Projects from TJ’s Backyard

I have been itching to do some bonsai work here in the dead of winter. Decided to make a little accent piece from some material I had around the house. I have a bunch of cacti that I’ve been growing for 5 or 6 years.

This one is mamillaria elongata. It has profuse, small white flowers when it decides to bloom. It has bloomed for me a couple times.

@sorce container!

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Looks like cheese curls .. now I want cheese curls
 
Japanese Maple ‘Katsura’

Young material, repot and a couple wires. Buds are just starting to swell.

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Acquired a couple months ago from @WSJIII , thanks bro! 😃
 
With the nice weather, it was a busy weekend! Did some spring cleaning on this Mountain Harebell kusamono. Removed dead debris, now set up for spring growth.

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Colorado Blue Spruce - Initial Repot
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This tree was collected in 2018 by Todd Schlafer. If I am not mistaken, it was collected from an area that has since been devastated by wildfire. In all likelihood, this tree would have been burned and killed in the fire, had it not been collected.

I acquired it in 2020. Since then, I have fertilized heavily and watered carefully, providing the spruce with mostly full sun.

It has never been wired - which I am looking forward to doing this fall or next spring!
 
Earlier this week, Bjorn Bjornholm presented a demonstration to the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society. The topic of the presentation was pyracantha.

Bjorn discussed complete defoliation, followed by structural pruning and wiring.

I was very inspired by Bjorn’s demo. So the next day I took off early from work, and it was off to the nursery for me, in search of pyracantha. They had just a couple ‘Yukon Belle’ pyracantha left. Very humble material, but something to work with for my little project.

After a couple hours of pruning and wiring my hands looked like…well…next time I will wear gloves for those thorns! 😂 however, I really enjoyed working with the species for its flexible branches, short internodes, small leaves…and the prospect of beautiful flowers and berries.

Before:
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After:
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