Mara of dragon clan
Mame
Cherry blossom
And a 100+ yr old serissa japonica
And a 100+ yr old serissa japonica
What's your dream tree?
- Thread starter RyanSA
- Start date
zanduh
Mame
two trees:
One: A 100+ year old deshojo informal upright with natural old white bark and ramification for days...
Two: The monastery kingsville boxwood
One: A 100+ year old deshojo informal upright with natural old white bark and ramification for days...
Two: The monastery kingsville boxwood
armetisius
Chumono
If you don't already have it get Dirr's "The Reference manual of woody plant propagation : from seed to tissue culture : a practical working guide to the propagation of over 1100 species, varieties, and cultivars"
One of the best out there to start with.
And this one is free "The Woody Plant Seed Manual"
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penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
That is a tough, tough thing to say. If I had a dream tree I would probably burn holes through it with my eyes. Also, it would scare me half to death to touch it.
But to keep it simple, it would be a spooky old oak tree or another deciduous tree with that spooky old oak character.
Ask me in a month and I don't know what my answer would be. Maybe a rugged old pine hanging from a cliff. Maybe a gnarly old crab apple. Maybe a flat top Acacia. A forest.
In truth I guess it would be any tree I could come close to calling a finished bonsai. But then they never are finished.
I'm so confused.
But to keep it simple, it would be a spooky old oak tree or another deciduous tree with that spooky old oak character.
Ask me in a month and I don't know what my answer would be. Maybe a rugged old pine hanging from a cliff. Maybe a gnarly old crab apple. Maybe a flat top Acacia. A forest.
In truth I guess it would be any tree I could come close to calling a finished bonsai. But then they never are finished.
I'm so confused.
A bonsai, is, as you say, “never finished”. Until it dies. But, I would consider a bonsai you would be able to show at the top level shows, “finished”.That is a tough, tough thing to say. If I had a dream tree I would probably burn holes through it with my eyes. Also, it would scare me half to death to touch it.
But to keep it simple, it would be a spooky old oak tree or another deciduous tree with that spooky old oak character.
Ask me in a month and I don't know what my answer would be. Maybe a rugged old pine hanging from a cliff. Maybe a gnarly old crab apple. Maybe a flat top Acacia. A forest.
In truth I guess it would be any tree I could come close to calling a finished bonsai. But then they never are finished.
I'm so confused.
one of the classes that Boon teaches us he has us critique photos of trees. And state what we would do to improve them. At then of the exercise, he then tells us they were shown at Kokofu! And, not only shown, they were the winners! Lol!!! Goes to show, ANY tree, even those judged to be the best of the best, can still be improved!
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Happy to see you say this.
Reminds me of some obnoxious * on fakebook trying to make a point ... Challenging me to give criticism on one of his trees. Told him it was an OK tree, and have 3 or so pointers to improve the tree. Turned out, this was one of Walter Pall's trees. The guy then made a whole show as to how arrogant I was to think I could improve on Walters tree. Lesson there was indeed what you say: EVen if I do not have those trees I can see where potential improvements could lay. (I went on to see the tree on walters blog, and he indicated the same improvements needed, which made me happy.)
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
I agree wholeheartedly, but I hope you realize what I said was tongue in cheek. I don't set my bar that high and have no desire to compete or even to attain the level of bonsai superiority that so many strive for. Its just not in my nature. I tend to try to stay on the center path but I do have a hell of a lot of fun.
Your points are warranted and well received.
It has altogether been a very interesting thread.
Ha ha! That reminds me of a lecture I gave at the Atlanta Bonsai Society about how to decandle JBP. About half way thru my lecture demonstration, some guy in the back raised his hand and said: “That’s not in John Naka’s book!” And I said, yes, this is an advanced technique, that John didn’t know about. And then he goes on, “Are you saying that you’re better than Naka?”
I had to laugh! And I said, “Yes! I know more about decandling than Naka knew. There’s been 50 years of experimentation with decandling that I can benefit from that Naka didn’t live long enough to have the opportunity to learn.”
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
Fair enough, there are many serious enthusiasts who have no desire to exibit their trees but still strive to build progressively better trees.
so you have no desire to progressively improve your skills as a hobbyist and produce better trees? you wouldnt care if your last tree wasnt a vast improvement on your first ever tree?
isnt that just a lack of ambition and enthusiasm. its human nature to strive to be better, to become better at something.
a carp fisherman doesnt go out to catch baby fish all his life, he moves up the ladder and strives to catch bigger n better fish.
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
I have a great deal of respect for you based upon your prior posts. It is too bad you do not extend that courtesy likewise. I would never presume to say I know you based upon your posts but apparently the feeling is not mutual. You read a lot more into my post than I actually stated. " level of bonsai superiority that so many strive for " is exactly what it means. So many. Meaning there are so many that take the development of their trees far beyond a level I strive for. So many should not be construed as a majority by any means. I continue to develop my trees and I have had some for over 30 years. I am not always happy with the state of development of every tree but I don't beat myself up over it. I try to hold to the center and resist extremism.
Lack of ambition and enthusiasm is personally interpreted and not something I would tell a horticulturist of 57 years with over 1500 plants. Granted most of these are young plants started from cuttings and seed and I have no intent to develop them all to fruition. I do it because it gives me joy. You may end up with one of my plants some day. Likely? No. But it could happen.
He who knows when enough is enough will always have enough. (Lao Tzu)
Carp are lousy fish to eat.
LittleDingus
Omono
Doesn't that really depend on your view of life? There are very much aspects of my life that I want to actively get better and strive to get better at. There are also parts of my life that are relaxing that I enjoy that I don't want to stress over whether I'm meeting other's ideals.
The on topic portion of this thread: I'd want a nice plump 4'ish adansonia gregorii.
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
indeed. the Emperor is a magnificent specimen, here is a couple of earlier shots. the tree is actually 7 trunks that have all merged together from young, many trees grow like this.
this perfectly illustrates my point about bonsai being a progressive hobby.
and what a transformation.
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Do you know this for a fact, or is this an assumption?
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
ABCarve
Masterpiece
Just saw this thread and couldn't resist.
This is my dream tree and it's mine. Let me try to justify my statement. We all do bonsai for different reasons so I'll give you some of mine.
1. It has survived every attempt that I tried to kill it. I collected this back in the mid-90s from a cow pasture with some of my pals, which is a great memory unto itself. I had been practicing only a few years. Of the 4 trees collected this is the only one that wasn't a bar straight trunk and the only one still alive. When I got it home the roots wouldn't fit in a shallow pot, which a trip to a band saw soon corrected, daring it to live. Over-watering, under-watering, over-pruning, poor growing media....all the thing a novice does and it kept on kicking.
2. Although it did not flower for the first 12 years after collection, once it started it just kept getting better every year.
3. The autumn color is so different than any of my other trees. The bronzie reds contrast and the accompanying cranberry fruits gives it a real distinction.
4. The winter silhouette. Although the ramification has still a ways to go, I look forward to when it drops its leaves to see how the growing season benefited its naked body.
5. This material is Crataegus pruinosa. Hawthorns are very promiscuous so that's my best guess. I don't believe I have seen any others as bonsai. My training as an artist seeks to produce original art and this tree imbues a reflection of my intentions. It brings me joy each time I walk by, invoking many memories of the journey I've had and hopes for its future moving forward. Is that provenance?
This is my dream tree and it's mine. Let me try to justify my statement. We all do bonsai for different reasons so I'll give you some of mine.
1. It has survived every attempt that I tried to kill it. I collected this back in the mid-90s from a cow pasture with some of my pals, which is a great memory unto itself. I had been practicing only a few years. Of the 4 trees collected this is the only one that wasn't a bar straight trunk and the only one still alive. When I got it home the roots wouldn't fit in a shallow pot, which a trip to a band saw soon corrected, daring it to live. Over-watering, under-watering, over-pruning, poor growing media....all the thing a novice does and it kept on kicking.
2. Although it did not flower for the first 12 years after collection, once it started it just kept getting better every year.
3. The autumn color is so different than any of my other trees. The bronzie reds contrast and the accompanying cranberry fruits gives it a real distinction.
4. The winter silhouette. Although the ramification has still a ways to go, I look forward to when it drops its leaves to see how the growing season benefited its naked body.
5. This material is Crataegus pruinosa. Hawthorns are very promiscuous so that's my best guess. I don't believe I have seen any others as bonsai. My training as an artist seeks to produce original art and this tree imbues a reflection of my intentions. It brings me joy each time I walk by, invoking many memories of the journey I've had and hopes for its future moving forward. Is that provenance?
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
ABCarve
Masterpiece
Thanks Brian. I appreciate that.
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
Wow! What a treasure. Color me green.
PaulH
Omono
Do you think Kimura would miss it?
leatherback
The Treedeemer
it is too big.
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