Snake Dance & other Tropical Wonders 6/6/15

This Pemphis acidula was styled by Gede Merta and currently belongs to H.N. Holiq Effendi. Gede Merta titled it Snake Dance (I know of at least one other Gede Merta bonsai called Snake Dance). It's height is 57cm (22.5") and, as you can see it's a rather spectacular bonsai. I don't know how hard Pemphis wood is and how difficult it is to keep the deadwood from rotting, but it looks like it has been treated with lime sulfur. A good place to start.

All the trees shown here were styled by Gede Merta. His nursery is called Bonsai Bali and judging by his facebook photos it’s a very popular place to visit (also a very popular place here on Bonsai Bark). I suspect in addition to being a highly accomplished bonsai artist, Mr Merta is a good guy to hang out and discuss bonsai with (begging the apologies of a long litany of failed English teachers).

All but one of the trees here are Pemphis acidula which has to be one of the most naturally dramatic trees in the world, and it’s a pretty safe bet that they were all collected from the wild. It might not be too far fetched to assume that Pemphis only originate in the wild, though I don’t know that for a fact.

This one is a Premna mycrophylla. It's 33cm (13") high and judging by what I've seen over the last few years, Premna  mycrophylla is one of the two most prevalent Indonesian bonsai varieties (the other being Pemphis acidula).

We've got Snake Dance above and now we've got simply Dance. It's another Pemphis acidula. 37cm (14.5").

 

Pemphis acidula on a rock with a camouflaged small hut.

 

A particularly dramatic and complex Pemphis acidula. Not that many Pemphis don't tend to be dramatic, but still, this one is almost unrivaled. It was collected and styled by Gede Merta. Height 82cm (32").

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