A rare moment sitting still led me to update my website (www.nebaribonsai.com). While updating the photos there, and looking over my failed attempts to maintain a decent blog through the website, I decided to set up a new one here that would be easier to access and post to…if you give a mouse a cookie…
It was a pleasure to host Peter Warren for his second trip to Alabama last weekend. This time we had time to see a little Birmingham “culture”, including a visit to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Vulcan (far too high), BBQ, and a proper football game…once the Tide decided to get ROLLING in the 2nd half against Tennessee.
Our workshops were successful and educational, we revisited a pine Peter did for a demonstration to the Alabama Bonsai Society in April, and pushed it along the road to bonsai just a bit further. We (mostly he) wired my white pine, and I couldn’t be happier with the profile now. He works fast and fearlessly.
We also began this Ezo Spruce, a recent purchase from Brent Walston at Evergreen Gardenworks. I believe he said it was about 20 years old, from seed collected in Japan.
Here is the tree with the branches that got to stay:
It looks a bit disheveled at the moment, and probably will for the next year or so. It is very root-bound in this pot, and will require some heavy work next spring. Once it recovers a bit and puts on some new growth next year, some wiring can begin.
One thing I detest in bonsai is the cliche carved dead apex; it’s a copout not unlike a song simply fading out instead of having an actual ending. Presently, this has the dreaded carved apex, and I am determined to make it presentable and convincing, or remove it entirely in favor of the branch we wired upright to become the new, living apex.
Nebari Bonsai 