Spring Budding -- Yeah!

     Spring has come a little late to northern Indiana -- we had snow less than a week ago -- but I think it's finally here to stay. Monday morning was foggy, and I decided to take my coffee cup and camera up to the deck. Most species are budding nicely now, and I snapped a few pictures.

My one-and-only Japanese black pine; and, no, that's coffee in the travel cup.

Buds swelling on the JBP, Pinus thunbergii.

Hybrid yew, Taxus x media densiformis. (Forgive the quality of the resolution, please.)

Spirea, Spirea japonica.

Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa; a personal favorite.

Common boxwood, Buxus sempervirens.

Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum. The apparent inverse taper is an artifact of the photo.

And then there's this rooted cutting, that's ahead of most the rest!

Hedge maple, Acer campestre.

:-)  :-)  :-)

Happy Birthday from my Daughter!

     What does the daughter of a bonsai enthusiast get her father for his birthday? If she's my wonderful 12-year-old, a new starter tree!

The garden center even gave her the foil, ribbon, and gift card!

She picked it out herself, and she put some thought into it. The tree is a Picea abies ("Norway spruce" in the USA,) which is fully hardy here. She picked one that is healthy, and has the start of good taper and of a visually interesting nebari. (When I commented on the tree's suitability for bonsai, she answered, "I've listened.")

Norway spruce does well in this part of North America, and is a species I don't yet have in my collection. This tree will need a few years to grow to styling size, but that's OK: in the meanwhile I'll be learning the do's and dont's of the species' care.

Thank you, Little Lady!

:-)  :-)  :-)

Wild Olive Ramification. (Again, "reblogged, sort of.")

     A day or two after I finished translating José Rivera's article on his peg graft, I got another email from Paul Stokes. This one started: "I should have known ..." He had a chance to publish another Spanish-original blog post, and would I mind translating it?

Mr. Pérez styling "Menesteo" in a 2010 demo. Photo from his blog.

The bonsai artist and blogger this time is Mr. José Antonio Pérez of the ancient city of Cádiz, Spain. The tree is a collected wild olive, Olea europea var. sylvestris, of the strain native to the island of Majorca. Spaniards call a wild olive of this strain an "ullastre," and by the time I finished translating the article I was ready to get an ullastre for myself! (US Department of Agriculture regulations make it very difficult. Bummer.)

"Menesteo," May 2011. Photo by José Antonio Pérez.

Before I send you on to read Mr. Pérez' article -- 10 minutes well spent -- let me offer my personal "thumbs-up" to him and other bonsai artists in his part of Spain, for the use they are making of their own native material. ¡Bien hecho, amigos míos!

For the English translation of this article on ofBonsai, click here:

Ramification Study on "Menesteo."

To read the original Spanish post on Mr. Pérez' blog, click here:

"Ullastre 'MENESTEO', y 3"

Enjoy! ¡Disfruten!

:-)  :-)  :-)

Peg Graft. Reblogged, sort of.

     A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Paul Stokes at ofBonsai, the online magazine. He had received permission to republish an article by José Rivera of Puerto Rico; and having learned that I'm not just an until-I-die bonsai practitioner but also a professional translator, he asked if I would be willing to translate  Mr. Rivera's short article into English. I agreed.

I had never heard of Mr. Rivera's technique before. I'm calling it a "peg graft," for lack of another term; you