I found this gnarly old European yew (Taxus Baccata) on Francesco Santini's website. We've been featuring yews a lot these days. They make excellent bonsai and there are countless old specimens in temperate zone gardens (and in the wild) in Europe, North American and elsewhere (not all are T baccata however, as there are several other species scattered around the world).
It’s been a long time. Way back in February of 2010 we featured a couple trees that belong to Francesco Santini. Now, seven years on, he’s still at it and so are we. This time however, we’ll double down and show you four of Francesco’s outstanding bonsai.
Continued below…
NEW SALE
25% off Roshi Bonsai Tools
Roshi Tools are famous for exceptional quality & great prices
Choose from over 50 tools & tool kits
additional 10% off orders 100.00+
FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 50.00+
be sure to select Free Shipping when you check out
I strongly suspect that this rugged old Scot's pine (Pinus sylvestris) was collected in the wild. This view is reinforced by the fact that Scot's pines are native Europeans, as is Francesco Santini (Italy).
This tall twisted beauty is a Sabina juniper. Sabina are also European natives, so you might assume that it too was originally collected in the wild. And though domestically grown twisted trees are becoming more common, I'd still bet it's a yamadori (collected bonsai).
Another twisted sister.* The only name given is Lonicera (Honey suckle), so we don’t know the species. I’d bet this one is also a yamadori.
Once Again NEW Increased Discounts
on Bonsai Today back issues
as we run out of issues, the discounts increase
1-9 issues 50% off
10+ 60% off
Plus an Extra 10% off orders 100.00+
& FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 50.00+
be sure to select Free Shipping when you check out
*I’m not really a metal fan. However, I have an older sister who tortured me mercilessly (mostly psychologically), so the name rings true (she grew up to be good person by the way… now she only tortures me occasionally).