term, the greater the honor. So the tenth anniversary of Bay Island Bonsai "Exhibit of Fine Bonsai" shows a commitment to showing better and better trees year after year.

If I were America's Funniest Bonsai Blog, I might say that my own association with this club for the last five years has been very good to them. However, as in my marriage, I know I did very well by finding Bay Island Bonsai and Bonsai Boon. I am not officially a member of the club, as I cannot meet the attendance requirements, light as they are. Until I can make nine half-day workshops a year (which I could do in 5 weekends a year), I won't be able to call myself a full member of the club.

And yet, this has not kept the club from taking me into their hearts and treating me with all the love they give regular members. Maybe more, since it's so much like a family and I'm not there all the time to get on their nerves!

This year, the club asked me to take the responsibility (ha! I had the easy part) of being auctioneer for the club auction. I have to tell you, if you could have seen all the auction trees, you would wonder what was in store for the exhibit!

We went through the usual steps of loading the trucks with backdrops, trees, stands, and paraphernalia, and driving them to Hayward, CA.

We would stage the trees in an area close to the truck, where Boon could see what he might want next, as he assembled the jigsaw puzzle in packing the trees so that nothing touched, and nothing moved in transit.

Once at the hall, the auction trees were staged in one area, show trees in another (where people could smash their nut socks with hammers and rub them on the pots), stands underneath, while the backdrops were assembled and the tables draped. Folks, this is no small undertaking for over 100 trees and 73 exhibits! Everyone pitched in and jobs were well delegated. Each job had a "master" and many helpers.

Some of the auction trees:

More auction trees:

Still More Auction Trees:

The displays are coming together as final adjustments are made:

The shohin section now occupies the entire first table of the exhibit. Its place of honor makes it the first thing a visitor sees as they come in the door. Inge Woelfel does a wonderful job assembling the exhibit using a combination of her own and others' trees. She frets a good deal about it but always does a fantastic display.

Photographing a show like this is a real challenge for an amateur photographer like me. Using a borrowed tripod (thanks, Scott!), and camera settings (thanks, Dennis!) I was able to get fairly clear photos without the shadow and washout caused by a flash. Professional photography of all the trees and each display was ongoing throughout the two day event, so the book is well worth waiting for.

Here's a great photo of Inge and Boon in front of her hard work. Congratulations, Inge!

We'll be right back with more photos and commentary about this fantastic weekend!

Anticipation

2009-01-09T09:17:00.002-06:00

Just one more week....just one more week.

Thursday we fly out to San Francisco International airport, rent a car, and drive to Alameda. Preparation will be underway on Friday for the Bay Island Bonsai Annual Exhibit.

Download Brochure

I've been practicing my auctioneer voice so hopefully we will have a lot of fun with helping folks get some fantastic trees.

Auction Brochure

As usual, I hope to take lots of (better) photos. And, as usual, I expect it to be a welcome familial respite from the world. Can't wait to see everyone.

Winter Care

2008-12-05T17:14:00.002-06:00

All the trees are in the shop for the winter. I don't have a greenhouse (yet) so this is the best place to put everything. The real deficit is in lighting. The shop lights need replacing and the windows are small, so the shop is fairly dark. However, I do have two six-foot double-paned windows (thoughtfully left by a previous owner) that I intend to insert in the south side of the shop, increasing winter light tremendously. No problem with summer sun, though, a large maple shades the south side in summer.

I have a few trees to work on this winter, now that the frenzy of finding wood to burn is over (long story). I want to begin styling a collected Douglas fir, a small spruce, and a few others. I hope to document them as well as possible.

It got much colder here than normal for this time of year. I have a hose run out to the shop since it was never plumbed, which is now frozen solid, but I did manage to fill a 55 gallon drum with water for the trees during just such an eventuality.

Dealing with these extremes of weather can be a real challenge for enthusiasts without the means to build greenhouses and shade houses. But we persevere.

Hmmm, Am I Being Cyber-Stalked?

2008-11-25T18:35:00.002-06:00

Well, it seems that my second blog (bonsaikc@blogspot.com), which only had one real post, has been flagged as spam. I wonder what cyberstalker may have done that? I have requested a review which shouldn't be a problem, and of course have the post backed up in case the problem troll persists.

If you never got over there, don't worry, it was just a record of the post I labelled "America's Funniest Bonsai Blog," which was later deleted by its writer.

Seiwa-en Japanese Strolling Garden

2008-09-10T14:29:00.006-05:00

Seiwa-en, the largest Japanese strolling garden in the western hemisphere, was built on 14 acres of the Missouri Botanical Garden, formerly "Shaw's Garden" (which many St. Louisans call it to this day) in about 1976. I have often wished for the opportunity to photograph the garden in all its seasons, and some day I may get the chance.

The 4.5-acre lake provides a heat sink in winter and a slightly different microclimate all year around, plus many scenic vistas throughout the garden.

Many different portions of the garden provide mini-garden views including raked gravel and stones, shaped Japanese black pines, lotus areas, and a tea garden, which is closed except during the tea ceremonies, which were sold out the entire weekend. Several years ago we were treated to a private "tour" by one of the volunteers, and as soon as I can find and scan the snapshots, I will post them. It's quite beautiful and intimate.

More to come.