Little Pleasures of Bonsai

FreshAirSunshine

FreshAirSunshine

Shohin
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Location
Eastern MA, USA
USDA Zone
5B
Often bonsai is viewed as a marathon art/hobby and our goal is focused on a “finish line” of a tree well into refinement (never finished…).

I don’t think that’s what keeps most people going though. I think it’s the little pleasures we get day-to-day, season-to-season. It’s new leaves on a tree we thought wouldn’t make it or the morning dew on some needles. It’s a trunk starting to bark up or adventitious buds in just the right spot.

Post your little pleasure of the day/week here! Sorry if there’s another thread like this already - if so please point me onwards!

My latest is learning the local bumbles like lantana!
 

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After about a month of daily rains and low temperatures, I'm seeing moss taking hold. Soil is undisturbed for three years now, apart from that blackbird hole on the right.
Real nice to see this happen, as it's not common for me to see.
 
Yes! The little day to day discoveries, and/or surprises are what strengthen our relationships to the plants we care for.

Great thread!
Seeing these spring collected Tamaracks really starting to look happy has brought me smiles. IMG_9713.jpeg
 
I had a big pleasure when this 1 flush EWP let go of the handle to deaths door this Spring.

EWP gets a new pot today

Looking quite well dispite all the heat. Yet back East I'm sure the heat was not what it was here 115deg..... I'd not jin that right lower branch! It IMO is really necessary to balance the height of the tree! I also see this girl leaning toward the left with that branch as a counter weight...
www.bonsainut.com www.bonsainut.com
1693684470314.png
This was April, 2023
As each bundle of needles dried up and released, I removed them.

Today I posted photos of its 2nd flush this year.
Reminds me of the stem cell therapy my neighbor went through for stage 4 lymphoma.
He said they took him to deaths door with excess, chemo I think,
on his final treatment to stimulate stem cell production, since they couldn't harvest any at the time.
Well, hey, that's a downer for this thread, but it worked, and that's the relevance.

Here's pictures from yesterday

1693686263807.png 1693686204973.png
 
Japonicus said:
I had a big pleasure when this 1 flush EWP let go of the handle to deaths door this Spring.

EWP gets a new pot today

Looking quite well dispite all the heat. Yet back East I'm sure the heat was not what it was here 115deg..... I'd not jin that right lower branch! It IMO is really necessary to balance the height of the tree! I also see this girl leaning toward the left with that branch as a counter weight...
www.bonsainut.com www.bonsainut.com
View attachment 506379
This was April, 2023
As each bundle of needles dried up and released, I removed them.

Today I posted photos of its 2nd flush this year.
Reminds me of the stem cell therapy my neighbor went through for stage 4 lymphoma.
He said they took him to deaths door with excess, chemo I think,
on his final treatment to stimulate stem cell production, since they couldn't harvest any at the time.
Well, hey, that's a downer for this thread, but it worked, and that's the relevance.

Here's pictures from yesterday

View attachment 506383 View attachment 506382
Click to expand...
I always just assumed a pine was dead when it looked like that. Mind blowing!
 
This thread is awesome. I forgot to enjoy the little things that I used to love. after all these years I’m starting to resent bonsai. Besides enjoying daily watering I just love watching seeds develop into trees. Trying to find my love for the art again before I quit completely
 

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GGB said:
This thread is awesome. I forgot to enjoy the little things that I used to love. after all these years I’m starting to resent bonsai. Besides enjoying daily watering I just love watching seeds develop into trees. Trying to find my love for the art again before I quit completely
Click to expand...
I understand this. I'm not quite there myself, but I've experienced it in other parts of my life, too. Haven't gone camping this summer, not entirely because of my trees, but they're in there with everything else.

My solution is to remember that, aside from watering, my trees can always wait another season. The worst that will happen is a redesign in the future. If that means it takes twice as long to get my trees looking respectable, well it's better than hating them.
 
I find working on or even just looking at and thinking about my trees to be the easiest way to reach a flow state. I'll come down from my rooftop garden after spending some time with my trees, and my girlfriend will ask what I was doing... oftentimes I don't really know!
 
MSU JBoots said:
I figured only a fellow Michigander would recognize it.
Click to expand...
...actually, I didn't recognize it from that angle.
I took a picture of it from the water side.
Shows up at the 3:53 mark on this slide show of mine.

Here's a picture of one of life's little bonsai pleasures.
Seeing new growth on last years sekka hinoki cutting
and this years shimpaku cuttings underneath a noble fir tree I think.
DSC_0229.JPG
 
I managed to save a juniper this summer including keeping some folliage on the trunk right at the apex and on the outside of a big bend.
 
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