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  1. rockm

    This one survived the winter

    If they're blooming down that way, now is the time to collect them. They're easy to spot in the woods following those flashes of blue on the vines. April is the month they bloom here. You can find some great trunk bases if you follow the color. OP has a great little tree and a proven...
  2. rockm

    Best online bonsai pot suppliers/makers?

    While I am a firm supporter of American and European bonsai potters (most of my pots are from those sources), it's also worth mentioning that extremely well made old and extremely useful Japanese pots are readily available in the U.S. through several suppliers. They are in line with costs of...
  3. rockm

    Thoughts and Prayers for Baltimore Maryland: Key Bridge Collapse into Patapsco River

    The accident, like most involving international shipping for the last 200 years, is governed by federal maritime law, which doesn't come from Constitutional law. It is a set of laws that apply to any waters navigable subject to interstate or foreign commerce and is applied by U.S. courts. Claims...
  4. rockm

    Hoses and watering wands

    the end fits into the end of a hose which has to have the metal coupling removed. It slides in and you clamp it place with hose clamps. I used a three foot, flexible hose cut one end off, kept the female metal coupling at one end to attach to a regular garden hose. Not hard to do.
  5. rockm

    Thoughts and Prayers for Baltimore Maryland: Key Bridge Collapse into Patapsco River

    The shipping company's liability will likely be limited and it will take years to settle on the amount being paid. A port as critical as B'more can't wait that long. And yeah you will feel the impact, particularly if you're going to buy a new car or truck or have one repaired. B'more is the #1...
  6. rockm

    Scotch / Irish moss as ground cover for BCs?

    Racoons are cute too, but they're a menace when they're not where they're supposed to be, like in your yard or worse, inside your roof (speaking from experience). FWIW, garden centers sell sagina (Irish moss) because it can be used as a tough,walkable ground cover in pathways to fill in between...
  7. rockm

    Seeking Expert Advice: Bonsai Tree Troubles with Dying/Black leaves Falling Foliage"

    This 'imported' tree is mostly dead probably because of improper watering. The tree itself is of the same quality that is available at Walmart stores and the like here in the states. It's not certainly not worth the potential penalty for illegal import--which is comically what seems to have...
  8. rockm

    Scotch / Irish moss as ground cover for BCs?

    Horrible idea. Irish and Scotch moss are extremely invasive, deep rooted and persistent. They choke off water and fertilizers from the tree's roots. They grow dense mats in a couple of weeks or less if left unattended. You will regret using this stuff as once you plant it in one pot, it will...
  9. rockm

    Thoughts and Prayers for Baltimore Maryland: Key Bridge Collapse into Patapsco River

    No closer to D.C. Been over that bridge many many times though
  10. rockm

    Randy Knight collection-talk, questions

    I was talking about Randy K.
  11. rockm

    Randy Knight collection-talk, questions

    If you're collecting so many trees you can't get tend to them adequately in after care, you may be collecting too many trees... 😁
  12. rockm

    Randy Knight collection-talk, questions

    I don't see the point in putting them in sawdust for a year instead of bonsai soil from the outset. I've done that for years with any number of deciduous species. Works fine. Putting them in sawdust seems to me like adding an unnecessary step. I guess you could do the same with long fibered...
  13. rockm

    My first forest

    It's random and that's not really a great thing. A rule of thumb is that the importance of placement diminishes with the size of the trunk, the differences in trunk size and variation and the volume of trees used. When masses of similar sized trees are used, they tend to blur placement...
  14. rockm

    My first forest

    This sounds like some kind of bait and "aha gotcha" You may have some expert saying that's how they do things. They may and it might even work occasionally (randomly). I'll take the bait. Yeah, I would ditch that method and learn to rely on my eye and the trees in front of me than to leave it to...
  15. rockm

    My first forest

    The thing is you're NOT trying to avoid geometric patterns. You are SEEKING THEM OUT, interlocking triangles, etc. that emphasize the composition. You're trying to avoid CONTRIVED geometric patterns that jar the eye--linear placement being a primary offender. And BTW--linear placements wind up...
  16. rockm

    My first forest

    This composition is in the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. It is a very well done forest using forced perspective, emphasizing larger trees with smaller trees supporting them in the background to force the viewer to see the smaller as more distant. It's only one way of doing a forest...
  17. rockm

    My first forest

    Exactly. Bonsai is anything but random. It's intentional and meant to serve the viewer. nature and chance don't do that. The mistake people make is assuming bonsai is meant to recreate "natural" spaces. While that is only PART of what it does and it's not a primary goal. The primary goal is to...
  18. rockm

    Will roots grow from a thick root thats been pruned back?

    Roots ramify just like the tops of bonsai. Same principle for the most part--cut back get more growth from wound site as the tree replaces what been removed. As said above, this capability varies among species. Most deciduous trees rapidly regenerate new denser feeder roots from older, less...
  19. rockm

    Thoughts and Prayers for Baltimore Maryland: Key Bridge Collapse into Patapsco River

    Prayers indeed. Shocked and horrified don't cover it.
  20. rockm

    Hoses and watering wands

    Sames heads on both, just the longer one gives better reach for larger trees and larger collections where you're watering multiple shelves and pots.
  21. rockm

    Quince import restrictions

    FWIW, Don't know the seller, but most of the bonsai they have up on ebay is on the small side. That's a potential warning for me as those can be put into luggage to illegally skirt import restrictions--again I have no idea who this seller is. They may be legit, but they're not helping themselves...
  22. rockm

    The 2024 Yamadori/Collecting Thread

    You should get it into a deepish temporary container. USE A HEAVY SOIL. You do NOT want a free-draining soil less mix. That will kill it. Moisture retaining soil is best (but drains a bit). Keep it on the damp to wettish side.. keep the container in the shade and try to get the top into three...
  23. rockm

    Quince import restrictions

    The rest of the post:
  24. rockm

    Nova bonsai garden

    Thanks for your service to the community. I have many friends out that way who are being affected by the fires. Thank God for the rain over the weekend. FWIW, ridges have been burning for a while because of the dry conditions. big fires last fall farther south as well and in preceding years.
  25. rockm

    Quince import restrictions

    There are a couple of things--first the seller may have already had the plant cleared through import--takes two years. They either quarantined it at their own facilities, or more likely bought it from a source with those facilities. Second, it may be illegally imported. If you're interested in...
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