Bonsai worthy?

Joe Dupre'

Omono
Messages
1,680
Reaction score
3,631
Location
Belle Rose, La.
USDA Zone
9a
I knew that it is neither attractive nor developable in the conventional sense. However, I am somehow drawn to this tree couple that survived a twisted "childhood" and grew together. I've examined it and found the twist to be accidental from the time of germination.

For this one I'm playing with it totally by feel, no rule no convention no care. It is a bonsai only in a sense that it is in a pot.

That's what it's all about.
 

Cadillactaste

Neagari Gal
Messages
16,261
Reaction score
20,881
Location
NE Ohio: zone 4 (USA) lake microclimate
USDA Zone
5b
I think we all or a good percentage ran into finding the unusual...intriguing. Myself included earlier on. Grasp others may not see the value in said material. It's okay...we all find our way. (I still have a thing for Neagari style that some don't appreciate...And that's okay too.) We also mature on our walk...I dug my heals in early on...and I still have the hot mess of roots of a Virginia Creeper now buried deeper because it detracted from the overall picture more than anything. But...enjoy the journey. Bottom line we all must find joy in the process. But...there is something to judging a tree at a show...and what is deemed what ones look for. More seasoned bonsai folk might try to steer ones into understanding said rules. Doesn't mean either are wrong...just wishing to teach. And other other is still feeling their way.

~Enjoy your journey...
 

Cajunrider

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,538
Reaction score
12,877
Location
Louisiana
USDA Zone
9A
I think we all or a good percentage ran into finding the unusual...intriguing. Myself included earlier on. Grasp others may not see the value in said material. It's okay...we all find our way. (I still have a thing for Neagari style that some don't appreciate...And that's okay too.) We also mature on our walk...I dug my heals in early on...and I still have the hot mess of roots of a Virginia Creeper now buried deeper because it detracted from the overall picture more than anything. But...enjoy the journey. Bottom line we all must find joy in the process. But...there is something to judging a tree at a show...and what is deemed what ones look for. More seasoned bonsai folk might try to steer ones into understanding said rules. Doesn't mean either are wrong...just wishing to teach. And other other is still feeling their way.

~Enjoy your journey...
I definitely want to follow the sage advice I got here. Just for this one I'm going by feel.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
Messages
11,337
Reaction score
23,251
Location
on the IL-WI border, a mile from ''da Lake''
USDA Zone
5b
I have found what I like out of a bonsai have evolved over the years. Trees I thought were great 30 years ago, are a different constellation than the trees I think are great now. Nothing in my collection today has been with me more than 15 years, even though I started a long time ago. Tastes and preferences change over time.
 

Xtreemjedi

Seedling
Messages
23
Reaction score
15
Location
Volusia County, FL
USDA Zone
9b
Bonsai is an art, and as an art, subjective. Some people get too tied up into "rules" and try to foist their opinions onto you under the guise of said rules. I also think some could use a little couth too, some like to be blunt and reason that they're "just tellin it like it is" or whatever. Some people are just rude and that's that.

If you want to follow strict rules, then ask about that. If you want people's opinions (which it seems your asking), then buckle up lol. I PERSONALLY think it is an interesting tree, and would also have purchased it as you did. I'm interested to see how it turns out for you. :D
 

Cajunrider

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,538
Reaction score
12,877
Location
Louisiana
USDA Zone
9A
Well. Ladyrider likes the flower and said:"Keep it this way". That's that. There won't be any development other than occasional pruning. I ain't stupid. When mama's happy, I want to keep it that way.
20181111_082037.jpg
20181111_082027.jpg
 
Last edited:

Bananaman

Chumono
Messages
668
Reaction score
1,569
Is not the owner the principle viewer? Who says a person has to ply his art for someone else's enjoyment and not his own? Bonsai is an art. Not all people like all art. You certainly have a right to what you like, as have I, and ESPECIALLY the owner.
Then why are you here?

Which I have said a million time and continue to be bashed as a bully. If you wish to work on shitty stuff and defend it as good because you approve, then do us all a favor and keep it to yourself, because as an artist I’m offended having to look at shit.
 

Joe Dupre'

Omono
Messages
1,680
Reaction score
3,631
Location
Belle Rose, La.
USDA Zone
9a
Then why are you here?

Which I have said a million time and continue to be bashed as a bully. If you wish to work on shitty stuff and defend it as good because you approve, then do us all a favor and keep it to yourself, because as an artist I’m offended having to look at shit.


I'm very sorry. I did not know you were the supreme authority on shit and shitty stuff. I bow to your expertise.

Why are YOU here?? If you wish not to be offended, do not look at a thread that has " shitty stuff" in it. Simple, huh?

And nither I nor the OP defended it as "good"........just interesting. I guess there's a "rule" for that too.
 

Bananaman

Chumono
Messages
668
Reaction score
1,569
I'm very sorry. I did not know you were the supreme authority on shit and shitty stuff. I bow to your expertise.

Why are YOU here?? If you wish not to be offended, do not look at a thread that has " shitty stuff" in it. Simple, huh?

And nither I nor the OP defended it as "good"........just interesting. I guess there's a "rule" for that too.
Typical response to mediocrity. When you grow up and get enough life experience under your belt you understand just how ignorant your thinking on this is. Strictly from a public forum point of view and in a thread asking a question. Think about it for a minute and it will hit you like a ton of bricks. I’m more worried for our future that it won’t.......
 

Joe Dupre'

Omono
Messages
1,680
Reaction score
3,631
Location
Belle Rose, La.
USDA Zone
9a
I feel very sorry for the people in your life......if there are any. I'd imagine there are not many people or things that meet your high standards of excellence. Heaven forbid you would be saddled with a "mediocre" child or wife. An insistence on perfection is usually a sign of feelings of low self esteem. Think about THAT for a minute.

With that.........I'm done.
 

Xtreemjedi

Seedling
Messages
23
Reaction score
15
Location
Volusia County, FL
USDA Zone
9b
Kinda new to this forum, is it always this hostile? I was hoping a site of plant lovers would be, less angry.

The internet seems pretty simple to me, if you dont want to see something, dont look. You would never go to an exhibit and say these things to the face of the artist, you would just leave. Seems people get a lot braver behind the safety of their screen.

Hoping behavior like this is handled, as I dont like it and I will leave if there's too much.
 

wireme

Masterpiece
Messages
3,671
Reaction score
8,238
Location
Kootenays, British Columbia
USDA Zone
3
Kinda new to this forum, is it always this hostile? I was hoping a site of plant lovers would be, less angry.

The internet seems pretty simple to me, if you dont want to see something, dont look. You would never go to an exhibit and say these things to the face of the artist, you would just leave. Seems people get a lot braver behind the safety of their screen.

Hoping behavior like this is handled, as I dont like it and I will leave if there's too much.


Just consider it to be value added entertainment, stick around and get used to it.
 

Adair M

Pinus Envy
Messages
14,402
Reaction score
34,873
Location
NEGeorgia
USDA Zone
7a
Exposed root styles have great potential to be beautiful... and awful. They key is knowing which is which.

Remember, bonsai are supposed to be representing trees, not random plant material.

I have seen some pretty ugly bonsai. And their owners justify them with a photo of a wild tree similiarly deformed, with the comment, “See! It happens in nature!” To which I reply, “cesspools happen, too. I don’t care to look at them!”

Now, I’m not saying that the OP’s tree is THAT ugly, but it’s not something i’d care to see every day.

It’s fun to have a couple “unusual” trees in your collection, that perhaps aren’t the best bonsai, but have other interesting qualities. I would put most cork bark JBP in that category, for example. Just don’t have the entire collection
 

Potawatomi13

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,168
Reaction score
4,403
Location
Eugene, OR
USDA Zone
8
Then why are you here?

Which I have said a million time and continue to be bashed as a bully. If you wish to work on shitty stuff and defend it as good because you approve, then do us all a favor and keep it to yourself, because as an artist I’m offended having to look at shit.

If correctly remembering it was Master Kimura who said any tree can become a good Bonsai. It is in the hands of a less talented Bonsai artist that it cannot. This is paraphrase as cannot quite get exact words from memory;). Do you know more than Master Kimura?
The poster you refer to is here as I am to find pleasant community of Bonsai hobbyists/growers rather than bullying and profanity.
 

JoeH

Omono
Messages
1,090
Reaction score
990
Location
The Florida Citrus Arboretum, Winter Haven,Florida
USDA Zone
9B
Then why are you here?

Which I have said a million time and continue to be bashed as a bully. If you wish to work on shitty stuff and defend it as good because you approve, then do us all a favor and keep it to yourself, because as an artist I’m offended having to look at shit.
shitty is in the eye of the beholder. Most people are here to learn not for the "hey look at me" aspect. If that is why you are here maybe think it over a bit.
 

Cajunrider

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,538
Reaction score
12,877
Location
Louisiana
USDA Zone
9A
Well folks. To me, the OP, it is a fun combination of two trees inseparable at the roots unless one is killed. Naturally their foliage fan out separately to find space. There is not a dominant one as in the case of most twin trunks. They can easily be pruned to show a heart shape silhouette. So it becomes my corny love tree and my wife likes it. Will it be a classic bonsai? Hell no. I am a hack at any art form so nothing from me is ever that good. However, this gives us (me and my lady) joy. My question is that, if I put it in a bonsai pot, prune the branches for ramification in the shape I want, can it be called bonsai without evoking jeers? Regardless, it will be cared for to my best ability because my lady likes it.

BTW, I don't mind all the back and forth. In fact I learn much from it.
 

leatherback

The Treedeemer
Messages
13,933
Reaction score
26,850
Location
Northern Germany
USDA Zone
7
Kinda new to this forum, is it always this hostile? I was hoping a site of plant lovers would be, less angry.
Yeah, it can be. Brong popcorn.

If correctly remembering it was Master Kimura who said any tree can become a good Bonsai. It is in the hands of a less talented Bonsai artist that it cannot.
And let's be realistic.. How many on this forum are truely talented bonsai artists with the vision and skill to take a your nursery plant and turn it in a good / show-quality bonsai?? Recognizing the limits of your own skills is also part of bonsai.

Furthermore, I would guess that a person like kimura does not just take any tree available for bonsai, but he would be very critical to only start projects that have an above average potential as a bonsai. Learning how to recognize the potential to become a good bonsai and rejecting those that require too many steps for it to become acceptable is also required in the path of becoming a good bonsai artist.
 
Top Bottom