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.

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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

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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.

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This time it was Shimpaku Junipers, and not one of my favorite trees to work with.  These trees were pretty challenging with no growth close to the trunk and long thin branches to deal with.  It required some creativity and some raffia to bend and twist these branches into shape.

Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers always does an outstanding job with his trees.  As I was putting my second wire on my tree I glanced over to see Mike had practicially finished wiring.  No fair!

Adam Lavigne

Adam Lavigne also went with an informal upright.  His trunk pretty much dictated the way this tree was going to be styled.  He was a last minute participant, and he did a very nice job on stying it out.

Rick Jeffry

These trees were challenging and Rick’s tree was no exception.  However he was able to harness the wild growth of the tree into a wonderful windswept.   

Paul Pikel

My tree took a different turn all together. The first 3 inches of the tree indicated to me that it wanted to be a cascade or semi cascade.  The raffia really allowed me to bend the branches very far.  The apex of the tree is pretty much a corkscrew to get the growth low and close to the trunk. 

All of the trees will require new growth to pop out and fill in.  However I think this year’s auction next month for these trees will bring in a nice amount. If your club hasn’t tried this program you may want to try it.  Its a lot of fun and a really eye opener.

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