IzzyG
Shohin
The Tornado is an iconic tree, known by many and for all intents and purposes was core to Eisei-en as it was built and touched by Bjorn and his students. I’ve always viewed it as a community-built tree and is a cornerstone to the amazing native material we have and the possibility of what American Bonsai could create.
I remember seeing the Tornado for the first time at Eisei-en. I was visiting Bjorn on September 19th, 2022 to acquire the Bolt (and also ended up acquiring El Capitan) and was awe struck by the sheer size of the tree and the features of the deadwood. Bjorn joked about me acquiring the tree as well while I was there anyways and after hearing the asking price, I couldn’t fathom ever spending that kind of money on a tree(I was only 4 months into these miniature trees at that point). Chalked it up to “never going to happen”.
Around July of 2023, Bjorn had reached out asking if I was interested in acquiring the One Seed Juniper I had seen the year before. I initially thought he was referring to a different tree that I was interested in but was on hold for someone else. The conversation didn’t go very far as I knew I’d see him in a couple of months and figured we’d chat then. This was also when I had found out he was leaving the US.
Fast forward to Fall of 2023, I was attending the annual local club show where Bjorn was the guest artist. I had a chance to have a private conversation with him and was catching up on the trees that I had seen the prior year as well as updating him on the Bolt, El Capitan and the rest of the garden. The subject then turned to the previous conversation about acquiring a one seed juniper and he clarified that he meant the Tornado. I was surprised and excited by the prospect but also appreciate the gravity of acquiring such a tree. Knowing that he was leaving however, I felt strongly that the tree should be going to a home that was willing to not only care for it, but also evolve/progress it over time. We came to an agreement and a week later, the tree arrived in Wisconsin.
With the historical importance of the tree, I knew I wanted assistance with its future care and progression. I hold Bjorn at the highest level of respect and was not going to assume I alone could/should be responsible for this tree. I had my own thoughts about the tree as far as aesthetics and potential future progression (after discussing details with Bjorn) and I decided to reach out to Ryan(Neil) about what I had just acquired.
There were a few things that always stood out to me about this tree(some I had discussed with Bjorn):
1: The size and amazing features of the deadwood.
2: The narrow base that feels weaker due to the size of the rest of the tree. The weakness is further accentuated by the wooden prop that’s needed to hold the tree stable.
3: Foliage distribution weakening the relative size of the trunk/deadwood/
4: The oversized container that it’s in. I’d estimate it weighed about 650lbs or so(my previous skid steer maxed out at 600lbs and it was tipping the machine).
Ryan was visiting for my lessons (after the tree arrived) and understood the gravity of the tree’s provenance and importance. We went back and forth discussing it in detail and laid out a plan. We knew we had to repot it if we wanted to improve the strength of the base and address the clumped native soil that was still present. I performed soji to help with water percolation and also decided to bring it to a local folk fair here in Milwaukee. Bjorn never showed the tree due to its sheer weight so I figured it would be the only opportunity for it to be shown in its current form.
I reached out to a few potential ceramicist that same winter to see who is capable of creating a container large enough(kiln size is definitely an issue!). Only having historical photos of the previous repot, I had to eyeball the needed container dimensions. @NaoTK was up to the task and accepted the commission(shout out to @Sansokuu for persuading him!).
The sad news however, is the tree unfortunately did not fit the container based on the new planting angle. Despite the estimate of how we intended to rotate the tree, it just didn’t align right. Fortunately, I have plenty of giants that will need the container in the future and can’t wait to put one in this beautiful pot!
In the spirit of the Tornado being a community built tree, I invited 4 Mirai students, as well as members of the Milwaukee Bonsai Society to assist Ryan, Todd and I on the repot of the tree.
(I’m still in the midst of getting the work photos completed but will update this thread as they are done).
We were able to lift the tree out of its previous container with the help of 4 people and lucked out with a large rectangular ancient Chinese container I had laying around. The repot went well, with no issues and we were able to place it in a new angle that strengthens the base while accentuating the deadwood. The plan is to compress the foliage to further widen the relative size of the trunk and deadwood, thus further enhancing those features.
I present to you, the repotted Tornado. I had shared this photo with Bjorn first and he was glad the tree is doing well!
I remember seeing the Tornado for the first time at Eisei-en. I was visiting Bjorn on September 19th, 2022 to acquire the Bolt (and also ended up acquiring El Capitan) and was awe struck by the sheer size of the tree and the features of the deadwood. Bjorn joked about me acquiring the tree as well while I was there anyways and after hearing the asking price, I couldn’t fathom ever spending that kind of money on a tree(I was only 4 months into these miniature trees at that point). Chalked it up to “never going to happen”.
Around July of 2023, Bjorn had reached out asking if I was interested in acquiring the One Seed Juniper I had seen the year before. I initially thought he was referring to a different tree that I was interested in but was on hold for someone else. The conversation didn’t go very far as I knew I’d see him in a couple of months and figured we’d chat then. This was also when I had found out he was leaving the US.
Fast forward to Fall of 2023, I was attending the annual local club show where Bjorn was the guest artist. I had a chance to have a private conversation with him and was catching up on the trees that I had seen the prior year as well as updating him on the Bolt, El Capitan and the rest of the garden. The subject then turned to the previous conversation about acquiring a one seed juniper and he clarified that he meant the Tornado. I was surprised and excited by the prospect but also appreciate the gravity of acquiring such a tree. Knowing that he was leaving however, I felt strongly that the tree should be going to a home that was willing to not only care for it, but also evolve/progress it over time. We came to an agreement and a week later, the tree arrived in Wisconsin.
With the historical importance of the tree, I knew I wanted assistance with its future care and progression. I hold Bjorn at the highest level of respect and was not going to assume I alone could/should be responsible for this tree. I had my own thoughts about the tree as far as aesthetics and potential future progression (after discussing details with Bjorn) and I decided to reach out to Ryan(Neil) about what I had just acquired.
There were a few things that always stood out to me about this tree(some I had discussed with Bjorn):
1: The size and amazing features of the deadwood.
2: The narrow base that feels weaker due to the size of the rest of the tree. The weakness is further accentuated by the wooden prop that’s needed to hold the tree stable.
3: Foliage distribution weakening the relative size of the trunk/deadwood/
4: The oversized container that it’s in. I’d estimate it weighed about 650lbs or so(my previous skid steer maxed out at 600lbs and it was tipping the machine).
Ryan was visiting for my lessons (after the tree arrived) and understood the gravity of the tree’s provenance and importance. We went back and forth discussing it in detail and laid out a plan. We knew we had to repot it if we wanted to improve the strength of the base and address the clumped native soil that was still present. I performed soji to help with water percolation and also decided to bring it to a local folk fair here in Milwaukee. Bjorn never showed the tree due to its sheer weight so I figured it would be the only opportunity for it to be shown in its current form.
I reached out to a few potential ceramicist that same winter to see who is capable of creating a container large enough(kiln size is definitely an issue!). Only having historical photos of the previous repot, I had to eyeball the needed container dimensions. @NaoTK was up to the task and accepted the commission(shout out to @Sansokuu for persuading him!).
The sad news however, is the tree unfortunately did not fit the container based on the new planting angle. Despite the estimate of how we intended to rotate the tree, it just didn’t align right. Fortunately, I have plenty of giants that will need the container in the future and can’t wait to put one in this beautiful pot!
In the spirit of the Tornado being a community built tree, I invited 4 Mirai students, as well as members of the Milwaukee Bonsai Society to assist Ryan, Todd and I on the repot of the tree.
(I’m still in the midst of getting the work photos completed but will update this thread as they are done).
We were able to lift the tree out of its previous container with the help of 4 people and lucked out with a large rectangular ancient Chinese container I had laying around. The repot went well, with no issues and we were able to place it in a new angle that strengthens the base while accentuating the deadwood. The plan is to compress the foliage to further widen the relative size of the trunk and deadwood, thus further enhancing those features.
I present to you, the repotted Tornado. I had shared this photo with Bjorn first and he was glad the tree is doing well!
