A tiny She-oak

This is one of my tiny air-layered She-oak/Casuarina. It comes in at 8cm tall with a 4.5cm base. The She-oak air-layered easily. In early spring, it takes only about 4 weeks to get new roots. This bonsai was first trained on the branch of a big tree. When it was about 80 -90 % complete, I air-layered it. In about 6 months they can be put into the bonsai pot. This is one very fast way to obtain a decent small bonsai in less than 2 years.

CJ

BCI Best Bonsai AABC Convention Perth 2011

This Swamp Paperbark / Melaleuca Rhaphiophylla won the BCI best bonsai award at the recent AABC Perth 2011 convention at Fremantle Esplanade Hotel. I immediately offered the tree to the Bonsai Society of WA for auction to help defray the cost of the convention. Before the convention I was told we may end up losing money. So this is my little gesture to help them. We managed to raise $1,900 which went into the convention fund. I last heard we may end up making a small profit.

This tree was dug from a development sit in Canning Vale in 2001. It was one of a number of trees I got from this dig organised by BSWA. The major part of the trunk movements were already there. My efforts involved the growing and training of the branches and the apex. So this tree is basically shaped by nature. I took it from nature and return it to society for the benefits of the community. That's the way I look at my gesture.

The Swap paperbark grow very fast and is greedy. So have to feed it frequently. I used Osmocote Plus for Natives supplemented with a liquid feed of seasol + miraclegro. Constant trimming is necessary to keep them in shape. As the wood is soft due to the fast growth, watch out for wood borer. Also sprinkle systematic insecticide on the soil to prevent the leave from mite attack which caused it to curl up. Remove water shoots immediately. Left uncheck they can grow rapidly and deprive nutrients from nearby branches leading to dieback. In the hot summer month of Perth, soak them in a shallow tray of water.

From my experiences, the Melaleuca Rhaphiophylla is one of the more tolerant of the paperbarks. I have successfully dug quite a number of them. They do tolerate bare rooting during spring.

CJ

A Banksia Bonsai

More than 10 years ago I first drove down to Albany with my family. We stopped at Mt Barker on our way back. We visited a Banksia Farm where Banksia of all varieties were grown a huge property. I bought three different Banksia seedlings to train as bonsai. This is the only successful one. I have lost the label and is not sure which particular specie of Banksia is this.

Another Small Wild Olive

This is another of the small wild olive trees which I was fortunate to come across at an Olive Plantation up in the hills in 2001. I try to train it in the way an Olive tree grows naturally.

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