…with a title like that you’d think I was lost in a poem by Tennyson…but I was only looking at a tree in my yard.

I tend to photograph this Red Maple at this time of year… it was created by Anne Spencer, one of our talented Portland artists who passed several years ago. Some months before she passed, I was honored with a phone call from her asking if I’d want to be the next caretaker of it. Being impulsively impish, I replied ‘Is that a trick question?’ In any event, I’ve had the tree for several years now. Especially in fall, when it’s looking so beautiful, I am reminded of our dear friend Anne.

Bonsai is, in so many ways, the art of change: That constant, lovely, haunting dance of loss and addition.

Your tree is looking well, Anne. It’s been the treasure of my yard, a chest of…

Last weekend we have had another workshop with two well talented bonsai artists( Ian Young and Phill Donnelly). It happened in Dublin with co-operation with Leinster Bonsai Club ( thanks for hosting us) . It was busy day as usually. Here are some pictures, not many , I was to busy to take more 🙂 😉

introduction

some of us still sleeping

not him anyway

There are some pictures from our club workshop with Ian and Phill in acction

Until a couple of years ago, I’d never worked with Limber Pine, one of our North American white pines. It’s growing on me. Buds back well, nice short needle, strong. Has a nice name, Limber Pine, which comes more trippingly off the tongue than Loblolly Pine, for instance. And it has great deadwood features.

This Limber Pine was styled in a Seasonal Workshop a couple of weeks ago. It was collected by a student of mine, Steve Varland of Backcountry Bonsai, who was able to be in the Seasonal to help style it. Loads of fun!

Photo essay follows our journey with this tree-

Limber Pine from one side…

…and from the other side.

And a couple of shots of the base, with the ‘helix’ roots.

Other side.

We discovered that a large area of the trunk was dead. That is, not obviously dead. We might call it ‘pre-shari’…

Juniperus chinensis – Demo ad ARCOBONSAI 2012

Ponderosa is a controversial North American tree. Mostly the debates swirl around the long needles, and their size being a problem with bonsai. I’m of two minds with this. For one, Ponderosa ramifies rather well over time, and needle length comes down pretty good. My misgivings are that for very small trees, ponderosa foliage doesn’t seem well suited. But, for a modest sized tree and larger, we have a really rough and rugged, really quite exciting, pine character. It’s almost the ultimate pine, in terms of wild ‘piney’ feeling.

This ponderosa is modest in size, 26″. That’s enough size to get beyond the long needles, and then it’s also a bunjin, which is one of the best applications for the species. Needle size will also go down a lot over time.

Before I bought the tree, it had been left to grow for some years without any kind of management…