What did you do today? Show us Pic Required

[Scorpius]

Pollen cones on my Yamadori Ponderosa from Golden Arrow I got last year. Seems to be very healthy this spring.

The flooded hole is my koi pond I'm redoing, but with over 7 inches of rain in April I haven't made much progress.

 

[bonsaiDerek]

That's really cool, a workshop with Mauro would be amazing. Mauro seems like such a top dude, and puts in a ton of airmiles when some pros are maybe travelling less frequently for various reasons.

Photo tax: new tree day! (Actually couple of days ago) Korean Hornbeam material that I can't wait to start work on. Need to clean up a few wounds and figure out the future branching. It is only just budding out because its been in the container from JP, a few weeks behind regular deciduous here.

View attachment 543572

so the u.k. is allowed to import from japan? I'm jealous

 

[TrevorLarsen]

so the u.k. is allowed to import from japan? I'm jealous

They are allowed if they jump through a ton of hoops. Peter Chan imports a lot and he shows the process on his YouTube channel. Basically the imported trees have to be in isolation for months and a bunch of licenses and inspections are required. I would love to live near Peters nursery.

 

[ShadyStump]

Deadheaded my supermarket azalea.
Before


After

Can you tell I'm new to this species?
I'm skeptical of MY ability to properly care them in my climate come summer. Can't let the roots dry out at all or it throws a fit. Springs right back, but that will only last so long.

 

[Japonicus]

Best of show, thought I said that.

You did, my bad.


Selecting my next victim.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Fed trees, spotted a few blooms opening on the Stewartia.

 

[Hartinez]

Went camping and boating with some great friends in northern New Mexico. Chama river, Santa Fe National forest.

 

[99 Mile Creek]

My camera has been collecting dust for some time. I really enjoyed getting it out to capture the Korean hornbeam. Such a beautiful tree. I like both best...

 

[Japonicus]

Pulled trigger ordered these 2 pots from the UK I've been wanting for a small JWP.
MIGHT be here before end of month. Fired to cone 7.

 

[divergent_little_tree]

Scored FREE shelving from facebook marketplace. Hit up Home Depot for screws and fixed it to the bench and rearranged my trees. Nothing set in stone yet, for either shelf or tree placement, but so far happy that I have a little more space to put my little projects.

 

[shohin_branches]

Deadheaded my supermarket azalea.
Before
View attachment 544708

After
View attachment 544709
Can you tell I'm new to this species?
I'm skeptical of MY ability to properly care them in my climate come summer. Can't let the roots dry out at all or it throws a fit. Springs right back, but that will only last so long.

I have tried and killed so many azaleas in the past that I gave up for awhile. Now I have one that I've kept alive for three years and another I have kept alive for a year. They both survived being repotted this spring so there is hope!

Today I repotted and hacked back this ugly Hackberry I saved from the stump grinder last March. It came up in a frozen rootball when I chipped it out with a pickaxe so I never saw the roots and boy are they wild.


Repotted this Virginia creeper that I ripped out of the ground in June of 2022 when we were adding a gate to our back fence. I figured it should go into something other than plastic

I am running low on appropriate pots so I put it in this Italian one that should let me still get some growth. I guess today was for working on trashy freebie yard trees.

 

[19Mateo83]

I inspected trees this morning. All the hornbeam I collected this spring appear to be making it.
This JBP from @cmeg1 is really enjoying it’s new home in pumice

My nishiki gawa from @Piedmont Bonsai seems to have a little leaf scorch after cutting back the new shoots.


And it appears one of the red mountain maple seedlings is variegated…. Hoping this continues to show up as it grows.

 

[MaineChowder]

I still consider myself a rookie when it comes to bonsai.
I originally started growing trees and shrubs from seed during the winter of 2019 to re-landscape a piece of property that I had cleared. Prior to that, I didn’t even attempt to grow grass. I found that I enjoyed the process so, I’ve continued to buy tree seeds every winter.
While scanning the internet for the next species I wanted to try, I came across “bonsai seeds”. I knew there was no such thing as bonsai seeds but, it reminded me of the fascination I had with bonsai when I first read about them as a young child in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
The one hobby led to the other.
Cape Cod is a fairly challenging place to grow things without a greenhouse so, I thought it might be a good idea to grow some species that tend to survive here naturally. Pitch pine and beach plum were at the top of my list. The 3-4 beach plum I have are still in nursery pots with organic soil. They are only just now getting big enough to attempt to bonsai. I was going to try one this Spring but, my construction project got in the way of my plan.
That was a REALLY long winded way of saying, “No, I haven’t tried beach plum yet”

Thank you for that detailed reply! I appreciate all the information.
I too am beginner, just started keeping trees this year after a few years of obsessive research and learning. I am also in a challenging climate being just north of you, in Maine.
I am going to keep my eye out for a nice beach plum that has some potential. Pitch pines is at the top of my list as well. I had plans to go looking for some wild trees with @yashu a couple of weeks ago but things got too busy at work and we weren't able to go.
Good luck with your construction project and all those trees. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate!

 

[SgtPilko]

so the u.k. is allowed to import from japan? I'm jealous

We can! You need particular phytosanitary paperwork etc but the bonsai nurseries can and do bring a container over each year (maybe the big boys more than 1). With all the geopolitical stuff going on these days the time and cost can swing up and down quite badly - maybe the Somali/Yemeni pirates are building a nice collection . Conifers need a period of quarantine, but on your own facility and no bare rooting etc, so pretty good.

 

[Faisal Ahmad]

Prunning my lovely premna again, consistency is the key

 

[ShadyStump]

Winds are too high to work today, so I'm at home prepping tea bags of slow release fertilizer for the season.

 

[Japonicus]

Went camping and boating with some great friends in northern New Mexico. Chama river, Santa Fe National forest.
View attachment 544718View attachment 544717

Beautiful sky

Way ahead of my usual schedule I'm starting thinning earlier on this one leaving plenty of growth tips I hope. Substantial cut backs I still wait for July though I did remove about 5 quarts or 4.7 liters of foliage today.



Plenty of room to tighten up the profile.
The cascade makes better sense when it gets wired later and more work done.

 

[leatherback]

Pushed my olive project a step further!

The sketch I made spring 2023..

 

[CapeCodBonsai]

Thank you for that detailed reply! I appreciate all the information.
I too am beginner, just started keeping trees this year after a few years of obsessive research and learning. I am also in a challenging climate being just north of you, in Maine.
I am going to keep my eye out for a nice beach plum that has some potential. Pitch pines is at the top of my list as well. I had plans to go looking for some wild trees with @yashu a couple of weeks ago but things got too busy at work and we weren't able to go.
Good luck with your construction project and all those trees. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate!

(Even though I don’t think I’ve earned my own way in the door yet) allow me to welcome you to the club!
I’m a little more jazzed about the Pitch Pines than the beach plums. The bonsai veterans warned me that you can’t collect Pitch Pine on Cape Cod since it’s a sandbar and the Pitch Pines send down a long tap root resulting in all the feeder roots being way too deep to make collection possible. I guess I’m a little bull headed because, I took that as a challenge. My guess is the veterans were (understandably) looking for a Yamadori treasure and went for some big/old trees. I ended up collecting younger trees and I think I lost one. If you put them back in the ground, they thicken up (and bark up) reasonably fast. Plus you still have a chance of bending them without rebar and a truck winch. Additionally, if you have the time and patience, they’re fairly easy to grow from seed

Best of luck collecting the trees that you want. Feel free to message me through this forum’s messaging system (so we don’t hijack this thread anymore).

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Managing growth at Sergio's.