Chinese Elm 2010
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Feb 03 2010 | Comment now »
UPDATE: Dateline February 2010 My Chinese elm broom is pushing the soil out of the pot so time for a repot and buds are popping.
Look at the roots.
Here it is after repotting.
I found a photo from 2001 that I scanned.
UPDATE: Last year I posted there repot of this Chinese Elm. Here it is January 19, 2009 and it has already leafed out.
The remainder of the photos are from last year.
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It’s January 2008 and the Chinese Elm buds are popping so its time to repot them here in Melbourne, Fl.
This is a before shot of the elm. Note the mound of soil under the tree. It was repotted last year but I didn’t reduce the root ball as much as I would have liked. I will do it this time.
Here it is after the repot. The mound is gone and the nebari looks better with a very slight change to the front.
Some New Starts
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Jan 27 2010 | Comment now »
Here are a couple of brand new projects.
The first is a Japanese Black Pine group planting with three seedlings I grew from seed. I planted them together two years ago and decided to do some initial shaping and put them in a pot by Jim Smith, of Vero Beach. (That’s right, Jim the famous bonsai grower made several bonsai pots many years ago. I recently bought two of his pots. ) This first photo shows the trees in a small pot that I made. This pot is kinda blah and a bit small for the group.
I toyed with changing the planting angle but decided to leave it as is and to put it in this larger but still flat pot by Jim. The pot is glazed but subtly so it still works I feel.
I wired most of the buds but since this is very early in the design I will likely remove some branches not needed at a later point. I am thinking about calling it “The Clique.”
Recently lots of people have been posting on the forums and Facebook massive and impressive collected pines and junipers. I am still torn about collecting these hundred year old trees from the woods/mountains. Without careful silviculture these specimens will run out and will need to be protected. And considering hundred year old trees will take along time to replace – hmmm. Then everyone will be back to seedlings and nursery grown material (as has happened in Taiwan.) Anyway, these pine seedlings are about 7 years old. They are not massive but fun.
This is a Florida Elm I grew from some cuttings. I struck the cuttings about 3 years ago. Somehow it folded over on itself.
It is now going to be “The Ray Gun.”
Here’s a virtual of the Ray Gun.
Florida Elm – Styled by Wilma.
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Jan 24 2010 | 2 Comments »
Here is an update of this Florida Elm as of January 2010. IT’s a variety of windswept style that occurs during a hurricane, as in Hurricane Wilma.
Now in a pot by Tom Dimmig. The recent cold weather insured this tree would be in a leafless state. Probably will start budding in 2 or 3 weeks.
BTW this was the tree during one morning of our recent cold weather.
Here is the entry from 2008.
Mike Pollack gave me an idea for this tree on the IBC. When I repotted it, I took his advice and carved some notches into the chop site. It helps break up the straight section near the chop. Thanks Mike.
Leaves are starting to arrive in 2008.
The little twig on the bottom left is the upper end of a cutting used as a root graft to try to improve the nebari at the rear of the tree. (which is now removed.)
Cold Weather
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Jan 03 2010 | Comment now »
With the blast of arctic air penetrating Florida I have temporarily moved my tropical and sensitve trees indoors or in my garage.
While in there I took a few photos.
My purple bougy starting to make a few flowers. Indoors won’t help out the process.
And how about some fall color – finally in January. This is a shohin cedar elm called “Creepy Hollow”.
Here is a close up of the trunk and the reason for the name.
This is a shohin Bougainvillea Pink Pixie. I grew it in the ground for a few years and then put it in this pot about 5 years ago. It takes forever for this variety to build girth in the branches and last year I whacked it very hard to make it a shohin -granted a sumo shohin. the pot was one of the commemorative pots were had made for our 2004 convention.
“Red pot at morn, bonsai take warn, red pot at night bonsai delight.” Sorry for the corny parody of the old sailor’s salt. This is a Ficus Microcarpa retusa with Kingmen foliage grafted on some of the branches. Dale Cochoy made the red pot.
The cold weather hammered my tropical collection. I probably lost several trees – including many of developmental tropical cuttings I had been growing in the ground. Even several of the trees in the garage suffered and are either dead or severely damaged. I guess time will tell as the weather eventually warms. If global warming makes things cold I’d hate to see what global cooling is going to do.
Juniper Makeover
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Jan 01 2010 | Comment now »
This Juniper needed a makeover do to losing a couple of branches. It’s a Juniper San Jose trunk with Juniper shimpaku grafted to it.
Here is what it looked like a few years ago.
I repotted it a few days ago. Looks like a puff ball on a stick.
I decided to change to a round pot by Floirda potter and artist, Chad Beatty.
After some work including wiring.
And after trying a little display.
Shohin on Parade
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Dec 30 2009 | Comment now »
I’m in the midst of repotting lots of trees. Here’s a peek at several shohin trees. Some are show ready and some are just starting out.
A Dwarf Yaupon Holly, (Ilex vomitoria Schillings nana) mini display with a small house plant foliage. The Ilex is in a Chinese Xjing pot. The accent is in a hand made Puerto Rican pot. I forgot the potters name.
And a close up of the Ilex. It’s about 7 to 8 inches above the pot.
A Chinese Elm in a nice blue glazed pot by Rob Adonozzio. About 9 inches above the pot. The tree is going dormant although Chinese Elms don’t always lose all their leaves in my yard over the winter. This tree has been under styling in a bonsai pot for only a 1 and half. The canopy is not quite there.
This little Juniper features shimpaku foliage grafted to a juniper parsonii trunk which in turn is growing over a river rock from the Slate River in Virginia. I made the pot by carving a block of clay with a plastic scraper with the pattern in it. This tree has had a lot of work in it over the past 8 years. About 9 inches tall.
Frequently I pick up shohin pots with no particular tree in mind. A while ago I bought this Dale Cochoy asymmetrical pentagon shaped pot in a white glaze and pondered what tree to put in it. I finally decided that this Japanese Umagashi Oak (from an acorn that had fallen off a bush near the Gold Pavilion in Kyoto in 2000. That’s right this tree is 10 years old. ) This tree has more curves than Jennifer Lopez, but like most trees with lots of movement its hard to photograph. In real life one can see that the tree has a decent pyramid canopy that doesn’t show in 2D. I feel the pot shape works well with the trunk and the glaze is great with the evergreen leaves. Now all I need is for it to start making its own acorns. Its about 9 inches tall.
This pitiful thing has been on my bench for over 5 years. It’s a Gingko and frankly it was in such a small pot all it would do is make a few leaves and add no girth or branches. So this week I put it in this European pot. Still not a very big pot but twice what it was in. Its either a Czech Republic potter or French potter. Can’t recall but I bought it the last Gingko show – how appropriate for the tree. I keep it as curiosity more than anything else and I do like the shape of the Gingko leaves. Its only about 5 inches tall.
This might be the worlds smallest Juniper bonsai. It has been in this pot for over 8 years and I never repotted it until 2 days ago.
It is J. procumbens and for reference a golf ball is 1.6 inches in diameter. So that makes the tree right about 3 inches tall.
I call this one my “Preppy Tree”. Pink pot by Rob Adonozzio and a green foliage by a Elephant Bush, Portulaccari afra. About 2 months ago I noticed it was rife with root aphids so I totally removed all the old soil with a jet of water and repotted it in this unusually glazed pot. About 5.5 inches tall.
Here is a Florida Privet I just potted up. Only two years since being a cutting and ony 3 month since first styling. A fast and prolific grower. Very nice green color to the leaves. By next year this time I predict a full canopy. The pot is a modest Chinese blue glazed pot. About 6 inches tall right now.
This dwarf Crape Myrtle Pokomoke is in a Horst H. pot. Never fall in love with a branch on a Crape Myrtle – they have a tendency to just lose them and then grow another one somewhere else. I’m hoping the branches on the left re-sprout but you never know. The chop scars are taking forever to heal as this tree has been in styling for at least 5 or 6 years.
This is a urban-adori. I collected it from my yard last year. I might have left too much of the native sand and the soil didn’t drain well. This year I replaced all the fine sand with well draining bonsai mix and am looking forward to better growth.. The exposed roots already have a old wizened look to them. Just needs a transformative canopy (as Robert Stevens would say.) The pot is a fine quality Chinese Xjing stubby lotus shape.
Something like this virtual.
Dry River Bed In Action
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Dec 24 2009 | Comment now »
Weather was gorgeous today but despite the warm temperature I still have to start repotting my Japanese Black Pines. I took a few in-process shots of putting a “Dry River Bed” pot by Dale Cochoy into use. These were hasty shots using my iPhone so no backdrop sorry.
First shot – note the mycorrhizae fruiting body on the surface (far right of the pot – looks like a black blob). I used some “PHG Treesaver” innoculant last year and it seemed to have worked very well.
Original Pot. Nice but a bit small for the tree and not rustic enough.
Mycorrhizae colony really flourishing in the pot.
Dale has a secret to making these squiggles inside his pots. Looks cool but gets covered with soil.
Here it is potted up. The tree needs to be wired. Hopefully I will get to that in January after my repotting session is over.
ASPAC – 500 Trees – Amazing
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Nov 26 2009 | 2 Comments »
The Asia Pacific Bonsai Federation had a wonderful exhibition in Taiwan last month. I had the privilege to attend and took in the splendor of over 500 magnificent Taiwan bonsai trees. The first thing one had to notice was the scale of the event. A large opening ceremony featuring three different forms of entertainment, opening day speeches including a speech by the President of Taiwan, several forms of entertainment and of course great bonsai trees set in a wonderful garden, Hopefully these photos can do justice to the quality of the show.
Before we get to the trees, I’d like to thank my friend Min S. Lo, for all the work he did to make the international visitors feel welcome. He went many nights with little sleep tending to all our needs. Thanks Min.
Let’s start with the Juniper that won the President’s award.
And here is a Hackberry, Celtis Sinesis, that won the next highest award.
On to the other trees.
It wouldn’t be a Taiwan show without some beautiful Ficus. For example consider this impressive Ficus Microcarpa, Banyan Ficus or Indian Laurel FIg.
How about a semi-cascade Hackberry, Celtis Sinesis. Note the size of the tree. The pot is at least 20 inches across.
And another Hackberry
A famous slanting Japanese Black Pine by Amy Liang.
This tree was also on a Taiwanese national stamp.
Here is a scanned image of the stamp – which I actually have.
I got to meet Amy while on the tour of Taiwan. She is a fun and generous person. Her book is the first bonsai book I purchased years ago and is a great one.
One of the few medium size trees on exhibition. A sweet Japanese Black Pine.
Taiwan has many 5 needle White Pines, Pinus morisoncolla. They call them Taiwan White Pine. I learned that these trees really only thrive in the mountains of northern Taiwan as the tropical south is too hot for them. There are even some Japanese White Pines bonsai in Taiwan, but they don’t thrive and eventually succumb to the heat (same problem as in Florida. Although I wouldn’t mind trying some P. Morisoncolla)
The red sign indicates this tree made it into one of the final rounds of the judging competition.
While Taiwan is known for the development of nursery grown Shimpaku Junipers, there are also some collected Juniper bonsai trees in the country. This tree was collected many years ago and now in the collection of a Taiwanese gentleman who graduated from the University of North Carolina, USA, and now runs a company that makes high quality cordless tools. (Sorry I forgot his name.)
There was an very wide variety of trees in the show. Some species unknown for bonsai outside of South East Asia such as this one, Acronychia Pedunculata, a native Taiwan tree of which I do not know a common English name. It makes a great bonsai tree though.
Taiwan Malphigia alway enchant me. The trunk size and development is unreal. We have no bonsai of this species of comparable quality in Florida. There are a few in Puerto Rico and Malphiga grows wild in the Yucatan of Mexico but Taiwan’s bonsai are incredible. These trees sometimes feature these large and highly decorated glazed pots. I’d like to get a couple of these style pots for my tropical trees.
Australian Pine, Casuarina equistifolia, also grow well in Taiwan. These trees reflect intricate ramification. None of them feature deadwood but the trunks have real antiquity to them.
Another Aussy Pine. Look at the colorful pot – It works with the tree and adds a dash of color breaking up the monotony of a another unglazed brown pot. However, it could be bit taller and wider to match the girth of the trunk and spread of the canopy.
This is a Hibiscus Tilaceous. Probably a collected tree from the Taiwan coast. Wow!
Another species not familiar in the west. It’s a Chinese medicinal herb tree call Myoporum bontioides. It makes an oil used to treat congestion from a cold. Makes an interesting bonsai too. I think I would do something about the branch directly in front of the pot. 
Bougainvilleas have made their way to Taiwan, and as usual the Taiwanese bonsai masters have a great touch with them. The ramification and shape of these trees really demonstrates the skill of these growers.
Also notable is the white trunk. I wonder if they use lime sulfur after cleaning the bark.
Another bougy. Unfortunately for the owner the bracts were about a day or two past their prime. Still look good though.
A large Pycantaha.
There were only a few shohin bonsai trees on display due to the outdoor location and the need for security. Here was a Ixora, the tropical azalea.
Another great Hackberry. The purple and gold plate represents high level awards.
Interesting 5 needle White Pine in a huge pot.
National Exhibition Redux
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Nov 09 2009 | 1 Comment »
During my recent trip with Bill Valvanis to Japan two interesting tidbits appeared regarding last year’s US National Exhibition. The first was Bill found an article in the Japanese bonsai magazine, Kinbon, (Kinbon 2009 Number 9) about it. What really got us stoked was the comment made in red text in the lower right.
In Japanese it said: “Nihon no sekuhin to sonshoku nai Amerika no bonsai tachi.” Translated it means “The character of American bonsai is not inferior to Japanese (art) work.” Or putting it in a more idomatic American expression “There is no difference in character of Japanese and American bonsai.” Quite a compliment – especially coming from Japanese artists.
The other point had to do with Mike Page’s Japanese Black Pine selected for the Spirit of Yoshimura award. Many people questioned the award citing the unusual design of the tree. Well, while in Japan I visited Mr. Morimae’s garden and low and behold he had many trees styled in a similar manner to Mike’s. It seems Mr. Morimae likes this type of tree, especially if the bark has some age to it. It just goes to show that when dealing with art, tastes can vary greatly.
As a refresher, he was Mike receiving the award from Bill with his tree on the right.
Here are some trees from Mr. Morimae’s garden. Mr. Morimae was one of the judges at the US National Exhibition.
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