coh
Imperial Masterpiece
Ah, now things are starting to make sense!
Who are you? The Human side of Bonsai
- Thread starter BunjaeKorea
- Start date
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
It is still a nice thread. Just because someone decided to throw barbs doesn't ruin it for me. I can ignore the barbs and get to the nice parts. The barbs only expose the person who threw them. Everything else is just fine. I refuse to let such things deter me.This WAS a nice thread, getting a little insight into people's backgrounds. I don't understand why someone would feel a need to screw it up just to get attention (albeit, negative, attention).
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
I think the term is..... Attention Whore.
Paulpash
Masterpiece
I was a teacher for 30 years and started bonsai with a Japanese Quince I bought in a garden centre as I completed my teaching degree. I still have it to this day but it was originally meant for the garden. I was 21 when I bought the twiglet sized Quince. I'll be 51 in 2 weeks! God how time flies.
I used to escort my wife who did the 'pools' as a p/t job and collect them and the bets from our local neighborhood. There was a lovely old lady that was really into gardening and one day she called us down a winding path to her secret Japanese haven. She said 'Look at this I've managed to keep alive!' and there in a small pot was a Horse Chestnut with tiny leaves. We chatted about it and I was enthralled. I told her that I had just bought a Quince and she said to try and turn it into a bonsai. I kept it in a flower pot for 10 years and it didn't change much. Once the internet arrived I learned about ground growing and felt such an idiot for not putting it in the garden. Now I know nothing thickens a Quince except lots & lots of time.....
I've been obsessed with bonsai and diy trees from scratch. Maybe I'm too much of a control freak just to buy a ready made trunk or that I appreciate it more due to the time invested.
Anyway, over the years bonsai has been my sanctuary away from the hassle of students, arrogant head teachers and bureaucracy and I love it.
I used to escort my wife who did the 'pools' as a p/t job and collect them and the bets from our local neighborhood. There was a lovely old lady that was really into gardening and one day she called us down a winding path to her secret Japanese haven. She said 'Look at this I've managed to keep alive!' and there in a small pot was a Horse Chestnut with tiny leaves. We chatted about it and I was enthralled. I told her that I had just bought a Quince and she said to try and turn it into a bonsai. I kept it in a flower pot for 10 years and it didn't change much. Once the internet arrived I learned about ground growing and felt such an idiot for not putting it in the garden. Now I know nothing thickens a Quince except lots & lots of time.....
I've been obsessed with bonsai and diy trees from scratch. Maybe I'm too much of a control freak just to buy a ready made trunk or that I appreciate it more due to the time invested.
Anyway, over the years bonsai has been my sanctuary away from the hassle of students, arrogant head teachers and bureaucracy and I love it.
cheap_walmart_art
Omono
I discovered that Monastery last year when I was at a Peterbilt training nearby and then went back with the wife a spent a day touring the grounds and reading about its history. Father Paul sounds like he was an awesome individual and I wish I'd gotten to see it when it was going on really strong. My next batch of soil components will be mixed up from bags I got there on my last trip. I really hope interest continues and they can still sell enough to support the Bonsai.
cmeg1
Imperial Masterpiece
Where is the pink bunny pot @ColinFraser
I really want to use it...not neccesarily here,but the thought has come to mind often
I really want to use it...not neccesarily here,but the thought has come to mind often
coachspinks
Chumono
I didn't really appreciate Father Paul and what they were doing at the Monastery until after I had stopped doing Bonsai and he passed away. He really was an awesome guy and really giving. He mentored a couple of other monks and they kept it going for a while. I don't know what happened to them. I am glad that a serissa that I have is a descendent of one he gave me almost 35 years ago. It is still a great resource for mix, pots and tools.
cheap_walmart_art
Omono
Last I was down there, I dont think any of the monks were doing it anymore. The lady at the desk said it was mainly her, one other woman who worked there, and the occasional volunteer. Still had a huge selection of pots and supplies though!
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
I was a plastic moulder in Detroit making car parts for 40 years, having nothing to do with having an interest in gardening all my life. By 1999 I had been a serious gardener for 20 years, and a friend found a notice of a bonsai club meeting in the newspaper. He was and still is a gardener, too, but wasn't interested in going to the bonsai club meeting. My yard had evolved from a new construction 1973 blank slate in full sun to a tree-canopied Hosta garden, and I was in the late stages of running out of space to squeeze in one more Hosta. Back in 1973 when I had a new house, but no money for furniture or much else, I dug up an Eastern Redcedar about 1 foot tall from a roadside and put it in a bonsai pot that I don't remember the origin of. That was in late summer and I put it in front of the SW facing doorwall with some other plants. By November it was looking a little peakèd so I took it out of the pot and planted it outside next to the house. When we moved away in 2008 it was still there, about 18" in diameter now. I like to brag that my first bonsai is still alive. I'm honest, in a way. Over the last twenty years I've learned that most of the conventional knowledge of gardening either doesn't apply or doesn't work for bonsai, and a lot of the conventional wisdom of bonsai is likewise. I'm still learning, constantly. I can see that the more you know, the more you see that there is more to learn. I'm drawn to trees that look like trees as opposed to those highly styled ~grotesque~ trees which are very highly regarded by many.
Ohmy222
Shohin
Started when I was 15. My aunt was big into 'yard saling' and saw three books on bonsai that looked cool so I took them and was hooked. From a small town called Hephzibah outside of Augusta, GA and the only game in town was a guy with some bad tropicals but he was my 'mentor'. Took a while to unlearn what he taught me but I cant complain. The books were the Koreshoff book, Bonsai Masterclass by Peter Chen, and some indoor bonsai book. To this day the Koreshoff book is my favorite so what a book to start with. Lived in the country so I dug up all kinds of seedlings and stuff. Actually had a couple of really nice plums. Grew everything in straight turface and pond baskets which acutally worked OK. Internet was in its infancy so I relied on the public library. I went to Georgia Tech and left my trees to my younger brother who killed them quickly. I tried some balcony trees but for the most part quit bonsai until I bought my first house about 8 years later and have been going strong ever since (~12 years). Use to visit a couple of forums back in the day but stopped do them either sucking or going under for sucking. Found this one last year or so and enjoy it quite a bit. The monastery nursery taught me quite a bit for free so for a short period I would go there every Saturday, hang out and help with no pay.
I am definitely a deciduous guy. I like JBPs and have major larch envy (no luck in GA) but I love maples, elms, hornbeams, and anything with flowers/berries. #1 piece of advice to anyone is use a water system. Best thing I ever did. Outside of bonsai I am big in punk rock, hard rock, stoner rock, or anything else with loud guitars. Play guitar poorly too. Also, love nature took a year off and backpacked the US and Canada. I have been to all but 3 National Parks in the continental US and 45 states. I am a diehard Georgia Tech and Falcons fan. Hawks and Braves too but football is king. Bulldogs suck too. Career wise I am a hellofva engineer.
I am definitely a deciduous guy. I like JBPs and have major larch envy (no luck in GA) but I love maples, elms, hornbeams, and anything with flowers/berries. #1 piece of advice to anyone is use a water system. Best thing I ever did. Outside of bonsai I am big in punk rock, hard rock, stoner rock, or anything else with loud guitars. Play guitar poorly too. Also, love nature took a year off and backpacked the US and Canada. I have been to all but 3 National Parks in the continental US and 45 states. I am a diehard Georgia Tech and Falcons fan. Hawks and Braves too but football is king. Bulldogs suck too. Career wise I am a hellofva engineer.
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alexander.jm
Seedling
I'm a civil engineering student discerning a vocation as a Trappist monk. (And not discerning marriage, either way). Plus I like Asia and bonsai lets me express that without traveling. Tea and kombucha are my other hobbies.
My brother and I both bought little juniper bonsai trees when we were in high school. Of course, we kept them inside, and of course they died. When I had my first child, my brother got me an azalea bonsai, with one of the those water wicking pots, it died too. The next 20+ years were busy with kid stuff. School, baseball, softball, volleyball, proms, getting one off to college kept me busy. In 2015, after losing both parents and a child, I really needed something constructive to do with myself, that would make me smile, thus my obsession with tropical, sub-tropical trees, I like flowers. I got a couple of little trees, and joined this site. It has made a world of difference, maybe the mom in me needs something to take care of.
Tidal Bonsai
Omono
It all started in middle school when I had a crush on a girl who was half Japanese. Her family owned a Japanese resteraunt in town, so in my naive hormonal brain I thought if I was into Japanese stuff she would like me. So I bought mallsai (which I kept in my room and killed immediately) got shirts with dragons on it, watched Dragonball Z, took martial arts (as she did) and did a bunch of other silly stuff. I never got the girl, but I did get an appreciation for Japanese art.
Fast forward to when I was 29, and I had my own house, garden, and family. I wanted to have a few bonsai to spruce up the backyard. Dozens of trees later, now I am hooked!
Fast forward to when I was 29, and I had my own house, garden, and family. I wanted to have a few bonsai to spruce up the backyard. Dozens of trees later, now I am hooked!
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
It really shows!
VAFisher
Masterpiece
I was a highwayman
Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive
Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive
Orion_metalhead
Masterpiece
32, have always enjoyed nature and the escape from the technologic perils of modern life. As a kid I spent most of my weekends in PA in the woods playing with sticks...
When I was 7ish I discovered heavy metal music which has been my first passion all my life and still is. I started playing bass at 10yrs old... still do. I write and do music criticism in my spare time on my website. Have been doing that since 2008. Favorite band of all time: Manilla Road. Top 5 albums: Manilla Road-Open the Gates, Fates Warnimg-Awaken The Guardian, Manilla Road- Crystal Logic, Holy Terror-Terror and Submission, Aeternus- ...And So The Night Became.
Ive been interested in growing plants since i was a kid, and had a few trees and odd house plants around.
Fast forward to last year. Bought a house with my wife with a nice big backyard. Plucked a couple seedlings from the front yard and looked into actually keeping them alive this time. Here I am.
I work now as an estimator / project manager for a local Mechanical company. Went to school for radio and tv production.
When I was 7ish I discovered heavy metal music which has been my first passion all my life and still is. I started playing bass at 10yrs old... still do. I write and do music criticism in my spare time on my website. Have been doing that since 2008. Favorite band of all time: Manilla Road. Top 5 albums: Manilla Road-Open the Gates, Fates Warnimg-Awaken The Guardian, Manilla Road- Crystal Logic, Holy Terror-Terror and Submission, Aeternus- ...And So The Night Became.
Ive been interested in growing plants since i was a kid, and had a few trees and odd house plants around.
Fast forward to last year. Bought a house with my wife with a nice big backyard. Plucked a couple seedlings from the front yard and looked into actually keeping them alive this time. Here I am.
I work now as an estimator / project manager for a local Mechanical company. Went to school for radio and tv production.
Silentrunning
Chumono
I got my start in bonsai when my grandchildren gave me one of those bonsai kits with the seeds. Although only one seed produced a tree, it perked my interest and I started reading everything I could find on bonsai. I had been active in gardening most of my adult life so I knew some of the basics of horticulture. The whole concept of bonsai captivated me and I enjoy getting up every morning and having my coffee with my trees. I am fully retired now so I get plenty of time to read about and work on trees.
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