Challenges of Bonsai: Tree loss

 

 

  Bonsai loss:  Cause unknown

   As a very long-term DIY'er,  I have always thought it supremely  annoying to see projects fail, whether they are stalled, delayed fall apart, or go backwards faster than I  can build or repair them.  Broken walls, cracked mortar. loose bricks, fading paint, rusting metal.   Ordinary stuff to be expected. In real life it is annoying to say the least.
      A failed hobby is the same, it irritates to discover a new idea doesn't work,  a high-potential  creation cracks in the kiln,  or an exciting new  technique results in an object of unbelievable uselessness.  A pragmatic approach has to be taken at times with 'works of the mind, and even more so with works of the  hands'.  Sometimes failure is funny. Sometimes not.

As a gardener, it bothers me to see persistent weeds, poor plant specimens,  soil turning rock hard, bone dry,  and unproductive except for stones of all descriptions.
 New vegetables being ransacked by animal invaders is irritating at best.  It happens. Animals do animal stuff.  We get it.
Tilly the Tall and Ebony the Short (T.T.T & E.T.S.) used to run about in the garden at times, the paths are dog-tag-you're-it-catch-me-now  race tracks,after all,  isn't it? ...... Okay, they're good pups, they easily learned how not to play pup-tag on newly-transplanted tomato plants or delicate, picture-perfect, new flower-beds.
Bad weather--we have lots of that too,  and we cross our fingers and hope. It rained nicely this afternoon, got soaked,  sun's out now. Fine.   

 None of the above, however,  has been as confusing and disheartening as seeing bonsai, years of work --disappear in front of our eyes, some dying quickly, some struggling valiantly,  dropping needles and leaves--and others gone totally dead within 3 or 4 days. Bonsai is a wonderful hobby that takes time, dedication and eventually, learned skills. Failure taxes the mind when the cost is paid in living things. Trees. Miniature, beautiful trees.

An "event" of some kind caused major needle drop, drying, and in some cases, seemingly instant death for many trees --and widely--in our geographical location. Conifer trees were primarily affected;  White Spruce, Black Spruce, Juniper, and some Cedars. Few deciduous trees were affected.  Needle drop in some instances was almost immediate; in other cases the needles browned and gradually dropped off.  Some trees showed only partial damage almost immediately .

Some bonsai showed only partial damage immediately

Trees adjacent to one another were often not affected. Very strange, to say the least. Inexplicable patterns of damage. 
After the initial needle drop, a few trees spouted orphan, small clumps of green needles out at the tips of the branches.  A sign of hope. Some of the natural trees in our wood lot grew quite a few new bunches of needles. The trees look strange with green needles growing out at the very tips.Some of the tip growth was accelerated at an unbelievable rate.

Not so with the  bonsai. The majority of the new green  needle tips showed up quickly, but wilted and dried up even faster. The trees gave up the ghost. We waited.

Strangely,   -adjacent trees-- even  in the same pot-- were not affected 

 We  avoided  facing the issue, disturbing them or 'donating' them to the compost pile for a few weeks, probably more out of wishful thinking rather than logic. Some of the "less affected"   trees almost looked like they would survive, but no. Lush green turned to dull green. Dull green turned to faded, pale gray- green or brown. Like the natural trees, on some trees the needles turned bone dry and dropped off,-- in some cases only three or four days.

Natural White Spruce : Now deceased   More than 60 years old verified  by trunk ring count

 A couple of days ago we bit the bullet and faced reality, tore them out of their pots and wheeled them away. It was not, so say the least,  a happy day at Whitewood Forge.

Down for the Count ?

In total, more than 60 individual trees were removed, including a couple of venerable specimens that were an estimated 70-80 years old--perhaps older,  --beautiful, natural bonsai that were collected 20 years ago and carefully nurtured.
Among the notable casualties was Grumpy, a long-term special pseudo-trunk grafting project, the subject of one of my previous posts. It took 5 years alone for the trunks to unify. So what-- Grumpy's  needles turned brown and fell off right along with the others. I sadly removed his failed prosthesis for a future grafting project.  

The future

A number of our cherished trees are still valiantly struggling and also may or may not survive. We are hopeful and persistent and damned stubborn too, --like they are, those tough little spirits from the forest.

Completely Natural White Spruce estimated 80 years old : Severely stressed. Under watch

Total losses?  The ultimate toll is unknown do date. With over 60 scrapped at this date, an estimated 85 trees or more, fully one-half of our collection--may eventually succumb.  Individual trees, members of group plantings, mini-forests. --We'll see. 

So, what happened?

The fact is, the cause of this unfortunate event is unknown.
 Conifers in northern Canada do not suffer from severe cold. Minus 40F  (-40C)   is routine. 
Hot, dry summers are routine.  Using 'unusual weather' as a 'cause',  the  'generally accepted explanation is illogical and sublime.
 White,  Red and Jackpines seem to be unscathed.  In the natural population of  White Spruce, black spruce, cedar and others, some individual trees were unaffected while adjacent trees died within a few days. Why? 
Other possibilities include  recent and timely solar flares, discharged air contaminants from industry,  or the most unthinkable,  elective destruction by spraying. The hole in the ozone layer shifted over our geological location.  What?  The pattern of damage can not be explained.
 Interestingly, the tree species typically planted by forestry companies do not appear to have been affected. Why?  Readers at Incoming Bytes are encouraged to think for themselves.

Bottom Line:  So what?

Fortunately, we still have a number of trees, and we shall  continue to develop new healthy ones. That's how Mother Nature works. Meantime,  Grumpy will get a replacement graft, perhaps even one of a different species-- and shall thrive. Our collection will do the same.

Grumpy the White Spruce peacefully snoozing in happier days; just prior to Repotting

 
Our dedication to and our  love of the hobby of bonsai  is not diminished; in fact it has grown ever more important. We intend to persist, to learn, to get smarter, and continue doing what we enjoy. Alternative strategies may be involved; for example, we will likely diversify our collection to prevent such  massive losses involving one species.

Meantime,  R.I.P.  Grumpy. You were a White Spruce bonsai with heart.

Is that incoming I hear?

An ordinary Saturday

Lonesome Daffodils

It's just an ordinary Saturday.
You know the kind,  'open the eyes when  clock-timer-dog  says  wake up,  yawn, prop the eye lids open, look out the window'. That kind.

 There are no deer at the foot of the garden this morning.  It's actually spring, but it's still cool and a bit gray.  The cold air smells fresh.  The lawn is greening a bit and there are a couple of lonesome  white and yellow daffodils out.

Fall-planted garlic

 I inspect the garden out of habit, looking for deer tracks.  There are none.
 Out in the garden, the fall-planted garlic is 10" high already.  It was peeping through the last snowfall.

  Amazing. Promising.




   
I must take Tilly the Tall  and Ebony the Short  (TTT and ETS) down the trails for their morning dog-a-thon.  It's cool outside, even huddled inside a jacket.  Too early and wet to garden, the  chilly wet  morning avoidance contingency plan kicks in.

 It's a good one. I know, it's just a typical escapist N.W. Ontario morning plan.  Procrastinate. Stay in and drink coffee.  Read.  Maybe some toast and jam, the  homemade strawberry kind. 
The pups are already flat-back schmoozing, that took about a minute after the towel-down. They're  worn out after morning dilly-dallying  and incessant play.
The clock ticks softly. The coffee smells good.  The plan is shaping up fine.
 I settle in and read.  I enjoy reading, it's one of my hobbies. I collect 'bits and bobs' ( Brit. slang )--information, that would be,  but my loyal readers know it's construction material for Incoming Bytes.
  It's amazing how much  information, knowledge, and variety is out there. Web sites. Word mills. Blogs, thousands of them.  Musings. Short stories, articles, opinions big and small, the soothing rhythm and charm of souls poetic . 
Some articles  I envy, the kind I wish I could write sometimes;  serious efforts at repairing humankind. Let's make that mankind;   I have to be honest, I don't appreciate the hypocrisy of  PC jargon. Politicized crap and garble, mindless, misused protocol. How to sensationalize boredom--but I digress.
 I read technical articles, fiction, and pretty much everything  that catches the eye.  News. Columnists. How to write.  Train the muse to dance with two left feet and  write faster. How to write when the stubborn muse is on strike and refuses to cooperate. How to do woodwork, build shelves, stairs or lay ceramic. How to pan for gold.  All about bonsai, you know, the little trees in  pots. That's one of my hobbies.  I could learn to tan a hide, grow stuff, facet diamonds, rebuild a diesel engine, crochet, or construct a chicken-wire fence. 
I cannot hope to ever read all of the classics, old literature or complicated technical content I would like to. I tend to soak it up, and digest it, but it becomes relegated to it's status,  it's pecking order in life;  perhaps waylaid,  it's relevance lost in the brain temporarily.  Recall comes to mind. Restore when needed. File nine.
Creativity, art, substance, questions,  the human condition exacerbates the human  reality at times;  persistent content sticks in the mind, if reluctantly.  Is there a better day for remembering stuff?
The blogosphere doesn't discriminate. Saturday or Wednesday, Tuesdays or Friday. No matter. Monday, Thursday, or Sunday,  they're all out of order anyway. 
Which day is better to read, observe, and listen?  Can the brain ever be filled to capacity? I cannot imagine how.  The mind stalling at capacity could ruin this very ordinary Saturday.

 I wonder why I cannot read faster, too. It would be handy. I already 'speed read', but not nearly fast enough. Skimming pages, sites, blogs.  Look up words unknown, get the context right, the online dictionary comes in handy for that.
 The unexpected. Surprises.  Interruptions.  I know;  at times we must suffer wonderful cinnamon buns instead of cookies, but that's life,  that's what's in the oven.  The construction of life itself.  Baking.  Saturday morning stuff. 

 Now to do something different.   Review the A to Z Challenge. Twenty-six posts.
 We did it. I actually survived and completed it.  I met some wonderful writers in the process, great bloggers,  read a lot of excellent writing,  and learned an awful lot.  I received great and kind comments here at Incoming Bytes. I do thank everyone for their kindness, consideration, and dedication.  Back to the xylography of ordinary life if such a beast exists.
  Shall I play with the pups some more?
Nope, they're still sleeping. Running around all day can be tiring, I better let them save some energy. 
Like me, they'll need it.  Why not teach old dogs new tricks?
Anything is possible--later.
 Meantime the coffee and cinnamon buns call clearly on this very ordinary Saturday, and a little snooze might work too.  Oh..almost 2:00 pm......time must be broken.....


 

Is that incoming I hear?

More about Bonsai: Grow a tiny tree

*Chinese Elm (c)  2006 National Bonsai Foundation

A fine example of bonsai in North America . The Chinese Elm  (Ulmus Parvifolia )  above is on  display at the U.S National Arboretum .  This elegant elegant Elm  has  been in training since 1956  !

 At Incoming Bytes one of my favourite past times  is playing with indigenous species and  attempting to grow bonsai--real trees that grow for many years in pots.  As a hobbyist I work with indigenous species simply because they are already acclimatized to our severe weather conditions.

There are dignified, elegant  old bonsai specimens that are many hundreds of years old in Japan and China. 
Fabulous specimens  like the Elm above also exist in North American displays . 
Here in Northwestern Ontario, I do not pretend to be able to immediately imitate the results of many decades and centuries of labour by dedicated bonsai specialists in China or Japan.  
We can, however, produce amazing results in a few years with patience and some learned techniques.  
 As hobbyists, realistically,  we may not have 400 years to train  little trees,  but with patience we can  can grow  presentable and very beautiful  bonsai using proven techniques that can be learned. 
The following article on creating your own Bonsai was published in Helium in 2007.  Enjoy!
Grow a tiny tree-create your own bonsai !

        This simple experimental bonsai discussion may change your mind, like growing things often do.  Ideas change with the learning process, so may it be here that you discover the spirit and joys of Bonsai, an ancient eastern art form that has spread throughout the world at an amazing rate, as people everywhere have discovered the incredible beauty and allure of these tiny trees. Bonsai can and most likely will affect your life.
They grow in your mind just as they grow in your environment.......read more...
                         

 *Here at Incoming Bytes we will be discussing some interesting ideas and methods of creating bonsai  in future posts .  
 *Is that incoming I hear?    
                       


 That's my story and I'm sticking to it


* Photograph  courtesy of the National Bonsai Foundation Supporting the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum 

2012: Is that Incoming I hear?

The Age of Light is upon us...

 Incoming, --frozen solid, or moving in, one at a time?
New Year's Eve  is  a distant memory and January is more than half used up already. The unusually mild winter did a nasty to all January sun-lovers including us here at Incoming Bytes, changing  our freakish snow-laden banana-belt sauna-weather to a more realistic  and politically-correct Canadian January with dry, brutal cold.  It's almost enough to freeze your tongue to a steel pipe, don't you think so?
The garden and bonsai are stored snugly, cozy as can be under a blanket of snow. How lucky for them.   

 It is -33C  ( -27.4F)   today; --that is without any wind.    It was -25C yesterday with a vicious wind--yet in the unheated  sunny greenhouse it was an amazing 5C +(41F)   ...that's almost banana-land warm, sans beach  and iced tequila Sunrise.....imagine that.
Out in the "outerworld,", the real world, -- you know the quaint place where the REST of the world exists?   There are many things happening.
 Earthquakes. Flooding.  Famine.
 Strange underground noises, um....hums, buzzes and shake-ups  too.  Let's draw the  government-supplied  Roswellian window-shades. If we don't look, The truth is not out there. um....ok,,,,um...ok...ding-dong, you're wrong, The Age of Light is upon us....
Shifting earth crustal-bustals.  Tsunami, real Japan-movers.  North poles going south.   Islands rising in the sun just for fun.
 Solar and brain flares are disrupting  electronics, harmonics  and logic. What's that, you say?  Illogical, you say?   Haarp, the Harold angels Zing us with vapour trails delight;
 Political unrest, demonstrations  and nasty riots instead of  quiets.
 International tension-mentions of  nuclear threats, to  positing aircraft carriers in a genuine fear of war games and strange, apocalyptic  joy at the prospect of inevitable and uncontrollable war games.  Fill  the Strait of Hormuz with the crooked scorched bones of lunatics,  pave the parking lots with glass, shall we insist, resist or desist? Nuclear ready or not, here we come....
Totally insane, greedy leaders of itchy,  pseudo-religious miserable self-declared self-righteous countries acting  like they've been out in the sun far too long -because they have been out in the sun for far too long.  Invest, protest and re-test  for Collective, unsurpassed madness and profit in the radioactive Middle East Oil patch.   Hatch a new radioactive plan to do everything radioactively.  
Redefine  mutant civilization?  That’s fine. Drink Iodine.
Camp out, Occupy  this, economic recession to  big Depression,  dangerous repression of civil liberties world-wide.
Wikipedia blackouts?  Ugly SOPA-box....Legislated PIPA, vibes of Internet Big Brother sticking his nose in the business of scribes? 
   
Seems like a normal day to me.
But wait....what is really Incoming? 



that's my story and I'm sticking to it

Bonsai: Winter Care

12 year old Lilac (with pink Oxalis and mosses )  on a Natural Basalt stone 'pot'

Our loyal readers of  Incoming Bytes  know that  some  of my favourite distractions are gardening,  growing things, experimenting  with  apple trees,  and  bonsai.  Trees in pots.
 
When winter comes along, everything slows down,  so what, the leaves fall off,  stuff  goes dormant, and that's that-- we end up doing something else for a few months.  We contemplate, plan for next year, rearrange,  diddle, design, and optimize.  Where we live, ensuring our perennials survive the very cold winter of Northern Ontario is mandatory.

Because they are just potted plants, it is easy to forget  bonsai are real trees, however diminutive. Bonsai may be tougher than other potted plants, but winter comes for them too.

Why would we bother to winterize little trees when we know most trees are incredibly tough?  Their 80-foot tall relatives  take a beating, surviving  whimsical and unpredictable conditions, don't they? Don't big trees survive howling winds, freezing rain, snow and ice, attacks by mice, rabbits and deer alike?   Why would we need to 'store' bonsai when winter comes along? 

They may equally be trees, but the significant difference is:

• Bonsai grow in a very limited, even tiny amounts of soil, and  survive on  small amounts of nutrients.  They do not have unlimited soil under them.
• They have smaller root systems which are stressed more easily , 
• Swings in temperature including freeze / thaw cycles  within ceramic pots  are more rapid and extreme.  Hard freezing of moisture and expansion in potted plants can dislocate roots from the soil and break the pots too.
• There is less moisture reserve, so  small pots can dry out quickly, particularly in desiccating fall and winter winds.  
• Small trees, particularly apple, pear, cherry, maple and birch trees have sweet bark that may be damaged by foraging mice, rabbits or even  deer. 
• Foliage can be destroyed and compressed, branches can be broken by excessive ice and snow load,

 Extra care should be taken to protect valuable bonsai  during the fall and winter --and there are several methods that can be used to ensure your bonsai survive the winter with minimal damage.

Options include: 

• Move bonsai into a cool room in your home, a garage, or  green house. Hot, dry air in most homes  is undesirable. Turn down and control the heat in that area if possible.
• Store bonsai in a  "cold house"  (unheated greenhouse). Few hobbyists  can afford to have greenhouses heated year round,  so an unheated greenhouse is fine. Keep in mind the trees must be checked and watered regularly to keep the soil from drying out in dry winter air--particularly the smallest trees.
• Building a simple shelter roof over the bonsai display shelves.  This can be as simple as a narrow single- pitch roof over the shelf area  supported by two poles to protect trees from  heavy snow load accumulation.  Add a slatted wall on the  side the wind normally prevails from to protect your trees from brutal winter wind.  This method of storage is fine for larger trees which have larger soil volume and can withstand more severe weather. 

• In very severe climates, consider storing bonsai directly on the ground.   In North western Ontario, this method is my favorite.  It has been quite successful, with very few trees lost over 15 years. The method attempts to mimic the conditions a small indigenous tree would experience  growing naturally in the wilds. The dry leaf cover reduces soil drying, so once bedded down, the trees can essentially remain untouched over the winter. 

Here's what part of our collection looked like going into storage.  Note the pots are being placed directly on the damp grass. Pots are put shoulder to shoulder with no spacing, placing trees of similar size and height adjacent to one another.
The old  desk in the background is  part of Mother Nature's Bonsai School.

Bonsai pots being placed directly on the grass

 It takes a huge pile of leaves to bed this collection of over 150 bonsai pots.

Bonsai Collection tucked in winter bed  with dry leaves

The dried leaves are dropped on bonsai and tucked in under tree crowns where required.  Many  of the smallest trees are covered entirely with a couple of inches  of leaves.
 *Notice the Spartan apple tree sprout still has GREEN leaves on. For November 3, 2011, that is pretty amazing.  Young fruit trees can survive winter storage using this  method.  This Spartan  has survived winter  two years already and will be planted in the spring.

Here's what the same collection looks like after it froze and collected a few inches of snow.  In winters of heavier snow collections, only the tips of the very tallest may be seen.

Winter storage of bonsai. * Note the chicken-wire enclosure.

 Note the enclosure made of ordinary chicken-wire netting and some temporary steel posts that can be quickly and easily  removed from the lawn in the spring.

The only caveats that apply to this simple storage system are:

• If you live in an area where heavy, wet extreme snowfall is normal,  snow loads may break branches or deform crowns if they are thick and  not supported properly.   This method of storage is not recommended for extremely valuable old specimens in stages of advanced design.
• Non-indigenous species from warmer geographical locations are subject to frost damage, so should be in a warm environment
• If  bonsai are bedded too early they may not be dormant. *Ensure your trees are fully dormant with no leaves,  especially if they are small specimens that may be covered completely.
• Water the trees prior to installing the leaf cover with dry leaves. Do not soak down the leaves to minimize compacting and matting over smaller trees.
• Timing is important.  The ideal time to cover your bonsai is just before serious cold weather sets in. If it warms up and snow melts, the bonsai will be self-watering and absorb some water from the ground beneath. 

 In the spring, remove the leaves after the snow has melted. It is not necessary to remove every leaf but do expose the moss-covered  surfaces on each pot. Leaving a heavy leaf cover  too late in the spring  may encourage opportunistic molds to grow on the soil, moss surfaces, or even the trees themselves. 
Some pots  may also  be frozen to the ground and should be left undisturbed until easily loosened to avoid breakage.
Return the trees to your display area in the spring.  Wipe the pots down carefully, remove trash, sticks  and leaves,  and prune the trees  if required.  Let's not forget inspecting the trees for  compacted  root systems,  root trimming,  wiring,  topping up of soil,  design changes or other modifications.

 It's also a great time to photograph your trees while they are bare,  plan their long-term designs,  and transfer them into permanent or  larger pots  as required!

100 Posts Later....

Discovery of the Light can be Blinding.....

This is a special occasion. One Hundred, count them, yes,  100 posts later, we're still here at Incoming Bytes !   We are still here.

Isn't that amazing? Why did we persist so?  Stubbornness. Foolishness, persistence,  the will to survive, no matter what?
Detractors and critics --we are sorry to disappoint you.  We didn't give up. We didn't quit. We did not run out of stuff to write about either.
Loyal friends, contributors, supporters and readers, rejoice, we clearly shall overcome!

We have become a real blog, talking about real stuff. 
From the abuse of Kakabeka Falls  to Fukushima Japan's nuclear disaster, elections and disastrous political games,  the destruction of Canada's Avro Arrow--an aircraft that has few equals even 50 years later!  We  happily digressed to  bonsai and heaps of gardening all the way to the Middle East--- and even dared to wander back home into dull, boring politics, electioneering and tongue-in-cheek political-psycho-babble, sanctions and mousy local dictatorships.
From sugar-maple  mysteries,  discussions of garden zeitgeists,   Glory Lennon our gardener  all the way from  sunflowers to oaks,  we have even migrated across  the tender economics of economic growth, global failure and the fall of nasty dictators.
Snowmobile high-marking made it to the foreground when that foolish, mindless sport caused deaths yet again last winter!   Will they never LEARN?  
Predictions of Doomsday were discussed right on time, but Harold Camping and his doomsday money-making machine  failed to make it happen.  Twice yet!  
A couple of wonderful guest posts were included,  one by  Adriana Heep, a young thinker who clearly offers hope for humanity,   and  M.J Joachim (Gum Pets on the Hill)  who stirred the hearts of  alert readers with her  distinguished voice in poetic justice. 

We  even got to the point of  telling stories, checking out Glorious Flower Power, tales of persistence and  and  promoting the publishing  of eBooks, starting with my new Christmas classic, Morgidoo's Christmas Carol.  We have hypothesized about the new Age of Light --and recently welcomed a new website  EffectivelyHuman.com, a site that promotes human worth and dignity, something necessary to initiate the Age of Light.   We asked questions. 


I still like this question the best:  "Is willful nuclear expansion a sign of collective human insanity, insatiable corporate greed, total lunacy, irresponsible governance, --or proof positive of all of the above?"  (MUST WE Contaminate the world with Radiation? Say NO! (Mar.23rd 2011)


As a reader, what more could you ask ?   The fact is, almost any subject matter  may show up at Incoming Bytes.
Where are we going NEXT?   Wait and see.  Stay tuned.  Participate!  Enjoy!

Where do we stand after 100 posts? We still want you to  think, --if you dare. We also want you to stand and be counted.


That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Bonsai are Real trees: Grow one, Ready or Not

A lonely  12 y.o.  White Spruce Bonsai waiting to be put to bed for the winter

 
For some unknown reason, it is often thought that Bonsai are exotic, difficult, and beyond the skill set of the average gardener.

Upon close observation, nothing could be further from the truth --excellent gardeners already know what plants and trees need to survive; soil containing nutrients and moisture.  The only thing missing is the patience required,  the  will to do so --and some basic techniques that make the process not more difficult, but faster, and  more likely to succeed. The white spruce above is about 12 years old and "designed" to some degree.
If you can successfully keep a potted plant alive from year to year, you can grow a bonsai.

10 yr. old Trident Maple Bonsai  (c) r.a.kukkee

The truth is that bonsai can be exotic species, or  made exotic. With formal rules of design, the art can be both difficult and exacting at times, if one insists on starting out with all  formal bonsai rules to the letter--not a smart place to begin, since we do not become NASCAR champions, Olympians, or NHL stars instantly either.

The average gardener CAN, with reasonable effort, grow and maintain a 'bonsai' -- for a bonsai is, with all of the mystery stripped away, "a tree in a pot".  

Ready or not, (and green thumb or not)  the ancient art of Bonsai--can be dabbled in, experimented with, and enjoyed, inexpensively and successfully, --by growing your own using several  methods of propagation.
Don't be fooled by "bonsai kits" offering expensive "bonsai seeds"--for they are little but overpriced, quite ordinary seeds from mature trees.

How about just planting an ordinary tree seed yourself--or   grow a new tree from a twig.   Find a baby sapling and work with it. Use indigenous species to start, --if only because you have lots of material to work with that will  survive in the climate  in your area.

That sounds easier already, doesn't it?  Why "grow" a bonsai?  The preferable question might  be "why NOT  grow a bonsai?"    Mostly because they're beautiful and fascinating.  They also teach one patience and offer an affinity with nature. 

The red leaves displayed above are flaunted by one of my favourite trees,  a trident maple  in full  autumn colour,-- and the leaves are even a bit faded.   It is in an ordinary clay training pot.  Beautiful, isn't it?  I started this one from a mere slip of a twig with a couple of tiny leaves on it--  you got it--about 10 years ago. 

You can grow one too.   Stay tuned, we'll get to that later. This week we're putting our bonsai to 'bed' for the winter using our own method.  Over about 15 years, we've  lost fewer than  a half dozen trees and a couple of soft clay pots from freezing--an excellent record for a climate with severe weather. 

Trident maple,  White Spuce, et al,  good night--for the winter. Sweet dreams.



That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Sugar Maples turn Red but Maple Trees of all Sorts Wanna be Red Too

Our ongoing discussion on Sugar maples has been elevated another notch, and here at Incoming Bytes  we enjoy clarification of facts, identification of species and other relevant questions that arise,
In  Sugar Maples do Turn Red  I included a couple of photos of leaves from genuine sugar maple trees that offer natural sap almost as  sweet as any corn syrup-- and they obviously turn red upon occasion if conditions are right.

In  the ongoing sugar-maple marathon, ( a sweet debate indeed)     the subject of Trident maples also came up.  Trident maples  have leaves displaying 3 (moderately sharp)  lobes also, see the pic including the muddy gardening-tree guy fingers?

Trident Maple leaf  and Muddy Fingers

Trident Maple Bonsai  in Training Pot

That single  leaf  from the photo is from a Trident, and they do turn red too --or at least they do in our location. 

The Bonsai trident in the second photo  was started from a cutting from  exactly the SAME  Trident maple tree in our yard  --and each year at this time, the bonsai  turns brilliant red.  In this photo,  you can see the colour was spectacular-- in the picture,the leaves  are already in fact-- quite faded!

Note that on the bonsai the tiny leaves (about a half inch long)    are much reduced in size compared to the full-sized tree leaf above, which can be  3" or longer.  If cared for properly the leaves on the bonsai tree --confined to the pot -- will become even smaller,
This species -with the exception of the relatively brittle wood-- is ideal for bonsai and the specimen is about 10 years old.    On the bonsai also  notice the similarity of colour of the bark to that of the REAL sugar maple in the previous post.


The second bonsai  Trident maple following is even smaller--the leaves are even tinier, and although quite faded, even brighter  red in colour.

Trident Maple 8" high  grown from cutting  in hand-made clay  pot

                   
 I wonder if the bonsai trident maples might be persuaded to give very tiny bottles of maple syrup  by boiling very tiny pails of maple sap over very tiny fires?   What a sweet idea!

It seems there are many maples, all wanting to be red....and read about.



That's my story and I'm sticking to it.