So You Think Winter Is Over?

Icy larches from my back yard this morning (May 11). 25 degree Fahrenheit (-4 celsius) last night here in the lovely, underpopulated (now you know why) Northeast Kingdom, Vermont. I left a mist on all night to protect these newly dug and newly sprouted larches. It worked, the ice has melted (it’s sunny and around 50 now) and all is well. Photos by Amy Palmer. An ugly little Eastern white cedar (Cham thyoides) made beautiful by icing. Eastern white cedars (not to be confused with Northern white cedars ‘Thuja occidentalis’ which are abundant around here) don’t do very well here, … Continue reading So You Think Winter Is Over?

A Wild & Wonderful Larch

Inspiration for your bonsai. This photo is from Bonsaimania. It’s on facebook in a gallery called “Inspirations to your Bonsai: (translated from Spanish). If anyone has any clues, I’d like to know where this photo was taken. Bonsaimania gallery (in English) Here’s what Bonsaimania has to say about their gallery in English: “These trees are real and they can be found in nature. They are on this album because they are models that should inspire us to create our bonsai. If you want to propose a tree in nature that will inspire us, send me a message through my Facebook … Continue reading A Wild & Wonderful Larch

Have You Thought About Field Growing?

Have you tried field growing? You don’t need a lot of space to experiment with a small number of plants and the results will easily exceed expectations that have been conditioned by container growing. One of the reasons the Japanese have so many well developed bonsai is field growing. In the west, we tend to grow bonsai stock in containers. In Japan, most stock is field grown; you’ve no doubt noticed the strikingly powerful Japanese Black Pines in the two photos above (from Morten Albek’s Shohin Bonsai). Though I don’t know how old those massive trunks are, my best guess … Continue reading Have You Thought About Field Growing?