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  1. fredtruck

    Trumpet-Leaf Literati

    A literati using an unusual variety--Trumpet-Leaf Gingko. Enjoy!
  2. fredtruck

    Huntington Library Bonsai

    At the end of January, I was in Los Angeles for a brief time, visiting one art museum after another as part of a continuing education project. One of the museums we visited was the Huntington Library, which I knew had a bonsai collection. I had last seen this collection in 1984, when I was in...
  3. fredtruck

    Using Mirrors to Achieve a 360-degree View of Your Tree

    When I first began doing bonsai about 25 years ago, there was an argument advanced against using photography. Photographs flattened the tree, the argument ran, so a photo couldn’t be trusted, particularly in the case of back branches. One way around this problem is to rotate the tree. Sergio...
  4. fredtruck

    Iowa Bonsai Association Fall Show

    This annual event, held this year on September 30-October 1 was notable for the high quality of trees and the wide variety. Beginning on the left, a Japanese White Pine 'Kokonoe,' a Chojubai with fruit, a Chinese Quince, a Yew and an Eastern Red Cedar. Here's an Escambron, a Soft...
  5. fredtruck

    Kintsugi

    Kintsugi is the Japanese art of gold joinery; that is, broken pottery is repaired by joining the pieces back together with resin and gold dust. A few weeks ago, a straight-line wind clocked at over 100mph went through my back yard, destroying the few bonsai I had left outside. One of the...
  6. fredtruck

    Torvesa Flowering Quince

    Of all the quinces I have, the Torvesa Flowering Quince is one of the easiest to care for, and one of the strongest growers. Though you can’t see it so well in the full body image, there are buds all over the tree, as can be seen here: The buds are spectacular in themselves. In the full...
  7. fredtruck

    Chojubai White

    I bought this chojubai white in the first week of January, 2017. I bought it from Don Blackmond. It is just under 9" tall at the moment. It is true that the chojubai red is much more popular than the white, but I had one excellent reason for buying this tree. Flowering quince are difficult to...
  8. fredtruck

    Bonsai and Art

    Everyone has an opinion on "Is bonsai art?" My thoughts are contained here, in this brief 4-page article. http://fredtruck.com/articles/bonsaiandart.pdf
  9. fredtruck

    Toyo Nishiki Improved Forest

    I’ve been working with Brent Walston’s Toyo Nishiki Improved, a cultivar that exhibits the red, white and pink flowers of the classic Toyo Nishiki all on one branch, with no grafting required. This cultivar seems to have some other advantages, as well. For one thing, the flowers, or most of...
  10. fredtruck

    Prunus Mume 'Omoi No Mama'

    Whenever I have a tree idea, I like to try out the idea using material that can usually be described as “stick-in-a-pot.” The reason I do it this way is that material like this is cheap, and can be worked into most shapes fairly easily. If the idea works out, then I look for more heavy duty tree...
  11. fredtruck

    Light Field Photography and Bonsai

    Here are 2 pictures of the same tree, a pinus thunbergii corticosa ‘Ondae’. The pictures were taken about 6 weeks apart. I used different cameras for each picture. The camera I used for the picture on the left was a SONY DSCRX-100 mk III. The Sony is most likely the best point and shoot camera...
  12. fredtruck

    Mi Nishiki Cork Bark Japanese Black Pine

    In the past, when I've posted about this tree, I always did it in threads that concerned a number of trees. Now I'm starting a thread on this tree alone. I got this Mi Nishiki corker in 2002 from Brent as a 4 year old cutting. The tree is now 17 years old. In all that time, it has never...
  13. fredtruck

    Iowa State Fair Bonsai Show

    The Iowa State Fair Bonsai Show, held in the Agriculture Building on the fairgrounds, is a one day only event. This year it was held yesterday, August 16th. Although some major players in the Iowa Bonsai Association were absent, attending other shows like the Chicago event, over 30 trees were on...
  14. fredtruck

    Strange Light

    Hi--We've had tons of rain, but it appears to be winding down. This morning, however, the light on the trees some of our neighbors have, my bonsai tables and garage, and my gas pump, made an interesting image. Here it is: And then, of course, there's the strip of weeds I can never seem to...
  15. fredtruck

    My Ponderosa, the Official Front and My Front

    I bought this Ponderosa Pine from Andy Smith in 2009. Originally. The vertical section at the left end of the closed loop was straight. Andy cut a small section out of the trunk, and we folded it back on itself. Thus, I have a ponderosa done in the coiled style. This tree, like a lot of trees...
  16. fredtruck

    Hedera Helix--Ivy

    I got this hedera helix as a standard greenhouse starter, in 2001 in March. I cut back the growth several times a year, when it seems to be getting out of hand. It started out as a triple trunk tree, but one trunk died early on. It now has a very thick trunk that has tremendous taper. It...
  17. fredtruck

    Ulmus Parvifolia Yatsubusa

    This is my new ulmus parvifolia yatsubusa, purchased from Brent Walston at Evergreen Gardenworks. The elm fits naturally in the sumo style. It is 18.5” tall, with a diameter just under 5”. The pot I selected is Chinese. It is unglazed, has windows, a wide lip, and ornate feet. It is 18.5 x...
  18. fredtruck

    Corker with Exposed Roots or Without?

    I have two versions of this cork bark Japanese black pine here: one has exposed roots and the other doesn’t. Should the roots be covered or exposed?
  19. fredtruck

    Chojubai White Flowering Quince

    I've had this chojubai white flowering quince for several years. It's a terrific bloomer. It will have other flushes of blossoms from now on, finally sputtering out in June. It might have a flush in September, just depends. This picture was taken from the back, because the flowers looked...
  20. fredtruck

    Prunus Mume 'Omoi No Mama' Bunjin

    Here is a split view of my prunus mume omoi no mama. The image on the left is the tree as it appeared shortly after repotting. The image on the right is a virtual, combining the flowers of just a few days ago with the repotted image. It’s in the bunjin style. If you want to read about the...
  21. fredtruck

    Prunus Mume 'Omoi No Mama' Flowers

    A couple of years ago, I bought a Prunus Mume 'Omoi No Mama' from Brent. The flowers are opening now. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
  22. fredtruck

    My Garage

    My garage is only incidentally where I winter my bonsai, but it is the perfect environment for them. My father-in-law built the garage to keep his antique car collection in. The building is 1000 square feet in size. It is birmed in on 3 sides; that is, on the north, east and south sides of the...
  23. fredtruck

    From Semi to Full Cascade with a Cork Bark Japanese Black Pine

    I bought a cork bark Japanese black pine cultivar in very late 2008. The tree was 9 or 10 years old. This tree was not my first cork bark pine but all the same I knew very little about the Ondae cultivar other than the fact that it was rare, new, tended to grow cascade or falling branches, and...
  24. fredtruck

    measuring cascades

    For a shohin full cascade, how are measurements determined? From pot rim to apex? From furthest point left to furthest point right? Combination? Thanks in advance.
  25. fredtruck

    Contorted Japanese Flowering Apricot

    My prunus mume contorta has undergone a few changes in the last year. Most important was continuing the slanting movement of the tree begun last year, slanting it even more. This makes for more interesting viewing and photographing angles. Growth has been good, though small in size. People...
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