Czech Yamadori

 Cold.    This is the first thing that would cross my mind talking about this Spring.   It means  some extra portion of physical activity in the evening and then in the next morning to move some trees into and out of the shelter.  But thats OK.  Physical activity is good for our health so no reason to complain.  And to look on it even from a brighter side - the cold spell has extended the Hanami - flower viewing quite significantly.   Flowering quice Blackthorn

Kifu sized blackthorns_26 cm.       

 A single trunk  specimen with a raised root that is fused with the main trunk well above the current soil level.   That  indicates that originally  most of the current trunk has been burried under the soil.   The tree is well over 30 years old - it has been planted as a 2-3 years seedling at the side of the D4 highway in central Bohemia.   Lot of refinement ahead but that is a joy with all these blossoms seasoning the journey in late winter/early spring.   

  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