Cascade Hawthorn

I found this tree last spring and to my suprise, it bloomed a couple months following collection.

 

It grew extremely well over the growing season and it may need a re-pot within the next week as it has been waking up from its slumber.

This tree has such old character for its size that I decided not to hack away any limbs. To just chop everything off would be a disservice to the feeling of this tree and its personality. Competing lichen and gnarled bark occupy have the tree and it’s truly interesting the amount of age such a small hawthorn can have. I styled it but since it’s so old already it was extremely hard to bend the branches into ideal places. Any severe bends would have simply snapped and killed off that section which is typical with Crataegus. But even so, I think this tree still has a lot to offer by keeping its wildness and ramification will improve with time.

It would be cool to have flowers again this spring but we’ll see.

Have a great day.

T*

Candelabra Larch #1 New pot

Howdy! We had a burp in temperature here and as this tree is the last to change color in the fall and is the first to wake up, it woke up.

I visited Mr. Jiri Svacina just outside of Brno in Zastavka u Brna and after some discussions and pot considerations, he disappeared into the ether of his beautiful handmade creations and returned with a strange half-shell container and sporting a peculiar grin. “Perfect!” I thought.

For now the Larch will live with it and we’ll see what happens in the future. Are there any ideas for pots that come to your mind when you see this tree?

Since things can’t seem to go normally, Europe has received another cold spell and it seems that this will continue at least until the end of the week. I placed all the trees back into the cold frame shelter and I hope that the Larch gets through okay.

Wishing for spring and warmer weather.

T,

Candelabra or Freak Larch #2

I had the same fun experience with this tree as with the first ugly larch. I have also received lots of negative feedback and negative reactions from this tree that it is a mess (maybe it is) and that there are so many problems with it, which could also be true.

To me, because this yamadori came with so many branches at the “knuckle”, I realized that I could also have a lot of fun with this tree and create something that isn’t a typical bonsai. And, if the tree already had all of this branching on it, then isn’t it natural? I didn’t place the many branches there. The tree experienced a storm, rough times, maybe a few rocks fell down on it during heavy rain or winds and yet the tree created new leaders and pushed on. Why cut all of that off? Instead you could use what the tree offers and try to make something original. Anyone else tired of only creating single trunk bonsai and listening to what is wrong and right? This art or hobby should be fun and you should try and do things that might not turn out so well.

For now, I will do just that. To keep this tree as a strange mixture of candelabra ruggedness from the high Alps and also a mixture of elegant and feminine features contrasting each other and creating tension within one tree. I am sure that this tree will also evolve and my taste might change, but oh man, this experimentation is fun.

Spring is coming! Only perhaps a few weeks before our trees start waking up here.

T.