My 1st Bonsai ever. A Cascading Scots Pine.

I collected this little Scots Pine growing wildly in the greenbelt behind my yard back in February 2019. It was quite limber and I was able to really manipulate the branches quite a bit. I created a cascading style which would be interesting to see how it will grow out.

Nursery Stock to Bonsai: Flowering Red Scarlet Quince

Being brand new to Bonsai. It's hard for me to fathom spending thousands of dollars on a bonsai plant and possibly killing it or make a mistake in the styling process. So the idea of practicing on nursery stock is much more appealing and better way to practice on my Bonsai skills. If I mess up it doesn't hurt the pocket book as bad.

I was at nursery in Kent in February and found these beautiful Flowering quince, labelled Red Texas Scarlet Flowering Quince. They just look like dead bushes at the moment. But let's see what it can be transformed to.

After about half hr of digging through the pots I found this particular one with a sexy curvy trunk. Can you see it?

After following some guidelines on pruning deciduous Bonsai. I was left with this form.

First find the front the front of the tree.



Here's what it looks like after following these procedures.

I left a long sacrificial branch at the base of the trunk to help thicken up Nebari. It will be removed as the final part of the design.

Here it is in it's pot and outdoors to soak up some sun.

A few weeks later 3rd week in March 2019

My Spruce Bonsai, 1st styling.

So I was hunting one of the local nurseries for Bonsai material and I encountered. A great Japanese Black Pine as well as a great looking neglected old spruce that has been there for some time.

Here's the tree after pruning off unwanted branches.

However, it reminds me a bit of a Christmas tree so I jined the apex and wired the branches to have that look of weighted snow on them.

I made good use of my son as a background. =) And here's the tree with it's 1st styling.

And here it is with a pot.

My Baby Larch , Bonsai's in training.

Larch's are quickly becoming one of my favorite conifers. Why? it's like the best of both worlds. A Pine tree that shed's it's pines like a deciduous and has fall colors but it's a pine. How cool is that.

This baby larch is just starting to grow new pines for the spring. The lime colored new needles have such a vibrant glow about them.

How graft Japanese White Pine for better Bonsai Stock

The Japanese White Pine has got to be one of the prettiest pine trees. It's a 5 needle pine that has a natural tendency to grow plumes of vertically pointed needles. It does this naturally and takes quite of training with other pines to achieve this type of growth.

I find these trees beautiful. However the problem with JWPs is that they do not grow easily from seed and do not air layer very well. 

So most stock is from grafted material. However most grafts tend to be high on the trunk if it's nursery stock. Which can cause an unsightly nebari. 

Below I've started my own grafts for a Japanese White Pine on some young

1st, I bare rooted the root stock to make them easier to handle.

 

2. I then removed the lower branches.

3. I striped the JWP to the latest year's growth at the tip.

4. I rolled a doobie. Just kidding. The scion JWP has been wrapped in parafilm prior to grafting.

5. I made a cut on the root stock as low as possible to the roots. 

6. I wedged in the scion JWP to the cut on the root stock.

7. Parafilm was used to wrap and adjoin the two pieces. 

I managed to do 2 grafts.

Lastly, I put the plants back into their pots. My only concern is that I grafted a pine to a fir. I am not 100% sure if they are compatible. But we shall see.

Fig Trees for sale! Lot's of Varieties

It's time to downsize the fig collection. With a 3rd kid on the way and the the continual care for my ailing father it's hard to carve out time.

If there's a name on Buyer's Column it's already spoken for.

Updated:
https://seattlegardenfruit.blogspot.com/p/seattle-garden-shop.html

I have the following trees available for sale. I prefer local pickups but will ship the smaller ones. Most trees are in 3 or 5 gallon container.s Some 10g and 20g too.

Variety	Price	Size Inches	Buyer
Alma - Large	30	38
Alvas Verdal	40	38
Ashland	20	24
Atreano	20	25
Bathlenjani	45	30
Black Italian	30	25
Black Spanish	30	36
Bordisott Blanca Rimada	45	27	Blaze
Bradnon	30	26
Brandon	20	20
Brunswick	15	15
Brunswick	20	27
Bursa Encanto	25	25	Ed Hatchfield
Castanhal	40	30
Celeste	20	15
Celeste	20	16
Conadria	15	20
Dan's Favorite	40	31	Ed Hatchfield
Desert King	20	24	Michelle
Desert King	20	25
Excel	20	30
Flanders	40	31
Florea	40	16
Galicia Negra	50	20	Blaze
Galicia Negra large plant	60	27
Genes Vashon	20	15	Ed Hatchfield
Gene's Vashon	20	25	Taryn
Genoa	25	24
German Green	20	24
Gillette	20	27	Neil
Greek Pappa	30	36
Hardy Hartford	30	24
JH Adriatic - large pot	50	31	Kim
Jurupa	30	25
Kadota Big plant	40	44
King Fig from Portland Nursery	40	41
Longue Daout	40	24	Bee Mello
LSU Gold	25	27	Kim
Marlow	20	30
Marlow	40	35
Marseilles	30	29
Martin's Unk	20	25
Mary Lane	30	27	Byron Hummel
MVSB	30	25	Raymond
Niagara Black	30	27
Noble	20	24
Noble	25	25
Noble	20	31
Noire de Barbentane	40	27	Byron Hummel
Osborne from Garden Crochet x2	30	26
Osborne Prolific	20	18
Palamata Hybrid	25	39
Petite Negra - large pot	35	32
Petite Negra - large pot	30	36
Princessa	40	20	Raymond
Red italian	30	27
Red Lebanese	40	40
Red Libya	25	20	Kim
Red Sicilian	30	27
Rob's GN	40	38
San Piero	40	32
Santa Fe	30	31
Stella	35	36
Stella	40	41
Sucrette	35	20
Sugar 12	30	25	Kim
Tena - Big pot	40	48
Unk Greek Calphalonia	20	30	Ed Hatchfield
Valle Negra	40	35	Kim
Vasilika Sika	45	42
VBD	40	41
Verte	40	25
Verte	50	36
Vista	30	29	Kim
White Marseilles	45	26
Wuhan	15	15
Wuhan	20	18
Wuhan	25	31

Time to build some Bonsai Benches

Spring feels about a month behind this year. But now that the weather is better. I get more of chance to spend some time in the yard.

I used some scrap would to build a new 12 foot Bonsai bench.

Besides the screws and top pieces the bench was made from mainly scrap would from my trellis. Here it is almost down. I just need some corner braces to keep it from swaying and we're ready for a new bonsai display bench that gets morning to mid day sun. 

And here it is ready with a few new Bonsais.