In October 09, I put this up for show at the Bonsai Society of
Western Australia Exhibition in Freemantle Town Hall. A few
members of the public told me that this tree reminded them of
some of our gum trees linning the roads up to Geralton. I have
not been to Geralton and so was curious. Perhaps, I should drive
up to that part of WA to have a look. Anyway this bonsai was
trained from ordinary nursery stock which cost me A$1 ( no
mistake one dollar) over the last 8-9 years. I have put in some
extra efforts on the refinement of this bonsai and like the result.
The efforts were worth it. Even though it is only 29cm tall, it
does look like one of our old gum tree growing wild. This, in my
view, is the essence of bonsai. The creation of an illusion that
you have somehow magically shrunk a fullgrown tree to grow in
a pot. The scientific name used to be Baeckea Virgata but has
now been renamed as Babingtonia Virgata. This specie has nice
bark, fine foliages and tiny white flowers. However the matured
wood is brittle and the foliages need constant maintenance to
stay in shape. It is quiet hardy and do tolerate drastic root
prunning. Will bud back.
