WP in LA on December 2 and Portland, OR on Dec. 5 and 6

I sure hope to see some of you on my upcoming gigs:

December 2 at at the Encino Community Center, 4935 Balboa Blvd., Encino, CA 91316
see: Sansui Kai

and December 5 and 6 in Portland, Or area. contact Jason Gamby or Randy Knight for participation in workshops.

Oregon Bonsai

Scots pine literati final design

Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, 95 cm high, around 100 years old, collected in Sweden in 2001,
pot by Derek Aspinall

the first tow images are as of a couple of weeks ago. After that I cut out some growth on the living crown, took off the jin and peeled the bark at the end a litle to get more of the reddish bark.
Now the tree is ready for the Noleanders Trophy. This will be the first serious judged exhibit for the tree.

silver birch

bog birch, Betula verrucosa, collected in Germany, 75 cm high, pot Petra Tomlinson

euonymus in winter

Euonymus europea, 30 cm high, pot Petra Tomlinson.

This little guy gives me great joy.

hornbeam # 12

This is a European hornbeam, Carpinus betulus. It was collected in Germany by Wolfgang Kaeflein in 1994. I got it in 1996 as stump with no branches. When I brought it home the guy who was my assistant at that time said in all earnest 'this will never ever become a decent bonsai'. Well, just to prove him wrong I planted it into my growing field and let the top grow freely to thicken the ridiculously thin top. In April 2005 the big harvest started. It seemed impossible for a while to get this monster out of the ground. We (David and WP)ruined a neighbor's tree by attaching the band for the wrench. Finally it was mad much smaller and ended in this mica Pot. In April 2007 the next big design day came. And now in November 2009 it starts to look really good. I will now probably find a good final pot for it. Next spring it should be ready for the very first exhibit. A long way indeed. But worth it all. The hornbeam is slightly too large for my taste. But as centerpiece for a large garden or exhibit it would be great. The back side is almost as good as the front, as to be expected for a bonsai in the naturalistic style. This makes it a great centerpiece to walk around. Well, maybe I will donate it to the Botanical Garden Munich one day.

fat oriental hornbeam

This is an oriental hornbeam, Carpinus orientalis. It was collected in Italy a couple of years ago.I got it in a trade this summer as a bush. Today I decided to bring it to the next step. Normally this is done in March/April. But we have such nice weather now. Anyway, this is a fat little hornbeam which has great potential. This will become a powerful tree in five to ten years.