An Almost Forgotten Promise 4/24/14

One of several great Shimpaku junipers from Bjorn Bjorholm’s Bjorvala Bonsai Studio. I picked this one in part because of the little curlycue jin (dead branch) hanging down. I’ve seen plenty of other intriguing jins, but this one is so distinctive and in a place so prominent that it comes close to stealing the show (in spite of the light background that diminishes its effect, and in spite of the many other wonders of this tree).

Not that anybody remembers or cares… still it’s time to come through on an old promise. In February of last year we posted some excellent pines from Bjorn Bjorholm’s website and made this promise at the time: “Just pines this time. I’m so taken with these trees that I’ve decided to make this a two part (or more) series. This first installment is devoted to pines. Next we’ll feature some of the equally impressive Shimpaku on Bjorn’s site. Maybe some others too.”

So, fourteen months later, here are the promised Shimpakus (plus one crazy Procumbens).

But first,  just in case you are wondering, I do know that the world is overrun with Shimpaku that posses amazing deadwood. How many more do we need to look at? Still, we haven’t shown many lately and in spite of their abundance, the best are still mind-stoppers. Including perhaps, the ones shown here.

 

Doing the twist. There are plenty of other twisted Shimpakus, but you have to admit that this one is exceptional.

 

A short, chubby twister.

 

Two headed monster. I have a soft spot for good double crowned trees. Especially when one crown is clearly subordinate. Beyond that, you might admire the way the long fluid sweep of the trunk is mirrored by the long fluid sweep that leads to the second crown.

 

Pointing the way. You don’t often see two trunks in two different styles on the same tree. In this case, the dominant trunk is informal upright and the other one is semi-cascade. A couple other things stand out: the way the two trunks snuggle in together and the way the two trees come together to create a single well-balanced crown.

 

We’ve shown this crazy tree before, but this is a better photo. Like the other trees in this post, it’s from Bjorn Bjorholm’s Bjorvala Bonsai Studio. It’s a Procumbens juniper that looks a whole lot like a Shimpaku juniper (except for the foliage).

Speaking of Pines and Junipers. These excellent benchmark bonsai books are now only 35.00 for the set of two (list price 59.90). If you don’t need both, they are discounted individually too (Pine book or Juniper book). What’s more, we’re in our last day of a site wide sale. 10% to 30% off everything. Even items that are already discounted.