Visit to Jim Smith bonsai collection

[Michael P]

Carol, they are huge! The third is the largest, probably 48" tall from the rim of the pot.

 

[BrianBay9]

First, thanks for posting. I enjoyed the tour with many impressive trees. I realize that tropicals can have a different aesthetic, but many of these trees have really ugly nebari. Are they still being worked on / improved?

 

[Michael P]

I can't answer your question directly, but all of the trees were healthy and well maintained. The fine branch structure showed that they had been properly pruned. The only volunteer staff present during my visit were not knowledgeable about bonsai.

Yes, the nebari definitely do not follow bonsai conventions, and I haven't posted the really strange ones yet. I planned a whole post on this, no time like the present. All the following examples are F. salicaria.

 

[Michael P]

And these last three seemed to be growing on bare trays, with no soil at all. The trays are a little dirty, so please trust me. I could not see any substrate.

 

[Michael P]

I studied these compositions for a long time. The nebari (if that is the right term) seemed to take the place of stones in root-over-rock or root-on-rock styles. Maybe they should called something new, root-as-landscape or root-as-mountain. In contrast, the more typical ROR trees were unimpressive to my eye.

 

[Carol 83]

Carol, they are huge! The third is the largest, probably 48" tall from the rim of the pot.

I would have to build an addition on to the house. I've been married to long to get divorced, so I'll just admire them.

 

[Michael P]

Here are some one-of trees. First, a baobab.



Several species I had not seen before, labels follow tree photos.





A John Naka tree, you can't miss the change in style.





A striking windswept, almost bunjin tree.





A species I saw once in a botanic garden conservatory, and thought, "That would make a cool bonsai."





And last, a Texas native that I tried to grow and failed, Texas Ebony Ebenopsis ebano.

​

 

[Michael P]

These are almost all of the over 100 trees in the collection. I learned so much during my visit, photographs are a poor substitute for seeing the trees in detail and in three dimensions. I left feeling good about my own trees, and at the same time encouraged to do much better.

This thread is my attempt to give back to the forum that has given me so much knowledge and pleasure. And I promise to be less neglectful about photographing my trees and sharing them here.

 

[Carol 83]

Looks like a great place to visit, thanks for sharing.

 

[W3rk]

These are almost all of the over 100 trees in the collection. I learned so much during my visit, photographs are a poor substitute for seeing the trees in detail and in three dimensions. I left feeling good about my own trees, and at the same time encouraged to do much better.

This thread is my attempt to give back to the forum that has given me so much knowledge and pleasure. And I promise to be less neglectful about photographing my trees and sharing them here.

Pretty awesome, thanks for sharing. Some amazing specimens. Also regarding Tigerbark - it is an established variety of Ficus Microcarpa (it also has a number of other names) along with others such as Green Island.

He's already been mentioned in the thread of course, but if you are seriously interested in Ficus I highly recommend Jerry Meislik's book dedicated to them - it's highly informative.