20 and Under

There are many species traditionally used for bonsai that do not make very convincing shohin bonsai. The leaves may be too large, internodes too spacious, etc. It doesn’t stop us from trying them though! I still remember seeing a shohin magnolia in japan with one large and breathtaking flower stopping me in my tracks. That image has stayed with me for many years. Most of its characteristics are not conducive to shohin bonsai but that little window of flowering time make it worth while. Foolish attempt that it may be, one species that I am trying to make into a shohin bonsai is the Ponderosa Pine. I have two shohin sized collected trees that came from Andy Smith of South Dakota – one I purchased and one was a gift from him in exchange for my hospitality when he needed a place to stay some years ago when passing through New England. I also have a very nice collected chuhin (medium sized) Ponderosa Pine bonsai that I am working on. Pictured is one of the shohin trees I have been working on. The before picture is from about 3 or 4 years ago when I first received it. The lower trunk was quite good for shohin size and the surface roots are also quite good for this species, but ….. as with many of these trees, the internodal spacing is long and the needles are quite long. After spending a few years getting it healthy, I wired it up 2 years ago and this past year put it into a rustic shell pot from David Lowman (DaSu Bonsai)Dai Su Bonsai. It is a beginning. I am still not happy with the particular pot it is in – for one thing it needs to be smaller. Also, even though the needles are at least 1/2 the length of the originals, they still need to be shorter. Some friends have encouraged me to graft black pine foliage onto it but that would take all the fun and challenge out of doing this! Another time I will show the other shohin Ponderosa I have (and other non traditional species).