Tonight: On The Burn Pile

[Atom#28]

Who has dead trees tonight? Here’s what I’m putting on the campfire. Bittersweet, but a chance to honor the trees I failed.....

A big Western Larch: Sorry, buddy, I did my best, but killed ya nonetheless

a medium Douglas Fir: collected from the mountain, and downhill ever since. I’m sorry, tree. But you taught me many things

a stubborn little holly: you were a pain in the ass to dig up, a lame yardmadori, and you don’t even burn very well. Go to hell, you spiky-leafed bastard

A very cool, potentially award-winning, super-dope and beyond amazing Yamadori literati hemlock: I should have left you on the mountain. I did not deserve you. Nobody did. Sorry pal. Hope to see you again.

cheers. Here’s to tonight’s burn pile.

 

[Atom#28]

Oh man, I forgot to give props to my boy, the t-shaped elm “rootball” that made the whole burn possible. You da man, elmy.

 

[Atom#28]

 

[jaco94]

Hey man, that is both funny and poetic,
I like your style!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Knock on deadwood, I have only lost a single tree this year, despite bare-rooting almost all my trees when I left California. It was a California juniper that did not appreciate being stuck in a box for ten days, in the heat of the summer, in the back of a semi trailer. The trailer took several days longer to arrive than planned, and when I opened the box the foliage mass was already 50% gone, even though the rootball was still wet. Oh well. I had several olives and a large shimpaku that took the same treatment without batting an eye. You can never tell for certain how trees are going to respond. All that it did was confirm my decision to leave my largest California juniper behind in the hands of another capable bonsai enthusiast!

By the way... is it time for you to try a phoenix graft?