I am not one for doing “instant Bonsai”.  It’s really just not my thing.  However I was asked a few weeks ago to participate in our club event called the three ring circus.  I displayed the results of the program in an earlier post, but I wanted to show the tree I had to work with.

Shimpaku Juniper Pre-bonsai

 As you can see there were about four trunks all going in different directions, and to make things worse all the foliage was at the end of the branches.

Raffia and trunk line

The trunk line wasn’t obvious by any means, but the way the base of the tree flowed, it just seemed to want to be a cascade of some sort.

Semi Cascade Shimpaku Juniper

After a lot of bending this was the results.  I hope to get one more picture in a bonsai pot to really show the propoer angle, and maybe a few more bends.

Share on Facebook

Over the past few days I have worked to wire the secondary branches of my Blue Alps Juniper, and I have the scars to prove it. 

Wired out Blue Alps Juniper

This is the results of my efforts.  My goal this time was to truly performs a John Naka style wiring.  I wanted to shape the branches from wide to narrow at the tims and from a side view from think to thin.  I think I was able to achieve that.

Top view - Blue Alps Juniper

Here is an angle that you don’t normally see, but it is an important one.  When I do my wiring the health of the tree is the most important issue.  I try to move the branches so that the sun light is not blocked by another branch.  You need to do this or the branch will die.  Nice to see a nice full canapy, although I have a little bald spot in the middle that I need to cover over.

Before picture of Blue Alps Juniper

I needed to show the before picture so t hat you can see the dramatic difference.  There was a lot of health new growth on this tree, and you can’t beat the blue color.  I plan to stay on top of this tree and control the growth.  I also want to shorten the left branch to bring the whole tree in closer to the trunk.  Right now it seems a bit long which makes the trunk look thin.

Share on Facebook

While the trees are on display at Epcot, members of the local clubs go in once a week to maintain the trees.  Since the show lasts 10 weeks, its a long time for a tree to go with out the attention needed to be on display.  I went in today just to check on the trees and look at Mary Madison’s Trident Maple.  I had heard it wasn’t doing all that well and I needed to check it out myself.  I’m glad to report that the tree is doing fine and will be on display for the rest of the show. 

We are fortunate enough to have the staff at Disney to take care of the watering and general care of the trees while they are there.  I was lucky enough to bump into Alison today while she was doing the watering.  I had to click this picture because it just shows how nicely they care for these trees.

Bonsai watering - Epcot

Share on Facebook

Orlando has been so dry and hot this year, and my poor trees have been struggling.  However through all the draught they still try their best to put out some wonderful surprises.  This past week end I notice how loaded my Wrightia religiosa (Water Jasmine) was, but it hadn’t bloomed yet.  Well today the heavens opened and we had a huge cloud burst.  It wasn’t an hour later and I notice that the Water Jasmine lived up to its name.

Wrightia religiosa in Bloom

Along with the incredible blooms is a very strong sweet smell of the Jasmine flowers.  In case you have never seen one of these up close here are the flowers.  They either hang in single or in pairs. 

Wrightia religiosa Blooms

These trees have very aggressive roots, and new shoots tend to grow straight up from the trunk and base.  It is a challenge to keep in in control, and this one needs a bit of work.  However I think I’ll wait for the flowers to fade before I do anything.  Times like these I just like to appreciate the best that the tree has to offer and remember why I fell in love with Bonsai in the first place.

Share on Facebook