Just a quick update to show how the Satsuki Azalea has changed since I got it.

The day I got it:

Today, after wiring a branch and removing a bunch of superfluous branches and many of the larger leaves:

It still has quite a way to go, but everyone at the bonsai society meeting last night told me that I shouldn’t work on it anymore than this. They said that since I had already done so much, I should just let it grow wild for the rest of the year and in the spring I can start to work on it again.

I got home about two hours ago from the Akron Canton Bonsai Society meeting.

A bunch of people had trees that they were doing some major work on and many of them were giving away cuttings.

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven’t had much luck with cuttings, but I decided to take what two of the people were giving out. (There was another guy working on a beautiful fig and I thought about taking some of his cuttings too, until I realized that his tree is horribly infected with scale. I DON’T want to deal with that.)

I also got a bunch of new tips from a couple of the seasoned members regarding how many leaves to remove (can’t really describe it in words; not too many, not too few, is the best I can say) and where to cut the bottom off (just below a pair of leaves that were also cut off).

I just spent the last hour potting all of them. I now have approximately two dozen cuttings. About a third of them are Trident Maples and the other two-thirds are ‘Deshojo’ Japanese Maples. A few are hardwood cuttings, but most are softwood.

Hopefully at least some of them take. But if they don’t, it’s no big deal. I won’t have wasted my time because I will at least know that whatever I was doing will not work the next time I try it (if I do try again).

Here are two photos by Walter Pall that show what a Trident Maple bonsai and a ‘Deshojo’ Japanese Maple bonsai can look like:

I just realized that I haven’t written about bonsai since May 8, when I wrote about the Satsuki Azalea that I got for Mother’s Day.

Well, since then, I decided to become a member of the Akron Canton Bonsai Society (ACBS) again.

I still only have one tree that could be considered bonsai, the Azalea, but I have five Japanese Maple seedlings (I have no clue what variety they are) that I collected/rescued from a neighbor’s lawn, that I plan to grow out for a few years to later use as bonsai. They don’t look to be in the best of health, but I think they’ll do okay because the soil they are in is very rich.

Also, it looks like I have established my first cutting. I’ve attempted to get cuttings from various trees over the past few years to grow them up as bonsai, but I’ve never had any success. The closest I got was with a Ficus cutting. It started to take, but then died. This time I took a clipping from the Azalea and put it in a small pot of approx half sand/half perlite, watered it, and set it outside in a shaded spot. I’ve occasionally moistened the leaves, but I’ve left the rest up to nature. I think the naturally humid summer of Ohio has helped quite a bit. I still haven’t tried to check the roots, but it’s been in the pot for over a month now and it still looks as green as it did when I put it in. So, I think it’s safe to say that it’s gonna be fine.

Earlier I said that I was going to visit a local bonsai nursery, but I still haven’t done that. I’d like to, but considering the fact I have a limited budget for bonsai in general and I still need to buy a bunch of tools, wire, etc. I don’t know if I’ll be going out there any time soon. I have no idea what kind of stuff they have and in what price range so I could end up going out there for nothing. And with the price of gas being so bad lately, I don’t want to risk it.

Later tonight I will be taking the Azalea to the ACBS meeting and getting some help from a guy who has quite a few Satsuki Azaleas. I think I’ll post something tomorrow to show it’s progression.

Today while I’m making dinner a UPS van pulls up in front of the house and Joe opens up the door to wait for the delivery man to come to the door. While he’s waiting he starts this conversation:

Joe: “What did you buy now?

Me: “I’m not expecting anything.”

Joe: “What do you mean?”

Me: “I mean I haven’t bought anything.”

The delivery man hands Joe the box and he sees the label on the outside says “Bonsai.”

Joe: You bought a bonsai!?

Me: Bonsai!? What?

I stop making dinner and walk over to get a look at the package. I immediately think there has been some mistake. Yes, I’ve been wanting to get back into bonsai, but I didn’t expect one to just show up on my front porch.

Then I realized it had to be because I had mentioned it on my blog, but still I’m a little confused, probably from the shock of it.

I open it up and the note reads: “Happy Mother’s Day Love Kelly, Grandma, and Grandpa”

Now I understand. It’s from my daughter and my in-laws! Thanks guys! I actually should have known immediately who it was from b/c my father-in-law was just talking to me about my interest in bonsai.

Anyway, here’s a photo of it (It’s right out of the box):

So, now I have an azalea with which to try bonsai again. It is of the Satsuki variety, which is supposed to be one of the best azalea for bonsai, so that’s pretty cool. I’m looking forward to working with it and finding out what color flowers it will produce. They apparently can have red, pink, or white flowers, or a combo of all three.

Again… Kelly, “Grandma and Grandpa”… Thank you. It was a very nice surprise.

A few years ago I borrowed a book from the Akron Canton Bonsai Society. I kept forgetting about the monthly meetings, so the book sat on my shelf over the years just waiting to be returned. I finally found out that they were having a meeting yesterday, so I made sure to attend. My sole intention was to walk in, hand the book back, and leave promptly. Unfortunately (or maybe not) I was lured into staying. The meeting’s agenda was simple. The new members of the society would receive a Juniperus chinesis ’shimpaku’ plant and with the help of a seasoned member they would change the shrub they received into a new bonsai.

I just had to stay. With their permission, I sat down with one of the new members and their mentor and watched and learned as the mentor showed the beginner how to shape the plant into bonsai. I was amazed by what I saw. I looked at the scraggly bush and thought, “There is no way that plant is going to turn into a good bonsai.” All I saw was poor branching without much movement, but when they were done I saw a really great bonsai sitting in front of me. Well, to be honest, it probably wouldn’t win any awards, but it definitely had a lot of potential, unlike what I thought they were going to end up with.

I almost regretted not becoming a new member and getting my own shimpaku to shape. But I also knew that if I didn’t stick with it, I would just end up with a dead tree and feel even more regret.

So now I’m thinking about getting back into bonsai. In previous years I had tried to work with native Ohio plants that I just found outside growing out in the back yard, not getting satisfactory results, and wishing I had proper material to work with that I was actually passionate about. I dreamed of working with a Chinese elm or a trident maple. Maybe a Scotch pine. The only place that I knew of that carried bonsai stock either didn’t have the species I was looking for or it was already trained in a style that I didn’t like and would take years to undo. But yesterday I spoke with a guy who told me of a local nursery (about 15 miles away) that specialized in bonsai where I would probably find what I was looking for. So, I think that I will go down there one day this spring/summer and take a look around. If I find something cheap that fits my tastes I might just pick it up and try this bonsai thing again. I will be sure to take pictures if I do.