Jul 22 2012

Rose Show

I had the pleasure of judging the bonsai entries at the Rose Show in Belfast yesterday. I small local flower show held as part of the bigger Rose Week event at Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park.

The bonsai aspect was small, our club supports the Rose Society by always getting a few entries in to fill the space and add interest for the public. As far as bonsai go, it’s not what we aspire too in our own displays with the usual low tables and cramped space. For that reason and the poor photos that resulted from inside a marquee, I’ll not bombard you with poor quality photos. I will however share some photos taken from within the park itself showing both the roses and some nice trees.

First, photos from inside the flower show marquee during judging. The rest from within the park Rose Gardens and Japanese Garden. When I show the Rose name it’s because is a highly perfumes variety that my wife is determined to add to our garden.

Jul 19 2012

Tray Revision

Hard to believe, but despite the rain here this month, there has still been a few days were my accent/mame gravel trays have dried out too fast. On the advice of a friend I decided to swap the grit, which was quite large, with small grain clay [tesco cat litter].

I wasn’t able to do this on my own due to the shoulder so I recruited my son Matthew to help out. He has an interest when I can eventually pull him away from the computer.

Job done, thanks Matthew.

Jul 18 2012

Through The Keyhole

I thought I would show you part of my body that I normally keep under wraps 🙂

Don’t get too excited. I was with my surgeon yesterday for my first check up since the op and he handed me photos taken by the camera during the keyhole surgery.

He said that red isn’t good, here’s my first two pics!

After removing the inflamed tissue he put this bad boy to work removing some bone. 80,000 rpm. My first thought was, would it work in the makita?!

This is the final one showing a nice gap for my tendon to move around in without any more aggravation.

Jul 17 2012

Satsuki Flowers

This is a satsuki azalea that I grew from a cutting. It was in my flower bed for about 6 years and was lifted last year. I just love the flowers, no idea of the variety. Any knowledgeable folk out there who know, please comment.

This is the trunk, early days but might be interesting in a few years.

Jul 16 2012

Get Wired In

I thought I better thank my two de-wiring buddies who kindly came over to my place and de-wired a few trees that needed done before I will be able to do it myself. Ben and Stan worked hard and I even let them cut chunks out of this big Sequoia for fun while they were here. Thanks guys 🙂

Ben stops to check his phone, surely his wife can’t be expecting again so soon after the last one 😀 Sorry Ben, couldn’t resist.

Jul 12 2012

Mouldy Old Spruce

Stephen and I took a closer look at the Spruce we collected back in February. They have been in a poly tunnel all this time and have been way in the back were it was hard to check. With me being rather indisposed of late, it’s been hard to keep a close eye on what was happening. All looked good from the front, but when we got a closer look, we found that one of the Spruce had a patch of bad mildew due to poor air circulation and high humidity.

Stephen hoses out some old needles that had gathered in the dense foliage, this hadn’t helped with the mildew either.

The other side of the tree is still covered with lush growth.

It had been in the back corner.

Stephen slipped along the side and opened up all the air vents to allow for better circulation. That keg is really starting to get in the way!!

What was good to see was new roots emerging on all the Spruce. They are in pure Sphagnum moss.

We’ve just got the second budding and also signs of good back budding as well.

Jul 10 2012

Back Among my Babies

My good friends Stephen and Vanessa popped down today and as usual Stephen offered to water for me. Good fun checking out the growth in the garden and inspecting some of our recently collected trees. I’ll post a few pics over the next few days. Here is me in among the benches again and even practising my left handed pinching technique 🙂

Stephen hard at work.

Jul 8 2012

Good Signs

I had a closer look at the Chuhin Maple to see if there were any signs of new buds to replace the branches I lost to insect attack in the Spring. Signs are good. Budding is starting not just at the apex but also lower down.