Czech Yamadori

  You never know.      Just imagine.  You  have a very old larch.  Each autumn you eargerly check the buds to see if there is any that could possibly develop into the blossom.   And year after year there is NO SINGLE ONE. Then you pass by a neglected small something that is much closer to a seedling than to a reasonably sized tree.   Gosh.  You can't believe your eyes.  The little blooming bastard is in bloom... So it is now proudly sitting on a prime position next to a sizeable mahaleb.   Let it enjoy a few moments of glory. Note: This small larch was collected just few years ago just like 2-3 years old seedling.  Years from collection 3-4 ?   How old it could be then?   Definitely less than 10 years. Most of the scientific papers would quote the age of 15 as a point when larches reach their sexual maturity.   See below one of them.  Jan Matras1 and Luc E. Pâques2...

Mahalebs are hard working trees.   They tend to keep their leaves till the first harder frost night and then they simply drop them.   At least this is very often the case with mahalebs in our place.  And I think this is also the case for some other species from the Prunus Genus like apricot for one. But sometimes for unknown reasons they could present some splendid colours.  Like this little mahaleb.      Height: 34 cm Collected: 2012

 ...I mean the winter silhouette of the small Pyrus pyraster.      Airlayered yamadori. Height 38 cm Training pot

 X-Men?   The Hug Men?  Predator?     Forget it.   My brother in scissors Rasťo has come with the perfect name.   Frankly, I had to look for the meaning of Ent in the wiki but once I saw the picture  I was in love with it.    Perfect.   Thank you, Rasťo.   OK, back to the Ent. I  have made some corrections to lower parts last night.   It still needs some indian ink to blend nicely with the rest. And then few coats of resin to preserve it.    The crown  needs to add some wood.  Not too much though.   I do not like trees that have a lot of deadwood  combined with a flourishing crown full of branchlets.   But that is not a problem of the tree but rather of the person behind it... Prunus mahaleb_The Ent Height: 50 cm Pot: Training China          

 About 4-5 years ago I started pondering about getting some more native species to my collection.  Specifically cornus and eonymus.   It is easy to plan but knowing the growth habit of these species I knew it would require a large amount of luck while being on my knees thoroughly searching undergrowth.  For sure there are plenty of them all around my place.  The only problem they are in form of straight sticks... Anyway, here we are:  Euonymus europaeus in early winter colour boasting with few fruits that I left there for joy.      Origin: Ground layered yamadori Height:  17 cm Pot: Klika&Kuratkova.   A bit oversized one but it is the way I prefer

 Some of my trees seem to be a bit unpatient. During last weeks of the Summer they were eagearly looking for the first changes of the weather and now they are getting ready to change  a bit obsolete green colour of their leaves into the more bright and fancier autumn festivity colours... This little Pyrus pyraster is really the fastest one.  I know that some people claim  that this is a sign of a weak tree. Well, I do believe that this could be the case but on the other hand some trees are simply quicker than the others...  And apart from the individual differencies I know that I can delay the senescence by defoliation done a bit later in the Summer.   Anyway, I do believe this tree is quite healthy.     Pyrus pyraster Height:   38 cm  Pot: China Origin: Airlayered yamadori collected in central Bohemia  Still long way to go to get a more decent nebari...             ...

Rough structure & missing wood ....       Still long way to go....           But when in full bloom?                       Well,  not too bad.... 

 What a strange name of a bonsai I thought the other day while reading some bonsai magazine featuring a stunning bonsai in early stages of blooming.     Few days later I have looked on one of my blackthorns and suddenly I have noticed that there are pearls all over it... Can you see them?      

 There was a time when I believed that there are some solid cornerstones in the Universe.     Unfortunately this time is over.  Well, for most of them at least.    Good news:  some of them are still there:   My parents on the other side of the river.      My wife.      My family.       Matters that are important to me.     Bonsai is somewhere on the very top...            Shrubby cinquefoil   Pre bonsai.   But in a proper bonsai pot by Mr SHIMIZU Masakazu    kiln  YOUZAN Height 18 cm  

 In one of my earlie post about this pine I have mention some of the challenges we face.   Happy that one of them has been fixed.  Or at least nearly... The tree looks still empty and out of proportion but at least the remains of the main trunk has been converted into something that looks OK to me.     The way it was back in 2019    Preparatory work in 2020        And now in mid of Feb 2022.   It looks very fresh now and it will take a time to get a patina  but we are on the way... Height:  65 cm Pot: Martin Ašenbrenner  ( Wood fired kiln )      

 Another fairly small but massive mahaleb cherry with a lot of deadwood.    Height: 44 cm above the rim Pot: Hugo Studeník    

 The first few days of the new year are a bit lazy. So why not to take the advantage of it and share some other trees? The mahaleb Zorro is one of my largest trees.  Well, better to say heaviest ones.  It is not very large, in fact it is just about 50 cm in height and about 70 cm in width.  But the trunk is quite massive and the pot needs to be quite large to accomodate the long surface root.   The shape  is not very typical for deciduous tree but I do like it that way.  And that counts...   Still long way to go...   The "new part" clashes with the old one - just looking like a baby's arse.  Not to mention  a better taper and finer ramification... Hope to find some time later on to repot it and while there to change the planting angle. The left side is right now planted too deep. Height: 50 cm Width:  70 cm Pot: China  

 New Year's Day.    Outside temperature: +11 °C, cloudy with possible rain later in the day.   I plan to go out after the lunch to get some wood for my future projects such as bonsai tables etc.   It takes at least 4-5 years to have the timber ready for usage.  There are for sure much faster methods for drying but  first I have more than enough load on my hands right now and in next 2-3 years, second - drying chambers calculates in cubics - well above my projects and lastly - just being happy to let the Nature to do her job. It was quite sunny on the 31st Dec so I have taken few shots of some of my trees.  Not the best pics but their main purpose was to see the structures through the lens.   Good practice to follow. Here is the biggest birch in my collection.   +90 cm right now.   It is quite interesting to see how the hollow has been reduced over time.    2021 2015   Well, I should ...