Not Bonsai

Tags

Bonsai, logic, not bonsai, sculpture, tree, wire

This is not a human. It is stone. It is also not George Washington. George Washington was a living person and this is not. This is a sculpture representing George Washington.

Jean-Antoine Houdon, George Washington, 1788–92. arthistoryteachingresources.org

The image below is also meant to represent George Washington by way of a costume. In addition, it is a (photo of) a living, breathing human being — not a sculpture. (As an added bonus to the topic at hand, this particular example is smaller than the original man.)

Photo from Party City. You can buy this costume there if you like.

Quick question… is the boy in the George Washington costume meant to represent the man, or represent the sculpture of the man?

If the designer who created the costume took inspiration from the Houdon or some other sculpture, would you then think the boy is meant to represent a sculpture? Or to represent the man — the first president? I would say the man.

Now let’s talk about this.

Wire Tree Sculpture by Rick Skursky. Before I go off the deep end, let me take a moment to acknowledge this perfectly lovely sculpture. Rick won my recognition here for a couple of reasons: this example came up quickly in a Google search, and his sculpture is named appropriately, “Wire Tree Sculpture.” If you like it, the website where I found it says it is for sale.

Now to my point…

THIS IS NOT A BONSAI!

THIS IS ALSO NOT A SCULPTURE OF A BONSAI.

This is a sculpture of a tree. In my humble opinion, neither this nor any other wire sculpture of a tree should ever be referred to as bonsai, wire bonsai, bonsai sculpture or any variation thereof, and this is for the same reasons, described above, that the boy is not wearing a sculpture costume, but rather a George Washington costume.

A bonsai is a living plant in a pot that is a miniature representation of a full size tree. Bonsai is an art form. It is living sculpture.

A wire sculpture is not living plant so it does not meet the definition of bonsai. I think we can all agree on that point, but even if the wire artist was inspired by bonsai, he is using that inspiration to represent the same subject as bonsai — a tree.

I hope I have sufficiently explained my logic in this conclusion. Now, kindly refrain from referring to wire tree sculptures as bonsai. And could one of you please correct all the places it is wrong on the internet?

Thank you!

The Three Bears

Tags

Bonsai, December, Elaeagnus, pruning, winter

Once upon a time, on an very warm and pleasant December day, three Bonsai went to the bench for a winter cleaning. All three were Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata). There was a big, thick Elaeagnus; a medium, curvy Elaeagnus; and a tiny, shohin Elaeagnus.

Mama bear before pruning (Elaeagnus umbellata, 2020)

The three bears had been allowed to grow out for the last months of the growing season so each had long branches to be trimmed before hibernating for the winter. Despite being so late in the season, none of them had dropped all of their leaves. But this is normal for autumn olive in Northern Virginia. The oldest, inner leaves had fallen away, and a gradation of leaves from green to yellow-brown still clung to the newest growth on the outer branches. This is how I knew the time for a winter pruning was just right… not to early… and not too late.

A range of leaf colors which had not fallen.

Because the remaining leaves were at the end of the newest growth, there was no need to cut the leaves away individually. Pruning to two or three buds at the base of the new growth removed the remaining leaves, and setup the tree for spring growth that will improve ramification.

Mama Bear after pruning. (Elaeagnus umbellata, 2020)

Papa bear before pruning. (Elaeagnus umbellata, 2020)

Papa bear after pruning. (Elaeagnus umbellata, 2020)

The largest tree still needs the upper trunk line to thicken and improve the taper and transition from lower to upper trunk. To help this process along, I left one long sacrifice branch that I will allow to grow freely next season, even as I begin to refine the lower branching.

Baby bear after a hedge clip but before selective pruning. (Elaeagnus umbellata, 2020)

Baby bear after pruning. (Elaeagnus umbellata, 2020)

All of the three bears need wire, but I will wait until late winter or early spring to apply it. For now, I will dress the cuts with cut paste and let them rest. Here’s hoping they will continue to develop, and live happily ever after.

Bonsai Cabinetry

Tags

Bonsai, cold frame, outside, protect, winter

I’ll answer two questions in this brief post about winterizing bonsai:

1. What is bonsai cabinetry (according to Bonsai Iterate)?
2. What is a cabinet-tree? (See what I did there?)

Follow up: Boxwood Air Layer

Tags

air layer, Bonsai, boxwood, follow up

Over the past few years I have attempted multiple air layers on boxwood and have never done a follow up. Examples of posts that describe my attempts include Working Back a Boxwood and A Big Boxwood Experiment. The reason I haven’t been excited to do a follow up is… none of them have succeeded!

The tree made me do it.

Tags

cutting, experiment, ficus, fig, leaf, propagation

I’ve joked for years that I’m trying to quit tropicals. I only have a handful – 7 or 8 trees. I don’t have any more window space to keep more in the winter, and I refuse to invest in grow lights when there are temperate species perfectly happy to spend the winter outside.

Then something like this happens!

Boxwood Carving

Tags

Bonsai, boxwood, buxus, carving, deadwood

I took my time working through a carving project this summer. Did a lot of looking and thinking about it, and spent several different sessions working the deadwood with hand tools and power tools.

Before carving, 2020

An Actual Bonsai Show

Tags

Bonsai, boxwood, buxus, ficus, shohin, show

I wasn’t sure that it was going to happen, but Northern Virginia Bonsai Society decided to hold an actual, physical (not virtual) bonsai show in September of 2020. So many events have been cancelled, but this was a small show setup in the visitor center of a park that was already open and enforcing masks and social distancing inside the building. All we did is add a few trees.

Meet Fred

Tags

Bonsai, defoliate, ficus, prune, repot, summer work

Do you name your bonsai? I don’t necessarily “give my trees names” as such. In my notes I often give descriptive names to individual specimens especially when I have multiple trees of the same species, but those are usually names like “concord” for a tree I found on Concord Drive, or “monster” for that particularly large tree. The closest thing I come to giving a proper name is when I refer to a tree by the person I got it from, such as “Acer palmatum, Sandi” for the Japanese maple that I got from Sandi’s collection.

But this is Fred…

It’s how you look at it.

Tags

Bonsai, defoliate, ficus, July, pot, style, wire

Bonsai is an art form. The most effective bonsai artists employ the skills of artists who work in other media (our medium just happens to be living plants.) Among these skills is looking — I mean REALLY looking.

Ficus microcarpa, July 2020, before work

Braving the Heat

Tags

Bonsai, defoliation, ficus, repot, shohin, style, summer work, wire

I am finally starting the work that needs done on my few tropical bonsai. These poor, abused plants really struggle with the outdoor/indoor cycle they must endure. In my area (Northern Virginia, USA) I need to keep them inside very nearly half the year to protect them from cold night time temperatures — from sometime in October to sometime in May. They pout and just barely hang onto existence while inside over the winter, and it takes a while, once back outside in the summer, for them to rebuild strength and grow well.

Ficus salicaria in April 2020