Sunday, February 20, 2011

Japanese Wisteria

Please enjoy these photos of Scott Luke's Japanese Wisteria in full bloom.  This tree began blooming on Feb. 14th. 




February Meeting

Spring was in the air on Thursday night as the NBS held its first meeting at Muhalls this year.  New members Brian Shurtleff and Michelle Anderson joined us for their first meeting.  It was also great to see Fred and Anna Hutchison again.  Brian brought a Black Dragon Cryptomeria that sparked much debate among the group.  None of us had seen a Japanese Cedar with such soft foliage.  David Fortune led a demonstration on building wooden grow boxes for bonsai stock.  In record time, I might add!  The photo of the Japanese Larch on the presentation document will provide you with an example of one his boxes.  I told the interesting story of Max's collected Creosotes and shared some photos of the Taxus and Juniper stock available for collecting in Lincoln.  Check out this link for a copy of the presentation.  Thanks to everyone who joined us! 

Japanese Black Pine Workshop

There are a few spots remaining for the JBP Workshop beginning in April.  Here are some examples of the stock, just to provide you with an idea of the framework.  The instructor will be hand-selecting this stock for trunk girth/movement, nebari, branch placement and overall health. 



 






Monday, February 7, 2011

Taxus

Met with Jody and Stan yesterday to discuss what plant material will be available to us for collecting this summer in Lincoln.  The Yew look fantastic.  This appears to be the Japanese or Spreading Yew variety - Taxus cuspidata.  Here is an example...