Autumn is well and truly on us now, with cooler nights and crisp mornings. We’ve had a lot of showery weather of late, so watering thirsty trees has probably not been a priority like it is in summer. Keep your bonsai in full sun if possible at this time, as this, combined with cooler nights, […]
Chinese sweet plum or Sageretia theezans is a subtropical evergreen, native to China and Japan, often used in bonsai particularly throughout southern Asia. Sageretia have small, attractive, bright green, oval leaves and lovely leathery multi-coloured bark, not unlike Crepe Myrtle. The yellowish/ white flowers are very small and almost inconspicuous. Sageretia gets it common name
Last month, Tony chose cedar from the display table to work on. He likes the tall, graceful style of literati trees and this was an elegant tree in need of a new eye and some refinement. Tony’s plan was to reduce the foliage all over the tree but particularly the apex, wire primary branches to
While the weather remains warm, it’s a good time to repot many species, particularly evergreens like pyracantha, cotoneasters, olives and star jasmine etc. Recently repotted trees will need protection if the nights suddenly become cold within the first couple of weeks after repotting. You should leave any recent growth on deciduous species for now, waiting
Last month, Andrew discussed Tanuki or ‘Phoenix Graft’ bonsai- a technique in which a living tree is joined to an interesting piece of dead wood. In Japanese folklore, a tanuki or racoon dog is a mischievous yokai (Japanese ghost or spirit) that plays tricks on the humans around it but is harmless to them. Cape
Don’t miss this month’s meeting with Tony Bebb as our demonstrator. What an opportunity to see one of Australia’s best demonstrators in action. As always, visitors are welcome.
Late February has been a lovely time for working on our bonsai, with a return to warm and pleasant sunshine and occasional rain. The days are still warm, so keep up with the watering and feeding, taking particular care if it’s windy, as this can dry out the potting media very quickly. Keep an eye
Towards the end of 2022, BSA was fortunate to have Evan Marsh give a demonstration on growing Shohin bonsai. Evan is well known for his prize winning Shohin and has studied with Koji Hiramatsu who is an expert Shohin grower and board member and instructor for the All-Japan Shohin- Bonsai Association. Shohin are small bonsai.
Nine members attended our workshop last month and had an interesting time doing Root over Rock figs. Some trees created at last year’s Root over Rock workshop had their roots exposed to check on progress. Of these, a few needed adjustments in their position on the rock, roots trimmed or more sphagnum moss added. They
We had a very slow start to summer, but there have finally been some hot days in January. I for one am glad that the forecast of a lot of rain didn’t eventuate, as many of my trees struggle to receive enough light at even the best of times, because of where my collection is
