Aug 9 2011

New Lens

One of my purchases in America was a new lens for my camera, Sigma 70-300mm. I haven’t had a lot of time to play with it but took it out into the garden yesterday for 10 minutes to see what the macro function was like on it. I took a few random shots of foliage and anything else that would sit long enough. Here’s the results.

Jun 13 2011

Airport Run

I had to pick up my Sister and Nephews from the Airport this afternoon, flying in from Australia. As the flight was delayed slightly, I had time to pop into Stephen’s house on the way to have a look at a few trees. Living 5 minutes from the airport is handy 🙂

His Satsuki has just started on the downhill stretch after flowering. Still worth a few photos though.

A nice hosta accent about to flower.

Big Hornbeam.

Big Larch.

Haws on a Hawthorn.

and I spotted this clump of baby spiders on a Pine just waiting for a breeze to drift off on.

May 8 2011

Scrap metal

I ended up with a nice pile of scrap metal yesterday after taking the wire off these two. Both were wired during the Autumn/Winter and they were right at the limit of cutting in. I usually get a bit longer that this but this year seems to be a good one for putting on girth, at least that’s what the bathroom scales are telling me!!

Apr 30 2011

Larch Basic Styling

This was the last tree to be styled last night. Work finished at 1.30am!!

This is Ben’s Larch recently purchased from Willowbog Bonsai as raw material. We worked through it and gave it it’s first basic styling. There are a few options within the tree but this has been left for Ben to ponder for a while.

Ben’s relatively new to bonsai but I am impressed by his eye for a tree and his level of knowledge gained in a short time. He always asks appropriate questions and on a few occasions I am able to answer them 🙂

He wired so fast his arms were a blur 🙂

Apr 18 2011

Photo Session

Today I went to my mate Stephen’s house to take a few record photos of his trees. Here’s a few that looked particularly nice. A big thank you to Stephen who donated a few trees to my son Matthew who is showing an interest in bonsai. If you are reading this Jamie, between Stephen and myself, there’s a few trees in this for you too 🙂

This was the set up for the photos.

And this is where I talked Stephen into posing with his Deshojo for scale purposes. You would think he’d look happier with a tree like that beside him 🙂

Apr 15 2011

Tall Larch

Not the most imaginative name to give it but it’s what I’ve called it for years. I spotted it on the bench this afternoon with the sun just hitting the foliage. Camera in hand I popped out for a few snaps.

Mar 15 2011

Maple Moment

I had a Maple moment today when, during a brief period of sunshine, I walked into the greenhouse to check on the watering. I was greeted by buds that had pushed quite a bit in the last few days. The sun on the spring colour was nice to behold.

Trident Maple

Trident Maple

Trident Maple

Japanese Maple

A few others in the garden caught my eye too.

Japanese Larch

Hawthorn

Moss seed heads

Emerging Flower bud on a Cotoneaster.

Mar 12 2011

Futtering in the Garden

I spent a few hours today tidying up and playing with trees.

I managed to get the last bit of screening up and did a little power washing. You may notice the flowering Fuji Cherry isn’t on the bench. I lifted it in to try and keep those flowers out of the heavy rain. No point in losing them quicker than necessary!

Japanese Larch

Common Beech

Raulli

Escallonia

Swelling buds on a Korean Hornbeam.

I had a look at the buds on this Larch group. As nice as the little green shaving brushes are, it was very congested and bud and branch thinning is needed. I lifted it into the garage and gave it a going over.