Bonsai in Hoosierland

Spring Budding -- Yeah!

2013-04-30T00:57:00.000-04:00

Spring has come a little late to northern Indiana -- we had snow less than a week ago -- but I think it's finally here to stay. Monday morning was foggy, and I decided to take my coffee cup and camera up to the deck. Most species are budding nicely now, and I snapped a few pictures. My one-and-only Japanese black pine; and, no, that's coffee in the travel cup. Buds swelling on the

Happy Birthday from my Daughter!

2013-04-21T19:17:00.001-04:00

What does the daughter of a bonsai enthusiast get her father for his birthday? If she's my wonderful 12-year-old, a new starter tree! The garden center even gave her the foil, ribbon, and gift card! She picked it out herself, and she put some thought into it. The tree is a Picea abies ("Norway spruce" in the USA,) which is fully hardy here. She picked one that is healthy, and has the

Wild Olive Ramification. Again, "reblogged, sort of."

2013-04-16T22:16:00.000-04:00

A day or two after I finished translating José Rivera's article on his peg graft, I got another email from Paul Stokes. This one started: "I should have known ..." He had a chance to publish another Spanish-original blog post, and would I mind translating it? Mr. Pérez styling "Menesteo" in a 2010 demo. Photo from his blog. The bonsai artist and blogger this time is Mr. José Antonio

Peg Graft. Reblogged, sort of.

2013-04-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Paul Stokes at ofBonsai, the online magazine. He had received permission to republish an article by José Rivera of Puerto Rico; and having learned that I'm not just an until-I-die bonsai practitioner but also a professional translator, he asked if I would be willing to translate Mr. Rivera's short article into English. I agreed. I had never heard

"Exotic" works both ways.

2013-03-26T00:17:00.001-04:00

A local species of scale appears to have a sweet tooth for willow-leaf fig. It will attack other tropical species, too, like Ficus microcarpa. But if willow-leaf fig, Ficus salicaria, is available, it seems to go for that first, and with the greatest appetite. (Since Ficus salicaria is one of my favorites, that puts us very much at odds!) One of my trees that came under attack. I've

Hagedorn on Repotting: Well Worth Passing Along!

2013-03-15T09:34:00.001-04:00

I don't usually re-blog. I think you already know how to find the content you like, and that it's better to write my own and try to make it worthy of your time. But this post by Michael Hagedorn of Cratageus Bonsai is just too good: solid, experience-based information and advice, and well written, too. So click on the link below to benefit from some of what Michael Hagedorn learned in

Traced Against the Sky

2013-03-01T07:58:00.001-05:00

The "wintry mix" weather moved on to the east Wednesday morning, leaving school delays, snow to be shoveled, and sights like these. I've lived in this country for more than 35 years now, but this sort of scene is still exotic to me. Looking almost straight up. The "tufts" on the branches are tufts of snow. Another silver maple. Looking more to the east, so lighting is different.

Something I Don't Usually Do

2013-02-26T00:40:00.000-05:00

I don't usually try to create jin, shari, or uro on tropical trees, for the simple reason that you rarely see those features on tropical trees in nature. In the rainforest, in particular, dead wood rots away quickly. But I have one tropical tree that I acquired with the specific intent of turning it into a hollow-trunk bonsai. I saw it in Meehan's on-line catalog, and realized that a

A Successful Willow-leaf Fig Root Cutting

2013-02-14T00:04:00.000-05:00

I've spent a lot of time in the last six weeks on a major health issue of my father's. It's winter here, too, so my hardy and half-hardy trees are in their winter quarters. Thus the brief "dormancy" of this blog. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) But matters are now on an even keel with my dad. And even in winter, things are going on with the tropical trees in the Bonsai Crate. The "gnarly turnip.

10,000 and Counting

2013-01-09T22:51:00.001-05:00

Two days ago, my page-view counter clicked over to 10,000. I was busy helping my father prepare for a medical procedure, which is why I didn't post anything then. But it is time for a big "Thank you!" to my readers! ☺ 10,000 is a gratifying personal milestone, and I'm grateful and pleased. When I started, a little over a year ago, that number seemed too far off to even be

Roots Wandering Thru the Air

2012-12-30T18:25:00.000-05:00

The "Tropical Bonsai Two-Step" ended some weeks ago, and my tropical trees have been adjusting to conditions in the Bonsai Crate. As I mentioned on this page, I'm able to keep the humidity in the Crate quite high; high enough that, once the trees adjust, aerial roots start to appear here and there. Ficus burtt-davyi, veldt fig. This root may be removed because of its angle of growth.

A Very Unexpected Gift!

2012-12-26T21:36:00.000-05:00

My wife and daughter stunned me with this gift on Christmas morning! I never saw it coming. ☺ I don't have a nursery (yet anyway,) but there's useful information here for serious enthusiasts like me. I've been aware of Macdonald's book for a long time; but only in the last year or two have my own skills progressed to the point where I could get some practical benefit from it. When my

A Tree That Has Paid for Itself

2012-11-29T23:56:00.000-05:00

In fact, I think this tree has already paid for itself twice over! As I got it in July 2009. I got this Ficus microcarpa 'Tigerbark' in July 2009, when the Fort Wayne club had a workshop with Jerry Meislik (known to many as "Mr Ficus" for his knowledge of the genus.) The 'Tigerbark' cultivar is popular with tropical-bonsai enthusiasts in the USA. Besides the bark that gives it its

After the "Riot in White"

2012-11-16T21:54:00.002-05:00

Like my previous post about the sweet autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora,) this one has nothing to do directly with bonsai. But this climber follows its late-summer bloom with a profusion of seedheads, and again, I thought my readers might enjoy a few pictures. The second show is not as exuberant, but for me it is no less enjoyable.☺ (For the September post, you can click here.) This

First Snow: an Unexpected Picture

2012-11-12T21:51:00.000-05:00

The first snow of the season arrived this morning. While my daughter was getting ready for school, I stepped outside to see if I could get a decent picture or two. One photo gave me a surprise at first look. The light level was low enough, that early, that the camera's flash went off automatically. Most of the snowflakes show as short white streaks. But some of them were oriented in just

So Far, So Good; Progress of a Graft

2012-11-02T17:20:00.000-04:00

Back in May, I performed a graft on one of my willow-leaf figs (Ficus salicaria.) This was my first attempt on a "graft that matters," and I described the process in this post. The tree has grown well over the summer, and the graft appears to have done well, too. Well enough that, yesterday, I was confident I could take the nylon ties off for a close inspection. I did take them off one

Styling Demonstration at FWBC Fall Show 2012

2012-10-21T22:34:00.001-04:00

The Black Hills spruce (Picea glauca densata) that I styled at the Ft. Wayne Bonsai Club's Fall Show has been in my possession for somewhere between 15 and 20 years; longer than any other tree I now have. One of its distinctions is that it survived some of my serious early mistakes. Fortunately, I eventually learned, and for the last couple of years the tree has been doing well. (See my

"... the greatest danger to a bonsai ..."

2012-10-19T23:49:00.000-04:00

"Sometimes, the greatest danger to a bonsai is the human taking care of it." I overheard Ryan Neill say that, at the 2011 Mid-America Show. I don't know what prompted him to say it, but the statement really got my attention! As I walked on I was asking myself how often that might apply to me. In my last post, I said that there is a story that goes with the tree I used in my styling

Ft. Wayne Bonsai Club Fall 2012 Show

2012-10-14T23:19:00.003-04:00

Again, maybe I should call this a "display" rather than a show. Whatever you call it, we all had a good time yesterday at our Fall Show, held as always at the Foellinger Freimann Botanical Conservatory in downtown Fort Wayne. And again, the visitors seemed to find it interesting, and that matters most. Scott Yelich of Eagle Creek Bonsai, Indianapolis, joined us again, bringing his wares.

First Frost of This Season

2012-10-09T01:17:00.001-04:00

In a "typical" year, we can expect our first frost between October 6 and October 10. Jack Frost split the difference this autumn, making his first visit on the 8th. The temperature a little before 9 AM (when I walked my daughter to school) was 28° F (a little below -2° C.) Frost had formed only in places that were open to the sky, where heat could escape more freely; where there were

Mid-America Show 2012, Part 3. Some Other Fine Trees.

2012-10-06T01:56:00.000-04:00

Not all of my pictures from this year's Mid-America Show came out poorly. (For which I'm thankful.) Here are pictures of some of the trees in the display, along with a brief comment on each one. (If I don't name the owner or artist, it means I don't know the name(s). If you do know, please drop me a comment.) First, this Ficus microcarpa gets my personal award for "Tree I Would Most Have

Mid-America Show, Part 2. The Taming of the Spruce.

2012-10-03T22:46:00.001-04:00

(With apologies to Mr. Shakespeare.) I didn't make it to Peter Warren's Exhibit Critique on the Friday evening of the Show, but I was in the front row for his styling demonstration the next day. (I sat next to Paul Stokes, who recorded the whole thing for his ofBonsai site. I was impressed at Paul's steadiness of hand, holding that camera in position -- no tripod -- for well over two hours

Mid-America Show 2012, Part 1. Three "Bests."

2012-09-25T01:31:00.000-04:00

It's been a month since the 2012 Mid-America Bonsai Show; but it's taken me a little while to process my pictures and sort out my notes. I hope you find them worth the wait. ☺ My first visit to the Mid-America Show in Chicago was 21 years ago, and I've gone back most years since. It's become an annual event for my family: I enjoy the bonsai, and my wife and daughter enjoy the hotel

A Splendid White Pine, a Survivor of Hiroshima

2012-09-20T21:11:00.001-04:00

My thanks to the Voice of America for producing this video; to Jack Sustic and all his staff at the National Collection; to "Capital Bonsai" for putting it into the blogosphere; and to Ian Young ("Bonsai Eejit") for bringing it to my attention on his blog. I saw this magnificent bonsai for myself on a visit to the National Arboretum in the early 1980's. I'm not the type to literally stop in

The Tropical-Bonsai Two-Step

2012-09-18T22:47:00.000-04:00

Tonite's low temperature is forecast to be 37° F. (a little below 3° C.) So, like many other "northern tropicals nuts" (to borrow Carl Rosner's term) in this part of the USA, I made sure to get my tropical trees under shelter for the nite. That sort of temperature wouldn't kill them, but it would shock them and slow their growth. Tomorrow morning I'll move them back out into the open air.