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Has been called Ficus salicifolia, Ficus neriifolia, Ficus subulata, and even Ficus mexicana......................
..
now a new and improved name: FICUS SALICARIA
Has narrow leaves that respond well to leaf reduction techniques
Regular defoliation will help develop ramification.
To defoliate, cut the leaves just above the petiole.
Under very humid conditions and with a dense tropical canopy the tree will drop aerial roots
FICUS SALICARIA will make vigorous roots, called tubers.
Large surface tubers can be cut and carved to create new smaller roots from the cut surfaces.
I started training this tree in 1999
It was in a 4" pot
It thrives in shallow pots and hardly needs any roots for growth. However little root room will slow development so it’s best to put only finished shohin bonsai in a very small pot.
Chloroleucon tortum
I just removed an airlayer: Pictures
Flattened "muscular" trunks and exfoliating bark, revealing the white inner bark, add an extra special interest to the tree. If the soil does become too dry, the leaves will dry up and fall off; but in 2 weeks it buds out again. And by the 4th week the tree will be covered with new leaves and shoots!
This tree can be grown from cuttings and large branches can be air-layered to form good small trees quickly!
Chloroleucon tortum
The Seedlings are Growing
Acer palmatum
One can grow bonsai from seeds a process known as 'misho'
Seedlings can be potted together to form a "forest" or "Clump"
Japanese Maples are spectacular in the fall
Grow in Moist, well-drained soil and give Part Shade
If there are Japanese Maple trees growing near you, the seed are ripening; now is the time to gather the seeds yourself
August has been a busy time in my garden, even though we haven't had much rain. Morning, is the best time to be out though the mosquitos seem to be really thick this year. With school starting next week, I have to get as much done as I can before I am lost to faculty meetings and lesson plans. I plan to bring some of my baby bonsai to my classroom to introduce my students to the art form.
What's Growing In the Yard:
Silver Queen Sweet Corn-about 15 plants over knee high
Beans-whatever the snails leave me
Beets-just poking out
Snapdragons-I thought they would have burned up by now
gourds-no babies:0(
apache blackberries-first year growth
pineapple-little black bugs got it before me
Gulf coast Blueberry- I hope it makes it
Strawberries- slowly dying
I added a couple of pictures for you. I hope that you don't mind. Witt
Atlast I able to post some of my bonsai picture. Though they are not in a very good condition cause the scorching heat. they will look good in the months of December and January. I requst everybody to take a look on it. And if you have any suggetions or comments please let me know. I will be highly obliged. thank you. have a good day.
2-27-2009
First True leaves:
Wisteria:
There are many ways to grow bonsai; you can grow bonsai from seeds. Growing 'misho' bonsai from seedlings costs less and is very rewarding.
The Japanese Maple Acer palmatum seeds are beginning to Sprout
And all of the Wisteria seed:
Lordy I hate waiting. No camera yet, lol.
I want to get a pic of my Herb Pot. I have two sages, one silver, one purple. A Mother of Thyme and some Garlic Chives (Thanks, Poe!) that were all potted separately. So I tossed them in a big pot and wow, the space. Amazing how much space a couple pots take up! I have two Purple Thai Peppers (thanks to the seed exchange!) I had started in that pot and I repotted them to take inside as it is starting to chill a bit around here. Here is my method of herb pots. It will be great because this means we will have something green out there all winter. I am going to put a firepit out there, yes, it's a balcony. In an apartment building. My building manager was going through an abandoned storage unit and found a small smoker grill and gave it to me. With the lighter fluid. WITH the charcoal. So...we can have FIRE! Been using the heck out of the smoker, first time in years I had my OWN Carolina BBQ. The real stuff. Alder plank smoked fish...oh yum.
I have two new plants out on the balcony, two 'liberated' plants. My excuse? They SAID they wanted to come home with me and we were wandering by...and had been 'out'...and well, they came home with me. A Hardy Fern, I don't do ferns. What is wrong with me? I kidnapped adopted a fern?!? I put it in the hanging basket, and as Shannon said the fern is all 'I'm a FERN! I'm up HIGH! It's COLD and WET and I LOVE IT! WOO! I'M A FERN!' So...guess it has grown on me, it is a family member now. I am sure TIppy would love to meet it but I think the fern is safer outside (she is good about *most* plants, it is the ferny types she just can't help herself about, lol). There is another plant and Shannon has fallen in love with it. It has no use that I know of, it is just pretty. It seems to be getting happier the more it cools down (as if it ever really warmed UP this year, lol). I will take a pic of it...when I get the camera...and it is flowering (several blooms are begining to open) as I am not really a flower growing type either (too selfish with the space) so I know it is simple, but I don't know what it is!
Oh, and as a side note, I have had a few messages and comments about bonsai. If you really REALLY want to get into it, read here: BONSAI! I give a few great tips about them :D
Yeah, no camera yet. Stupid mail, lol.
This is the best time of year to devote some time to your bonsai. Thye do need to be repotted now and them, depending on the tree either one or two years. The pots are small so they tend to get rootbound a bit faster and use most of the nutrients faster. Some people insist on keeping them just as they are but I do NOT recommend that at all! Make the tree's happy. I am never the same about it, I tend to repot half in Fall and the other half in Spring. Whatever strikes me at the time.
I have pictures here that include basic maintenance as well, right here --> BONSAI
Always keep in mind, you feel better with a great haircut. So do they, but that should include the roots as well, consider it giving your tree a great haircut and pedicure. That would make YOU feel great, wouldn't it :D
Removed the Otohime Japanese Maple air layer today
Before:
After Removal:
A 4 trunk raft:
The layered section was a lower branch that would not be suitable for the final design of the tree. We started the layer about 2 months ago and it had already established a good number of roots. Nothing fancy went into the prep work. I believe we used one side of a shear to shed the bark down to the cambium, then spread rooting hormone over the section and covered it in moist sphagnum moss and a section of a plastic. We then placed wire around the bag to tighten the seal and conserve the moisture.
Coastal Georgia Bonsai Club Meeting
Sunday 18 May 2008
2:30 PM
Under the Oak
National Arboretum Faces Budget Cuts
WASHINGTON -- Supporters of the National Arboretum in northeast Washington are rallying against budget cuts
The care of Bonsai is different than houseplants and will require different techniques to grow and create. Bonsai generally is not a houseplant. It is kept outdoors and on occasion can be brought indoors for enjoyment. These plants need proper light, moisture, temperature, humidity, nutrients, and maintenance to be successfully grown.
So we had an amazing wind storm not that long ago. I even cleaned up the yard and battened down the hatches, so to speak. Got all the potted stuff down in a protected spot (will be the winter spot too!) and all the furniture and our bikes nice and tidy and close...
Max is a dumb cat, I love him so but he is CRAZY. The wind started blowing HARD but it was not raining yet so I decided to give him some outside time. Nut job goes running around with the WILD KAT look in his eyes. You know the drill...run run run...mad dash...STOP! look around madly with flashing eyes.
He does not have that collar anymore, little jerk keeps losing them. This time was the worst as it had his license and a name tag. Jerk.
Then he did this and I was thinking 'Ain't he cute!'. As you can see all the brown in him, he snuck in as a regular cat and once he was established he is letting the Maine Coon out.
Then he FLEW over to one of the cedars and ran on the roof. Not
happy. Wasn't happy a bit. He had no clue how windy it was, and how fast
he could fly off! So I ended up standing in the raised bed while he teased me
by coming to the edge when I was whistling and calling and finally came down so
I promptly tossed him inside! Jerk. Cute, fuzzy, lovable jerk.
So, on to the destruction,
The dahlia. It took one hell of a beating...
My tomatoes, oh dear, my poor Black Prince...
The radishes I let bolt? So close to get my seed? Not a chance in hell. The wind snapped every single one of them and it was going so well. They would have had SO much seed. Damn. I had a fit and went ahead and cleared them out. They are now mulch. See all those seed heads? I don't even want to look.
So, upset as I was, daunted by the greenery that needs to be cut, tossed...all of the above, I started looking around. I have pretty much missed the nice fall foliage that so many are harping on as our nicely colored leaves have been passing us at about 90 MPH. I looked at my Bonsai and had to take another glance (and pictures!) as they are most gorgeous! Here is one where I took two different breeds and literally wrapped the Female around the Male to create a piece I call 'co-dependence'. hehe. Her color is amazing! He has just started to change a bit.
And one of my favorites, these are all about 4-5 yrs old. Such a nice yellow! Guess we have to keep our trees behind a wall in order to be able to see the colors!
The Japanese Elm has lost most of its leaves so gets to show off it's corkscrew nicely!
And the Cotoneaster is showing off it's berries, the wind took off a lot of them but it still has a few ;)
Then I notice the thyme and sages, how happy they are...it has finally cooled down enough for them.
And yes, I will get in there and weed them!
My herb pot looked a little unhappy, then I looked closer and changed my mind when I saw the flowers :D
The Parsley is happy finally, it does NOT like it hot-hot-hot, haha!
I come out of the garden area and see this, a cool little volunteer. One of the great things about a rental is you really don't know what is there so it is always a surprise
Yes, I know the buggers next to it have to go, lol. I *promise* LMAO!
Heading up the hill I see the dahlia in a different light...and that bush behind it? Never stopped flowering, it was leggy, like 8 ft tall and I cut the bejeezus out of it. So it flowered and has not stopped since early spring. Oh how the honey bees and bumble bees love it!
Then I look over and see that the yellow rose our youngest decided to trim this summer, with a toy sword *eek!* gave us something.
I look to the left and see fall colors on the hydrangea with a guest that really set it off!
Much better mood. What can I say, there is good in everything...I think. Excepting our present government, hehe. I decided to FINALLY plant the alpine strawberries that have been floundering and mocking me continuing to flourish despite my treatment of them. They will be great here, this spot is full of bulbs so is interesting for about 5 minutes then Blah.
So, I lost power. It was cold and windy, rainy and the power cut off while my non tv watching butt was in the middle of Grays Anatomy. I will not get radish seed this year from my crop. My tomatoes are a mess...the dahlia is half broken and the yard is a basic mess. A basic beautiful mess!
I put one of my Nigerian Coffee trees in the perfect pot. When I got them, they were suppose to be one, but they one ended up being seven...see all those trunks?
So I had to separate them!
So...I have to bonsai at least ONE of them...right?
My mother was telling me about all of the changes she wants to make in her yard, plant this, mulch that, etc., and she says she wants to get rid of this one boxwood that she had planted to hide the oil inlet pipe used by the oil man to deliver the home heating oil. One whole side of the shrub had died, probably for two reasons. First, that side of the shrub was repeatedly exposed to the elements after shoveling all of the snow from around the oil pipe in the wintertime. Second, theoilman dragging the oil hose across the shrub to get the oilpipe would continually remove leaves and small twigs from the little bush. I asked her if she was throwing it away and when she said yes I asked her if I could have it. She said sure. So I'll now have a free plant to kill, er....I mean....try bonsaiing on. Cool! I'll post pics when I start.
Later
Well, it has been a little bit of time and I feel great! Those first couple of days were hard. All I could say was OW, that was a lot...more than I anticipated. Those smug bonsai, the Japanese Maples...the Elm...that Cotoneaster, they didn't really tell me how MUCH was involved!
But now I am HERE! I look forward to the day I get my own special pot. I know my gardener will wait until she sees something very special for me and it might sit and wait but it will be all mine!
This is what happened, I don't remember it much because I was sedated but she
told me all about it.
First off it seems I had a little brother or sister so an emergency pot had to be gotten!
After taking out my sibling I got packed back in my pot. It will be at least 6 months before I get my own bonsai pot, I will be inside by then because I know the winters are a bit harsh here for my tender leaves!
Once we got done with that I got repotted and cut and wired...I am told that it will probably be a year, but then I get to be true bonsai, with my own special pot! It may be sooner, it depends on the rate of my root growth...I am gonna try REAL hard to grow FAST! Because I am a fast grower, I got a really loose coil for my first bend. I am happy about that I really don't want any scars!
Well, here I am in my new home! It was a quick operation for which I was grateful. I don't like being out of a pot long and this, well, it made me feel a little naked! First I got taken out of the pot and almost all my roots exposed (see me blushing!)...
Then they got CUT OFF..even my tap root...that was weird! I got root hormone powder on them to help them heal and grow again. There is not much room in my new pot but I don't mind, the Elm and Cotoneaster tell me it will just be 'Cozy'.
Then I got put in my pot and got some new soil (YAAY!) and a trim and some wire, it has been years since I got wired, this was a little one compared to what I have had done in the past!
One little coil was all I needed, I had a 'wild branch' that wanted to go one way and we wanted it to go the other way! This is 16 ga. copper.
And here I am wired, before being bent...
And here I am, done...I really like it in this pot, but I was told I can have a pot just like this one that will be more plain (I like the grapes design...but my gardener thinks they are hideous!).
Some people think you need REALLY expensive tools to do this with, but not really. You just have to have a few basic tools. My gardener uses these, predominately. A simple pair of hair cutting scissors (gets in nice to trim close in small areas), a pair of flat wire nips (no sharp edges), a pair of needlenose pliers and a ring winder like the one you saw above. Simple, and found at any decent craft store at minimal cost. That way you have more cash to play with for pots...soil...trees....LOL!
They're HEEEeeeeerrrrrrrre! First of all, my little apple tree climbing buddy was born 19 minutes into the 4th of July. She's absolutely wonderful. Way cuter than my other arrivals.
That's right, there's more. I ordered 1500 ladybugs (smallest quantity available) about two weeks ago, and they came yesterday in the mail.
How cool is that? They were very eager to get out of the cup, and immediately went to work for me, crawling and flying to where the irritating and damaging bugs were making my garden a living hell. I'm pretty excited about them. I really hope they get all the bastards that have been obliterating my chamomile. It's too late for my cilantro, but . . . *sigh*
In other news, I've taken an increased interest in bonsai as of late. I actually went to a bonsai farm yesterday that I've seen many times from the road, but never stopped by before. The plants were beautiful, old, and very very expensive. To make matters more interesting, I was preached at (and even given a tract - of sorts) about Jueng San Do (an eastern religion) by the little old lady that owned and ran the farm. The religion sounded like a bunch of self-help, the end is near, my spirit is your spirit, and rather hopeless crap (to be perfectly blunt), but the experience was . . . interesting. I didn't buy anything.
I want to post a new picture of my bonsai (the one I bought a couple weeks ago), but it looks kind of silly right now. I have bread bag ties all over it, trying to train its growth. I'll post a new pic when it doesn't look so awkward. ;)
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