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Lorapetalum

On the way home from Manila I planned a short visit to Japan. It’s been 46 years since I’ve seen early spring in Omiya Bonsai Village. There is no way I could simply travel through Tokyo’s Narita Airport and not get off the plane to see bonsai. But, because of flight problems with United, I got stuck in Guam for six hours. Since I was “cheated” out of six hours of studying bonsai, I decided to stay in Japan for an extra day. Not too painful, but I’ll pay for it because of a scheduled workshop, show meeting and two more workshops a few hours after my “anticipated” return home, but I’m not there yet…. so who knows what will happen.

The main activity in Omiya Bonsai Village is transplanting. A repotting area was set up in each garden. Loads of soil prepared for each species, and in three…

The five judges for the bonsai exhibition met at 8am in the hotel, along with a team of organizers, to review the judging procedures, a very complicated process. Three of the judges were from Taiwan, Shinichi Nakajima from Japan and me from the United States.

The exhibition was split into two divisions, Phempis and non- Pemphis. The Pemphis is a unique species native to the Philippines and grows near the salt water. Actually, they look similar to the Buttonwoods of Florida, but have smaller foliage with tiny flowers and hard dense wood. All the specimens are collected and are difficult to grow outside their native habitat. Even in the Philippines they are often sprayed with salt water. I found it interesting that some specimens had silvery foliage while others were bright green. After inquiring, I was informed that the silvery foliage is normal because of the salt water spray, while…

I’m having difficulty getting access to my computer at the moment hence the slow down in posting. I’ve asked Ian to post a few images of my Larch that we styled today to keep you updated.

This is an unusual tree due to the base and lower trunk movement. I’m trying to find some older photos of this to share and explain some of the history behind it. I’ll update it here when I do.

Last Saturday, “Bud” garden center in Bunratty Co. Clare had first monthly meting for all bonsai lovers. It was wonderful sunny morning, so we could work on ours trees outdoor. Here we have some pictures ( not many because it is to hard work on tree and take pictures in the same time, we need to employ  some professional camera operator lol)

pictures above – small display bench to promote our club

pictures above – the trees we have been working on