TS Fay Floods Bonsai Garden
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Aug 22 2008 | 2 Comments »
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Tropical Storm Fay parked itself over Melbourne, Florida for almost three days and dumped over 30 inches of rain. The winds were not severe but the rain overloaded the local drainage systems and there was significant local flooding. Our garden sits next to a pond and this pond rose about 6 or 7 feet submerging part of my bonsai garden and a good part of my growing beds for young seedlings. Fortunately the damage does not appear too extensive and our home was relativley untouched. Many other people in our town have had their homes flooded.
The first shot shows my neighbors house and the pond next to it. This area is usually dry.
This is a shot looking at a portion of my garden. The red line shows the water level which is about 7 feet above normal. As I was cleaning up I noticed fish swimming among the bonsai. That has to be a first. 
Shohin Tree Makes Magazine Cover
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Aug 22 2008 | 1 Comment »
My shohin Winged Elm made the cover the recent American Bonsai Magazine issue. I grew this tree from seed over a 14 year period. A couple of years ago I ground layered it to improve the surface roots. It is only about 9 inches tall and in a hand made Japanese pot.
Chinese Elm Test
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Aug 11 2008 | 4 Comments »
I am having trouble loading photos from my Mac, so this is a test from my PC.
Another test.
Crescent Moon Buttonwood
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Aug 02 2008 | 3 Comments »
This literatia style Buttonwood carries the name Crescent Moon Buttonwood - due to the configuration of the driftwood at the base. This was naturally occurring. Its in a pot by Dale Cohoy.
This is a close up of the accent plant. A little flower I picked up at Home Depot. This guy has been flowering nearly continuously for the past two months. The nice little white and purple pot was made by Gus Miller, a ceramic artist from Seagrape Studio. Gus moved north a few years ago and is no longer a member of our club.
Here is a historical shot of the buttonwood from 2007 perhaps.
No Other of the Other
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Jul 31 2008 | Comment now »
“All of the meaning we attribute to our human creations, including language itself, has no value beyond its own reference, for, as Jacques Lacan was fond of saying, “There is no Other of the Other.” By this he meant that there is no absolute meaning that authorizes human meaning.” Raymond Lloyd Richmond, Ph.D. San Francisco
This Australian Pine, Casaurina equistifolia, came to my garden in March. From March to July it sat undisturbed and grew these roots out the bottom drain hole of the plastic nursery pot. It has a terrific base and some interesting deadwood - but fairly boring vertical trunks. (Click on an image to enlarge it.)
Work begins by carving the deadwood.
Normally Australian Pine wood is so hard it would laugh at hand tools, but this dead wood had rotted a bit and so it was easy to trim some of the punky material with pruners. Next came the heavy equipment - a Samurai bit in a electric die grinder.
After the initial work, most branches were eliminated. The lower branches were left long to grow some girth. The tree can tolerate summer repotting so the roots were reduced and it was placed in this rather large ceramic pot. Next year the roots will undergo further reduction and a smaller pot selected. Also subject for additional pruning are the thicker branches near the top of the tree. To create perspective, spacing and branch thickness should get smaller as one progresses up the tree.
This is the design goal.
BCI Congress Demo Tree
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Jul 31 2008 | Comment now »
I have the privilege of presenting a demonstration at the upcoming BCI Congress in Italy in September.
There are two possible trees I will work on. One is this severely slanting Sabina Juniper. (Click on the photos to see all of them.)
This is what I envision for the tree. Granted its tough to do a supremely realistic design not knowing exactly what the branches look like. Obviously this tree has a very difficult potting situation. It has very shallow roots, but to me the shallow pot makes the tree at such an extreme slant look out of balance. I would like to make the trunk more upright but don’t know if the roots can support that. So if not, this is what I expect to make the tree look like in a few years.
US National Bonsai Exhibition
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Jul 28 2008 | 5 Comments »
I just learned I have had two trees and a shohin display selected for display at the US National Exhibition in October.
The show was looking for some tropical trees so I am showing both a medium size Australian Pine and medium size Buttonwood - Tree Spirit. Both trees have been seen on this blog but I’ll reshow the photos here.
I will continue to refine this Aussy Pine to have it standing tall for the exhibit.
The Buttonwood “Tree Spirit” shown here from an old photo. While I like this pot, I am beginning to feel this tree needs a slightly bigger pot. Now is the time to repot a buttonwood so stay tuned.
Here is the Buttonwood in a Japanese pot with a dark blue color that works well with the driftwood.
Progressive Styling Contest
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Jul 27 2008 | Comment now »
I have entered a tree into the Knowledge of Bonsai Forum Progressive Styling Contest.
The tree is a Pink Trumpet Tree, Tabebuia heterophylla
This bonsai comes from the tropical Caribbean. The tree before working on it was 38 inches high, with a root spread of 17 inches. The finished height will be about 26 inches.
It was purchased from a collector that harvested it from a location near the ocean. Upon removal from the sea shore location it grew freely in a wooden box for several years prior to my purchase. Upon my purchase in the summer of 2007 the branches were cut very short to fit in a shipping container. When it got to Florida, I immediately potted the tree in this fine high-fired stoneware pot by American potter, Ron Lang of Pennsylvania, but did no styling at that time. Since the wooden grow box was a bit smaller than the pot, the initial potting was simple. The color variation of the pot’s glaze will perfectly complement the green foliage and the pink flowers. The first photo shows it after my receipt and initial potting in the 21 inch ceramic pot. After potting the tree grew wild for 12 months with the goal of getting it adjusted to its home in Florida and to build some thickness in the base of the branches.
This was it as I received it from Puerto Rico.
The Pink Trumpet Tree has fairly large leaves and makes very attractive trumpet shaped flowers, hence the name. I selected this tree for the competition as it has a fantastic tapering trunk, and extremely old bark. A Pink Trumpet Tree with this size trunk is fairly rare in the US. Other reasons for selection are that the tree will require a bit of carving and some wiring and it can tolerate mid-summer work with no problem, as this contest requires.
After it grew wild for a year.
Styling a tropical tree is a bit different than styling a temperature conifer. The fast growth rate allows one to reduce the tree to very basic branches and then to grow the tree into the design. This tree will develop a very wide tropical canopy with several distinct pads that interact. The large canopy will work well with the large trunk and show off the flowers when it does flower in the spring. The tree will need some carving to reduce the thick branch stubs and to introduce the feeling of antiquity into the design. Wiring the base of the branches will set the proper angle for the design. As the branches bud back all the straight sections will be cut back to build ramification. This probably will not happen during the course of the competition but that’s ok as there is no such thing as an instant bonsai
Starting the design at the end of July is a bit of a handicap even for a tree with such a fast growth rate, but it should make good growth as the summer progresses. In two years the canopy will have filled in and will look great.
After the initial work.
I will post more photos as the work progresses. The KOB web site will also contain the photos as well as the other entries.
This virtual design is the ultimate goal for this bonsai. No Flowers shown.
Larry Jackel Visit
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Jul 19 2008 | Comment now »
While in the Denver Colorado area a week or so ago I had a chance to stop by Larry Jackel’s house.
Larry was very welcoming and toured me around his great collection of native American conifers. I didn’t bring my regular digital camera and tried to use my cell phone camera with no luck. I hope to get out to Denver again in the near future and will bring my camera as Larry has wonderful trees.
Larry is also publishing a book next month by Haskill Creek publishing about Ponderosa Pines - judging by what I saw in his yard, you’ll want this book.