May tree of the month
Cacti and succulents show in Wiltshire
The British Cactus and Succulent Society Wiltshire Branch are holding their annual show on Saturday 18th June 2022 from 11:00am until 3:30pm. Admission is only £1 and there will be plants for sale, refreshments and also bonsai display. Join in.
Melksham Assembly Hall
The Markey Place
Melksham
Wiltshire
SN12 6ES
Bonsai Expo tomorrow
We’ll be at Bonsai Expo tomorrow. This is the first bonsai show for ages. Can’t wait to see some amazing individual trees as well as catch up with everyone on the bonsai circuit. We’ll see you there if you’re going. If not, you should.
April tree of the month
Our mume is breaking
Always a pleasure to see the first flowers of the year. It is usually our Prunus mume that breaks first, we’ve only got one so far but welcome sight of things to come.
Punica granatum
One day I was eating a pomegranate when I had a sudden thought; could I grow one of these seeds. At Christmas I had been given a book on growing exotic fruit like oranges and lemons etc. In it they said to put the whole seed on a plate on the window sill and leave it until it started to go mouldy, then plant it in seed compost and place it in the airing cupboard, this was in 1991. Sure enough in no time several seedlings popped up, one of them I went on to develop into this tree.
Acer Buergerianum
This Trident Maple started life as a cutting purchased in 1988 for 50 pence. It was planted in a length of drain pipe for two years to help develop long roots, during this time it was fed well. It was then taken out of the pipe, all the soil washed off, sat on this piece of stone and tied in place with Raffia. The roots were laid out and any surplus ones wound round or tied to others. It was then planted in my front garden, during this time the height of the tree was not reduced.
Hoya Kerrii
This is unusual. Hoya Kerrii is classified somewhere between a succulent and a plant. From south-east Asia, they are used as houseplants for the rather obvious visual quality. They have water-holding leaves and a shallow root system. Interestingly if you purchase a single or double-leaf plant like mine you won’t be able to propagate or grow it on further. This is a cutting, and has no node. I thought I would have a go at creating a bonsai style one for a bit of fun.
Air layering a Ginseng Fig
I had my eye on this little Ginseng Fig with a view of air layering the top bit. The long aerial roots are a hallmark of this plant, but I saw a small ‘sumo’ style configuration at the top of this tree which I wanted to create. So here we go.
Windswept Ulmus pumila
I like to style my trees to resemble those I have seen in the wild. While I was on holiday in Devon, I saw a row of old oak trees that had been gently shaped by the wind over many generations, this was the image I had in mind.
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