Ponderosa: First Snow in Wyoming

[Dan W.]

Hi everyone,
This is my first post here. And I thought you might enjoy a picture of one of my collected ponderosa after our first snow a couple of weeks ago. It was collected this year so I have not done any styling yet, but the trunk has some awesome movement. (I will try to post some other pictures of the trunk soon)

Enjoy!

Dan

 

[Vance Wood]

Nice tree. Is it anchored in the pot? If its anchorage is questionable you might want to dust some of the show off of it, it might be heavy enough to pull it out of the pot. Just a thought. That snow looks alwful wet and heavy.

 

[tmmason10]

Looks to have some nice movement in the trunk. Is there a pic of it sans-snow?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Great photo, but it looks almost like it is sitting in a parking lot(?) Aren't you worried someone will just walk off with it?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Great photo of what looks like a nice Ponderosa under there (keep the snow up there!)
You're definitely in Ponderosa Pine country; I've collected out that way and look forward to a return trip some time.

 

[Dan W.]

Thanks Vance, It is secured quite solid to the pot and I moved the snow shortly after taking the photo.

Tom, I will post another photo or two shortly.

The tree is in my front yard at the moment but everything is in the process of moving to the back now.

Brian, If you come through Douglas look me up. I'd love to show you what I've collected and learn from any of your experience.

 

[Dan W.]

Ponderosa without snow

This picture was taken shortly after potting the tree when I got home. This is my favorite angle on the trunk.

 

[Dan W.]

The foliage in this photo looks quite a bit bigger because the tree is leaning out toward the camera.

 

[Dav4]

Great trunk...good luck with it.

 

[bonsaiTOM]

NICE Dan, very nice. We will enjoy watching any updates/new photos of your work with this ponderosa. Have you collected others? Do you ever place them into grow boxes - or the ground - for a recovery period? Is Douglas close to your collecting site?

Lots of questions for the new guy!

 

[Dan W.]

I'm glad you guys like this tree. I was excited when I found it.

I have collected a few others (Both Ponderosa and RMJ, as well as some city dwellers like Siberian Elms and such), and I will post more pictures when I get good ones. So far I have taken most of the shots with my phone and quite a few of them are coming out blurry. And yes most of the areas I have been collecting/exploring are within an hour or so drive from home. It's quite a blessing to be able to live, work...and play in and around the Rocky Mountains.

In response to a question earlier: I maybe should be a bit more worried about someone stealing my trees, but I live in a small community and there aren't very many people around here that even know what a Bonsai is yet. I am making things more secure though.

Thanks for the discussion!

 

[Dan W.]

Sorry bonsaiTOM, I missed the rest of your question. Yes I recently built a grow box and have placed a couple of trees down into the ground inside their training pots for winter and WIND protection. It gets cold here so I have been sinking the pines into the ground and heaping snow up around the top of the pot and lower trunk.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Brian, If you come through Douglas look me up. I'd love to show you what I've collected and learn from any of your experience.

Will do...those green tags sure look familiar!!!

 

[Ang3lfir3]

Welcome Dan! Great tree..... makes me miss home again (tho i don't miss the winters)..... I grew up about an hour West of you in Casper....

You coming to the ABS convention in Denver?? My Wife, Daniel Robinson, and myself will all be there.... hope to see you there.....

 

[Dan W.]

I'm planning on being there. My wife and I were just talking about getting registered here soon!

I look forward to meeting you and your wife.

And I agree, the trees around here are awesome material, but the winters (mostly the wind) aren't the greatest. They have been weird lately...really cold and then warm and really cold again. Some large trees around town died last spring because the winter was so inconsistent.

Thanks for the welcome message by the way. I think Casper may be one of the few towns near by that has as bad of wind, if not worse.