Look familiar? It's Amy Blanton's Rocky Mountain Juniper (with Mike Blanton in memoriam). The same tree that was the 3rd place finisher at the Artisans Cup. This photo* was taken at the 2015 North Carolina Bonsai Expo after a quick cross country trip.
This post was going to be about the recently completed 2015 North Carolina Bonsai Expo, but somewhere in the process, a story about a particular tree, a bonsai artist’s legacy and his wife’s devotion took over. We’ll get to the Expo another time, meanwhile I would like to invite you to visit a post on Ryan Neil’s Artisans Cup blog titled Patron of American Bonsai: Amy Blanton.
Continued below…
Amy Blanton's (with Mike Blanton in memoriam) Artisans Cup 3rd place Rocky mountain juniper. The photo is from Ryan Neil's blog.
The follow is part of Ryan Neil’s tribute from his blog:
“Mike (Blanton) believed it’s time to take American Bonsai to the next level as the greatest trees in the world are right here in our back yard. Mike’s favorite tree to work on was any kind of Juniper and he had many varieties in his collection. He especially liked Yamadori and was successful in sustaining these collected trees in the South. He used Bonsai for twenty-five years as a form of stress relief from his duties as a firefighter… You can visit Ryan’s blog for the whole story.
The same tree at the Nashville Bonsai Society Regional Show in 2013, shot from a radically different angle. The photo is from Owen Reich's Bonsai Unearthed blog.
This photo is from Ryan Bell's Japanese Bonsai Pots Blog. Here's Ryan's caption: "And last, but certainly not least, a Rocky Mountain Juniper from the late Mike Blanton, entered by his wife Amy and detail wired for the show by Michael Fedducia. Named “Bucket List”, this tree took best in show, deservedly so. Mike was a dear part of the Nashville community and the bonsai community at large and is greatly missed. Awesome to see his legacy living on, in both his bonsai, as well as in all the enthusiasts and professionals he inspired who were at this event."
*You can find the photo at the top of the post and more Expo photos here.