Only Mother Nature. There is no way anyone will ever grow a tree quite like this magnificently wild Rocky Mountain juniper. Taking this a step further, there is almost no way anyone will ever be able to collect and style a tree like this, though there are a handful of people who have the requisite skills and knowledge. In this case, it's a combination of two who share the skills and knowledge: Randy Knight found it, collected it and made sure it survived the trauma, and Ryan Neil styled it, potted it and currently keeps it alive and well at his Bonsai Mirai.
I’m out of the office until Monday, so we’ll resort to reruns once again. In case it’s a very timely rerun (from January this year).
It’s not too late to get yourself to Portland for the Artisans Cup. If you live within a day or two, all you have to do is get in your car and point towards Portland. If you have to fly, this time of year shouldn’t be bad for last minute tickets and off season lodging should be okay too.
When you visit Portland Oregon (for the Artisans Cup at the Portland Art Museum, Sept 26-28), be sure to sign up for a Portland Bonsai Village tour. Portland is a lot about the future (and present) of American bonsai and the Bonsai Village is a big part of that.
Though I’m sure you can find other reasons, when it comes to bonsai, two things about the Portland area stand out: a number of Americans who apprenticed in Japan have settled (or plan on settling) in the Portland area (thus the Bonsai Village), and the Willamette Valley is perhaps the prime North American growing area for temperate zone plants (most of the world’s greatest bonsai are temperate zone trees; though our friends who live in the tropics might take issue).
All the trees in this post are from Ryan Neil’s Bonsai Mirai (Ryan is the main inspiration and organizer of the Cup), the home of what must be the best collections of North American yamadori bonsai in the world (yamadori are trees collected from the wild).
If you took away the little deadwood hook on the right, this Sierra juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) would still be spectacular. With the hook, it's tree you'll never forget.
Ryan calls this a Colorado spruce (Picea pungens). You might know it as a Colorado blue spruce, or simply Blue spruce (even though this one is clearly green).
One fairly common yamadori feature is the unpredictable relationship of the roots to the trunk (and the rest of the tree). This can make potting a real challenge, with some pretty strange and often spectacular results. The tree is a Limber pine. Is that a dowel or rebar sticking up?
This California juniper reminds me of any number of Japanese Shimpaku yamadori. Compared to the other trees shown here, it's quite staid and sober looking. But only compared the others.
See you there! September 26-28.
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