I have found a few leaf Gall’s on my Satsuki Azalea. Not pretty to look at and caused by the fungus Exobasidum Vaccinii. Wet conditions helps them to spread. They don’t cause any great harm to the tree. Just remove them before they turn white to help stop the spread in future years. Ugly things, hard to believe that some people actually eat them!!

Here’s a link to Bonsai Basho’s YouTube Channel were Kevin Willson takes you through the steps of carving. Very Interesting.

Kevin Willson Olive Carving Part 1

Mario, a club member from Dublin who is moving to Dubai for a few years has left his collection with me to look after. I have promised to keep him up to date with their development while he is away. Here are a few of them showing new Summer growth.

This Shohin Japanese White Pine was sitting on a box full of grit and has issued roots down through the pot.

This Japanese Black Pine is showing it’s second growth of the year. Very Strong!! I didn’t do the initial pruning, perhaps it could have been held back a little longer to produce tighter growth in the second flush.

And this is a lavender!  Never seen one as a bonsai before and Mario has made a good job if it. With 4 weeks of no pinching, we now have a lavender about to flower 🙂

This big Japanese Maple had been defoliated during the Bonsai School in June. It is now back in full leaf and has extension of up to 8 inches in places.

I’m always on the lookout for interesting trees no matter where I am,  and Florida was no exception.

Most of the ones that caught my eye where either, Cypress, Pine or Oak. I spotted a few great ones but, as usual, I was unable to stop and get a decent snap shot. Some of these photos are better than others. Some had to be taken from a moving coach while I was visiting the Kennedy Space Centre, others where taken from a moving airboat! A real challenge to my snapping skills!!

First up are some Bald Cypress growing around the edge of lake Toho. These where taken on an airboat tour with Boggy Creek Airboat Rides.

This first one has some Baldies with Spanish Moss hanging from them. Sometimes this air plant is called ‘old man’s beard’. It is beautiful stuff and and took quite a few snaps showing this classic Floridian tree. In the foreground are a couple of Wood Storks, which I’m told, are endangered in the area.

A few more.

The one above is a typical shape and style for a baldie. Reminds me of Rick’s group plantings of winged Elms. He hasn’t mastered the Spanish Moss yet 🙂

This next one shows the Knees that Bald Cypress produce in swampy areas to help process oxygen. These are roots that extend upwards out of the water to reach the air.

This next tree was one of my favourites as it was out on it’s own and had a big heavy base and loads of character. Even had it’s own bird accent 🙂 The pink patches at the bottom of the trunk are snails eggs. It’s not a native to America but has taken a hold in most of the waterways in Florida. The only positive is the fact that it has native predators.

 Eagle Nest?

This one was growing at the exit from Boggy Creek’s Airboats at Southport. It is a very old raft style. You can see the old rotted root base exposed when the tree fell over many years ago.

A few Live Oaks on a cattle ranch.

and  some Pines. I have no idea what species.

This is a Bald Eagle nest in this one!

Nice bark and form.

I wasn’t sure what these strange literate ones in the background were. I think they are pretty much exclusive to Cape Canaveral 🙂

And to finish off this is what you expect in Florida, Palm trees and blue skies 🙂

I’ll do another post this week with some of the Flora and Fauna that I snapped.

I bought this Rigeda Juniper in June, the first of this variety to make it into my care. Peter Snart from Willowbog gave me some good advice about care and growth habits. I decided that I would keep it in my poly tunnel for now to see how it grows. I think we can safely say that it likes it in there 🙂 All this growth is in the last 4 weeks.

The little branch at the back of the tree with no definable sap path/vein has proved me right and has died. This was expected and had been forecast by Peter.

On the 10th February I started this blog as a bonsai diary. Six months on, this is my 300th Post!! I honestly didn’t think my efforts would be so well received. Thank you to all of you for following my ramblings and looking at my photography efforts during this time. I look forward to hearing from you all in future posts.

Thanks

Ian (bonsai eejit)