Czech Yamadori

 Prunus spinosa_Blackthorn is one of the most attractive trees that can be used for bonsai.   Abundant white buds that look like a pearl develop in full blossoms early in March.   Leaves come a bit later.  And as they are quite small they doesn't "spoil" the elegance of the tree.  The fruit is green  at the beginning but later on it develops its typical dark blue colour.   And again  the size of the fruit is quite small so it is almost perfect fit to the tree.    

Kifu sized blackthorns_26 cm.       

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?      

 ... repotted this spring into new pot from Martin Ašenbrenner.   A bit burned but that is something that may happen in wood fired kiln.    And yes, the pot is a bit oversized in length and height but it was still the best fit from those readily available.  I have something like another 2-3 years to get some more pots to find the right one.   As " my portfolio " of shohin is growing  nicely I need to shop for more pots anyway.     

There were few days with temps well over 22°C.   Nice sunny spring days.   The weather fcast for next fortnight has looked quite nice - so I could not resist to take trees from their winter shelter and place them on the shelves.   With the Easterns on their way the temperatures went down.   We may get some snow again and temps may go slightly to the red zone.  No major problem for most of my plants. Nevertheless I will move some of them to the non frost area anyway.  Freshly repotted shohins etc.  Physical activity is supposed to extend your life so I do not complain... 2nd April From this angle the lower part looks like a typical masculine feature.  The picture below is from the 24th March 2020.    

 Long autumn evenings, short rainy days - what a great time to spend some time on dead wood carving.   Well, for sure.  There is a lot of other work to be finished before the winter but my fingers were itching so badly that I have no other choice than to grasp a Dremel and few chisels.    Still long way to go but it starts showing the potential...   Airlayered in spring 2020, separated in Sept.   There is more details in the post published on 26th Sept.  Reworked at the end of October Possible new front Need to decide about the direction of the main branch.  Semi or full cascade?  I would prefer a cascade - just a matter of my preferences - but the trees is quite strongly asking for a semi... and much more work on the dead wood. 

The blossoms have just opened.  Snow white colour at the beggining, but later on they will gradually get a tint of very light yellow.  Just a few hours before the quarantine, we have managed to visit  our favorite place_Czech Kars to see the beauty of blossoms of Cornus in their natural habitat. Remains of the human activity.  There used to be a limestone quarry... A black locust A lot of dead spruces there.   Unfortunately - this is a very common picture across Czech and many places in Europe.

Height: 27 cm from the rim of the pot Pot:  Training I really like this small tree.  The mirrored movement of the top section looks quite special.   Two headed dragon?  Dancing snakes?  Black - white?   Good - Evil?   Yin - yang?   Pretty much in line with the  role that blackthorn played in our history - see the previous post. I hope that now after all that time with one step forward and two steps back I have found a direction to follow.   Well, nearly.  Still must decide how to proceed with the low branch on the right and  select more appropriate pot.  The rest is "just"  a horticulture.     The green mass on the top of soil = a shredded moss to promote growth of surface roots.  Fingers crossed.

I have come across some  extracts from this book.   Interesting reading.  Need to get a copy.   Well, life is not just black or white. And it is the same with a sloe.   It is a pity that we have lost  much of our ancient wisdom about the healing power of local natural products.    On the other side we have managed to keep the recipe how to make a sloe gin or as it is more common in my region the wine made from sloe.   Apparently  shamanism/druidry/ witchcraft  were  percieved by the rulers ( black or red ) as bad while alcoholism was acceptable... I would love to have a small bonsai table made from this wood.    Height: 40 cm Width: 30 cm Trunk diameter: 7 cm Style: Slanting tree