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A little sunshine in the midst of winter.

I agree with @Bonsai Nut that your tree is most likely mislabeled. With that said, I don't think it is primo either since they have a much more pointed and narrow growth habit as you know already. Whatever it may be it is a nice cultivar with lots of potential for bonsai. I even wonder if it's...

I didn't go into detail on the actual process of developing the tree. I just wrote some basic info describing each of the photos shown. Not sure if Randy added some extra content? It is mostly a progression through photos since 2016. Have not seen the book yet but hoping at least some of those...

Thanks, that's exactly right. I literally picked the table from a Kokufu book and sent the photo to Alex. He then made an exact copy of it but sized to the tree.

Thanks Russ!

That's the down side (no pun intended) of having a weeping style bonsai. They usually require wire often. So your wiring has to be spot on since most likely it will be shown with it on the tree such as seen in the photo.

Yes, Randy was kind enough to include this tree in his book. I had no idea he was working on such a book. At the last Nationals he approached me and asked if I minded including it in his book. And of course what can I say... I was delighted! Thank you Randy!

Very nice and congrats on the purchase. It looks very similar to the Primo Arbovitae with super compact almost hinoki-like growth. A quick search provided this:

Come on now Bri... live a little! 😂🤣

This one I got in Montreal. But I believe you can get them in many online shops as well.

A few things have changed on this elm as it has continued to evolve. Among other things, I combined it with yet another granite slab sourced from Frank McDermott and its planting position more angled than as previously presented. Below the elm with a tenpai based on the famous Banksy artwork...

Winter upload.

And I would agree with you Judy. If you refer back to the 2017 pic the left trunk was supposed to be the tallest. When I sold the tree, the new owner thought it was a great idea to cut off my graft and instead use a back branch to continue the trunk line resulting in a huge scar facing the front...

Possible that it is a hybrid with rough bark. One clue may be that it buds on plated bark which is highly unlikely on "true" arakawa. A nice feature to be sure! Yes, I think the harmony between all the trunks will come from the branch relationships with each other. I believe that will bring it...

Painful when I did it but happy I did Dave. I tried to salvage the original size of the tree but ultimately I knew it would not result in a better one. BTW the appeal for me is that this tree looks like so many of the sugar and other maples that grow in the northeast. Classic single trunk...

A quick update. Not a significant change from last year but improvements will now come in smaller increments. Two thread grafts were made. The one indicated below was made for two reasons. One, I need a future branch at that location. Second, it will also prevent potential severe dieback...

Stewartia monadelpha progression

My guess is that yes the smaller trunks were added later by grafting? And yes, I agree they are pretty much same thickness so definitely one of the improvements is thickening the middle one. You can see that they are also beginning to bark up now. One very interesting, if fascinating aspect...

Hey Bri, thanks! Price was good. But better still was its potential. Even if price is right, I don't think I'd go for material that holds little promise or will take a generation to develop or fix. And you know I am sucker for multi-trunk trees!😅 Wishing you and fam a happy and healthy New Year!

Bought this arakawa a couple of years back at a highly reduced price. The tree, although it has great potential, it suffered heavy dieback from lack of water. Many developed branches withered specially on the main trunk leaving it almost bare. And so, the rebuilding process begins as in many of...

Thank you. Indeed most if not all flowering/fruiting trees do prefer and do best in deeper pots. The antique pot it was potted in was on the deeper side. I've seen chojubai growing in much shallower pots that seemed to thrive. In fact they do even better according to some when planted in rocks...

What's interesting is that I have a few cuttings growing well. These cuttings are from a different source. Not getting any answers as to what happened to that tree is very frustrating because I have learned nothing from it.

Sorry a little edit on my post above. I meant that I would not accept his offer.

He did! But I would accept his generous offer. I had the tree under my care for three plus years and certainly could hold him responsible for whatever happened to it. This was all on me.

Glad you're keeping that upward growing branch on the right. The cadence of the branch structure should vary. If all branches were grown in the same way, angles, length, etc the tree is bound to look predictable, mechanical and boring. I often make the comparison when you are composing a piece...