This little Shohin Juniper had a hard year last year and seemed to be struggling a little. All seemed to stem from a repot. However, with some TLC, good light and this great weather, it seems to have made a comeback. I’ll give it until the Autumn and perhaps a little wiring is in order.
Saturday saw Phil appear in my back garden with a few new trees to get photographed 😉
Stephen cam for a look and Josh appeared with the first load of his collection coming for some Holiday care.
This is my latest acquisition, a Root over Rock Itiogawa Juniper from Willowbog Bonsai. This is it just as I bought it. I’m not working on it until the Peter Warren Workshop in September, but I will do a little clean up of the shari and bark and inner weak foliage.
The Front
The Back
My son’s nipples for scale 🙂
Time to invest a little more time on this little Blue Star Juniper. It was pulled out of my front garden nearly dead and somehow a very thin live vein managed to keep the sap flowing. Over the last few years it has started to fatten and I can start to consider it’s future.
Yes, another one! Better to play around with ideas now than leave it until the Spring.
This is the slight change of front for this tree and a new tilt as well to bring the apex further over the base.
I was going to go smaller, something like this? What you think?
Give it a go yourself.
After posting about stolen trees yesterday, I read this today on Facebook today. John Romano in the States had a stunning little Juniper stolen and now returned. It has a great story to it and the words are very touching indeed. I’m not sure I could have been so forgiving but, in the end of the day, tree and caring owner are reunited. Here’s the photos and text from Facebook, well worth sharing as a positive story.
To all my bnsai friends -my most beloved and valuable shohin bonsai was stolen today from the nursery where I was teaching my Kaikou Bonsai School students. Mr. Urushibata helped me buy it back in 2007 when I was at Taisho en and Mario Komsta kindly wired it out for me (and then again tweaked it at my home when he visited a few years later). It was grown by a older bonsai grower from a cutting 30+ years ago and owned by him all that time until he graciously sold it to me. I am heartbroken – it has been my friend and I have nurtured it for the short time I have had it. If anyone sees it and can directly help me retrieve it, I will compensate them $500. You can contact me or New England Bonsai Gardens.
Sadly,
John
It’s been a stressful 24 hours but I want all my friends in bonsai to know that my tree was recovered this afternoon!! It is a long story (one friend said I should have made a Youtube Law and Order video!) that I won’t share all the details of here. The suspect actually brazenly returned to the scene of the crime today!?! and I confronted him and spoke from my heart about how hurt and upset I was, etc. He denied it profusely but eventually was influenced by my honest heartfelt love of this tree and sadness at its loss. I think he acted on an impulsive desire to own something beautiful that he didn’t already have. He gave it back to me and I did not press charges – I just wanted it returned. It made me reflect on the Buddhist idea of impermanence of all things and non attachment. It can be hard especially when you feel violated and something is taken from you in that way. Anyway, the story has many other details that I can share when I see some of you. I sincerely thank you all for your support, prayers, thoughts and offers of additional reward! I sincerely mean this when I say ‘Peace in Bonsai’ as it reflects what John Naka and Mr. Kato so often championed. We love bonsai as an expression of our love of nature, the earth and each other. Thanks again.
I had just started pinching this Juniper, [Full History Here] when I decided I should be taking a few photos for blogging. One handed pinching is rather difficult but my shoulder has improved. It took a while with quite a few breaks but I got there in the end.
This was it at the start, well almost.
I even remembered to use the towel technique for keeping the needles off the soil surface.
This was it after pinching
I decided that it was time to thin down the live vein a little more. This section looks a little thick I wanted to add more continuity between the areas of white wood.
This was it after removing a slice.
A little Lime Sulphur added.
This is specially for Mario who was getting suspicious that I hadn’t posted any photos of his Itogawa Juniper.
Here you go mate. It was very slow this Spring and I felt a slightly larger pot than it was in would help give it a lift in this development stage. It’s now in the pot your black pine was in.
The Sacrifice branch is gone, it was putting a lot of effort into that and I felt it was better to push on with areas that were more important. As you can see, new growth is forthcoming.
You are getting a fair amount of juvenile foliage too but at least it’s healthy.
I start things and after a while I forget. One of these has been my posting of good bonsai blogs that catch my eye.
After reading a post this morning from Salva in Malaga I felt the need to start this again. Click on the banner image below to visit a post from him regarding work on a Juniper. Blog now added to my ever growing favourites list on the sidebar. Obviously in Spanish, Google Translate to the rescue.
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