An endemic Australian Native - Kunzea Ambigua

Sometime in 2001, while browsing through a nursery I came across a bunch of interesting looking shrub which I have never seen before. I particularly like the foliage which looks like five needle pine from a distance. I was not sure whether it is suitable for bonsai. However for a $1 each, you can't lose much. So I bought about a dozen. I started to train this fella a few months later. This is the result after 9+ years. The sequence of photos show its' development over the years. Subsequently I learned that Kunzea is endemic to Australia. That means it can only be found in Australia. Of the 35 species only one can be found outside Australia - Kunzea Ericoides which can also be found in New Zealand.

An Azalea more tiny than my smallest NZ Tea Tree Bonsai

Today I potted and photo this Azalea Satone into a proper Bonsai pot. It has been growing in this recycled plastic container for the last 4 years. At about 4cm it is even more tiny than my smallest NZ Tea Tree Bonsai. It was grown from a cutting. Satone cuttings root easily. Satone has small leave which make it highly suitable for bonsai. However the downside is this azalea don't flower. Yes NO flower.

Another Tiny NZ Tea Tree Bonsai

A few days ago, I clean this fella up and photo it for the first time. It stands at 6 cm tall. It is a Leptospermun Scoparium Red Damask.

Update On My Smallest NZ Tea Tree Bonsai

This little fella is still alive and blooming. So I took some pix of it and posted onto the IBC forum. It is about 2 inches tall. I hope to keep it alive for as long as possible. NZ tea tree is a very demanding specie to bonsai. It requires continuous care and attention. Some general guidelines on handling them are 1. Always keep the top soil moist. 2. Never completely defoliate. 3. No bare-rooting. Clean cut for root reduction. 4. Feed them well. 5. Protect them from intense heat. I am still learning. Every now and then, they and the weather throw up some nasty surprises. Recently we have a sort of heat wave record in Perth and I was not prepared for it. So I lost a few of my smaller tea trees despite my intensive care and attention.

This is one of four bottle brush I dug from a demolition site
in Nov 2001. Some, especially those deeply schooled in the
Japanese Bonsai traditions don't like the exposed "knee"
root on the right. Years ago I almost chopped it off.
Fortunately I did not. I used to be an adherant to the
Japanese Bonsai traditions. However when I see more and
more of the amazing naturalistic bonsai from Taiwan, my
bonsai consciousness widened. I began to appreciate the
different ways of bonsai art. Such exposed roots are common
in Chinese Penjing. In fact they are appreciated. So what is
ugly to some is beauty to another giving meaning to the
Taoist saying that there is beauty in ugliness. That exposed
"knee" root can be rationalised as counter balancing the
leftward inclination of the tree. You get the feeling that
it is holding the tree to the ground. Such exposed roots can
be found in nature. They are the works of wild elements
like strong wind, storm and erosion.
CJ

My smallest tea tree bonsai

This is my smallest tea tree bonsai. As tea tree bonsai are
so rare, this could well be the smallest in the world.
It is over two years old. The challenge is to keep it alive
for as long as possible. Not an easy task. I will try my best.

Bosai Society of West Australia Exhibition 2010

In Oct. the Bonsai Society of West Australia held its' 2010 Exhibition. You can watch a short video clip of the event here:

A Blooming Azalea

I bought this azalea from John Coles Nursery a few years ago. I have lost the tag and is not sure which type of azalea this is. The scares of the major cut I made to the trunk are still visible. Azalea is a slow grower. They also tend to grow side ways. I hope to grow more branches to thicken up the crown. It is now a little bare.

My First Wild Olive Bonsai

This is my first wild olive bonsai. It was given to me in August 2001 by a friend. The first picture is a graphic representation of it. My friend dug this wild olive from a farm in Brunswick, to the South of Perth. For two years nothing happen. My friend thought it was dead and almost threw it away until he was advised to give it a little more time. For some strange reason, the olive started to grow.

I cut off the base and the top three trunks along the dark line. It grew very well and by Sept 2002 which is only 13 months later, the bonsai was shaping up nicely. In 2007, I repotted it into a Japanese pot.