American Bonsai Society Award winner. Another Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea Pungens). This one belongs to Todd Schlafer. Though it has several noteworthy features, one that might catch your eye is the piece of 'trunk' lying across the surface of the soil. I wonder if it was the original trunk that fell over and rooted long ago and that what is now the trunk started its life as a branch. This is of course speculation. What isn't speculation is the tree's age, as expressed by the bark and it's rugged natural beauty.
Continuing our journey through the winners of the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, I’ve noticed that some people have taken to calling Colorado blue spruce simply Colorado spruce. Both not so blue Colorado spruce winners at the Exhibition give credence to this shorter name.
Here's Oscar Jonker's original photo. With companion.
Continued below…
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Close up of the companion. Looks like a mini-fern in a decaying log pot. I don't know what the draping vines are.
Here's the other Colorado 'blue' spruce. It won the prize for the Finest All American composition. We've already featured it, but I thought that given it's obviously green hue (almost yellow-green as is the one above), it provides further evidence that not all Colorado spruce are blue.
Thanks again to Oscar (Bonsai Empire) for providing the original photos in this series (some of which we’ve taken the liberty to crop).
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