Rich Patronages Drive Taiwan Bonsai Scene

The rich in Taiwan are collecting bonsai in addition to antique. This is one of the major reason for the vibrancy of the Taiwanese Bonsai scene. Money and plenty of it are driving this market. The prices being quoted for some of these bonsai are way beyond the means of most people. I counted at least 30 bonsai on display in the name of this person whom I learned is a wealth Taiwanese businessman. Here are some of his trees on display.

More Pix of Taiwan Aspac2009

Massive Taiwan 10th ASPAC 2009

Recently I spend a week in Taiwan attending the massive Taiwan 10th ASPAC 2009. Massive in the number of trees - 760. Massive in the size of the tree - most of them are more than 2 person bonsai. Some may even need a folklift. Massive in the standard and quality of bonsai on display. Massive in the bonsai not on display. Mr Loh Min Suan had only two trees on display. Some well known Taiwanese masters were not represented. Amy Liang still has hundreds in her private garden. Massive in the materials available. Tawan has definitely established itself as a world leader in bonsai. Here are some of the hundreds of photos I took. Will post more as and when I have the time.

Another Type of tea tree

This is another type of tea tree. It is a Leptospermum polygalifolium or more commonly listed as Leptospermum flavescens. This cultivar is Pacific Beauty. The biliogical age of the tree is more than 20 years. I have been training it for the last 6 - 7 years. The natural form of the tree is weeping which is the way I trained it. It flowers abundantly in early Spring. Quiet a sight especially those mature trees growing in the ground. From a distance they look like snow in Spring.

A Leptospermum Scoparium Pink Cascade Bonsai

The scientific name for Manuka is Leptospermum Scoparium. Leptospermum Scoparium is one of 80 specie in the Leptospermum family. There are many varieties of Leptospermum Scoparium. The most common is Leptospermum Scoparium Pink Cascade. Today I post one of my Pink Cascade bonsai. It was trained from ordinary nursery stock for about 9 years.

New Zealand Tea Tree - The Ultimate in Forbidden Bonsai

The New Zealand Tea Tree also commonly known as Manuka is an extremely difficult specie to develop and train into good bonsai. It has the reputation as THE ULTIMATE IN FORBIDDEN BONSAI. Had I known about this earlier, I might not have taken on this journey. As the saying goes "Ignorance is bliss.". It was only after I successfully bonsai the Manuka that I learned that many have tried but very few succeeded. I have seen only two New Zealand Tea Tree Bonsai outside my garden. One in Japan, and the other owned by an acquintance in Perth, Western Australia.
This adventure of mine started in 1987. I was on holiday with my family in Western Australia and was overwhelmed by the beauty of Manuka flowers. With my bonsai interests, I thought the Manuka with its' tiny foliages and attractive flowers might be a good candidate for bonsai. So when I moved to Perth in 1998 and after settling the family in, I bought some Manuka to bonsai. How little did I realized what I was in for.
To cut a long story short, I killed three dozens of them before I succeeded in extracting their (Manuka) secrets of handling them to their satisfactions. Even as garden plants, the Manuka is very fickle. They are extremely touchy and slight disturbance of their roots or lack of care and they wish you goodbye. For the first time, I learned of Instant Death in plant. An ex-nursery person told me that they usually lost half of their Manuka stock.
I will post the results of my over 10 years of frustrations and joy in developing and caring for New Zealand Tea Tree Bonsai.