May 16 2017

Walks Gallery

I’ve been doing a fair bit of walking this last month and of course the camera comes along. I have a few snaps I’m pleased with and thought to share them here.

Crawfordsburn Country Park

Scrabo Country Park

Killynether Woods

Scrabo Country Park

Scrabo Country Park

Nearly there

Orchids and Bluebells

Orchids and Bluebells Country Park

Hawthorn in Bloom

May 15 2017

Accent: Sisyrinchium Devon Skies

It’s had to beat a Sisyrinchium at it’s peak. This ‘Devon Skies’ is a new variety to me this year and seems to flower a little earlier than my other varieties.

May 14 2017

Wish List

A visit to David Benevente’s Garden and a trip to Bonsai San, both on my wish list. Sadly, not this year.

May 11 2017

The leftovers

Last week I did a bit of a tour of Ireland working with some of the chaps from the Munster Bonsai Club and even the odd Leinster man thrown in. I had a great week and was delighted to spend quality time with these guys. As I always say, Bonsai is as much about friendship to me as it is about the trees.

I did post each day last week but that was only a few quick snaps from my phone using the wordpress app. I’ve had time to wade through my camera and have added the leftover photos here for viewing. No order really, all a bit random, but I feel they capture the mood of the week. Thanks again folks for all your hospitality and for the kindness and understanding shown by your better halves. They all deserve a medal putting up with us lot for husbands 🙂

It was an awkward time to deliver work on many of the trees but we still managed some good work nudging trees in the right direction. Much planning was done for the future and hopefully some of the reasons why, when and how we do the work are a little clearer. Here’s the photos.

Before

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Marks

before plucking

after plucking

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May 10 2017

A Middle of The Road Tree

Came across this Beech tree on my travels near Cahir Ireland. It may be a ‘Middle of the Road’ Tree, but it’s a beauty. Sadly probably not long left alive in this world. Some nice block work is helping though.

The other side of the road was this graveyard.

May 9 2017

Tree Inspiration

I’ve been about a bit over the last few weeks and as usual I found some tree inspiration. Here are some of my snaps.

May 8 2017

A Visit To Seiji Morimae’s S-Cube & Uchiku-Tei Bonsai Garden

Valavanis Bonsai Blog

A few days ago our group visited Uchiku-Tei Bonsai Garden at S-Cube in Hanyu, north of Omiya. This is the headquarters of Seiji Morimae, a professional bonsai artist who specializes in high quality bonsai, suiseki, antiques and display.

A few hours earlier he returned home bringing six truck loads of bonsai, suiseki, display tables and more from the 8^th World Bonsai Convention. By the time we arrived early on Monday morning everything was unloaded and all the bonsai were watered. Mr. Morimae is the chief director of the Nippon Suiseki Association and designed their display at the World Bonsai Convention.

He can trace his family back to 500 years of gardeners and horticulturists. His family and staff made us all feel welcome which delayed our next stop to Masahiko Kimura over one hour late. Our group always loves to shop at his garden because of the excellent quality of…

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May 6 2017

Grand Tour of Ireland Day 5

Final day of the tour is over. A quick jaunt from East Clare to West Clare saw me spending the day with Stephen working on some nice little Hawthorn and some other locally collected trees. A beautiful, peaceful location with many inspirational trees to see in the landscape. Thank you Stephen for an enjoyable day.

On the way home I swung by Paul’s place in Dublin for a coffee, a driving break and of course to talk bonsai.

After a 750 mile round trip I’m now back home. A big thank you to all those in Leinster and Munster who supported the Grand Tour. See you all again soon.