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(It's occurring to me that in the title of this thread, I was using "temperate" in the general sense of "mild;" whereas a temperate climate is a well defined thing, different from what I'm saying now. Apologies if that creates any confusion! :) )

Awesome, that is great info to have, thank you! I'm specifically curious about a significantly warmer winter. Like let's say the temperature never went below 65F-70F/18C-21C. What impact might that have?

I can remember reading about how certain trees suffer if they don't experience a cold winter. Do any species of maple bonsai suffer if they stay outside in a warm climate all year round? Are there any that do fine with warmth all year? I'm specifically curious about sugar maples, but would like...

Now this is the interesting part. I thought the same thing when I bought it, but there have been multiple stems of foliage that have grown out straight a bit, and then have reversed direction 180 degrees. When this happens, the foliage becomes very rigid where the 180 degree turn is. It looks...

Thanks for the input so far. I should add that this was one of the last things left at the show and was cheap...I bought it specifically because it was so bizarre and I didn't feel like I'd be committing any major sin if I ended up butchering it. So don't feel bad being honest about what you...

Whoops....work now?

I found this tree at a local show in the for sale area, and picked it up because I had never seen anything quite like it. Unfortunately, I was unable to find out what species it was. The wood is very hard and rigid, and the foliage is either fairly straight or folds itself up into very tight...

Doug, thanks for the extension office suggestion. I did find a local office, and will pay them a visit. I do think it's completely root bound, but I haven't even lifted it out of its pot to look....I didn't want to disturb it at all after hearing how finicky they can be. I'll report back...

Bump. A little over a year has gone by. I decided to do nothing with the tree other than let it adapt to moving to a new neighborhood after I took it home from the nursery, with no pruning or repotting...or, well, any change of any kind. It went through a phase of turning slightly yellow...

Update My last post on this tree was a little over a year ago. I was having issues with leaves turning yellow as well as developing little black spots all over them. I tried horticultural oil, and it did nothing. I then went to Ace and bought a bottle of non-organic, non-earth-friendly...

Thanks for your feedback! It's funny...I have no idea what I saw in the third tree. I got home and took it out of the car and thought, "Why did I buy this?" So I agree that it isn't clear what to do with that one. I get the feeling they were pretty neglected at the nursery. They've all...

Tree #3 After some minor trimming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VwkMGsWVho

Tree #3 Tree #3 How it started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCDj55Vubj0

Tree #2 How it started (sorry for the out of focus image, I didn't realize it was out of focus After some minor trimming, and I started to give it a windswept style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSQ6LTRYZ_M As shown here, I'm thinking I'll make this a windswept style. I like that...

Tree #1 Continued Tree #1 Continued. And after some minor clean up trimming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi-V71InnQ4 I'm thinking something literati style with this. I'm thinking I'll make the first image the front of the tree. I almost see the silhouette of a very tall woman...

Tree #1 Tree #1. Here's how it started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7eKgblE0hg

I was out running errands the other day, and went by a nursery I had never gone to before. I stumbled upon a few containers of plants that were labeled as Phlomis Lanata/Jerusalem Sage, and I loved them. I took three home, and would love some advice on them! I'll make three separate posts for...

Wow, interesting idea....I had been solely looking at this as more of a dramatic, non-tree, deadwood focused bonsai....like what you see with some shimpakus that almost have a grotesque quality. But maybe it would work as well if it still resembled the traditional tapering tree. Either way...

Thanks for the advice. I'm fine waiting because I do like how it looks as is, even though it obviously isn't a show stopper or anything. The guy at the nursery just said it was a juniper, so no other details there. Any pointers on how I might figure out what it is more accurately?

I was at a local nursery and found this tree. It isn't anything spectacular, but I liked the little bit of deadwood sticking out the bottom of it, and I thought it would be good to practice doing some styling that incorporated deadwood because it was only $25. Here are some pics and video...

I was on a little hike in San Francisco yesterday, and saw a bunch of trees that seemed like natural literati, but two stood out. The first one here has somewhat of a straight trunk, but it had cool deadwood and foliage pads. It looked to me like it could be shrunk down and put in a pot, and...

I read some more, and I think I had some sort of bugs on the bottom of the leaves that were munching on the leaves and sucking juices out. I hosed everything down with horticultural oil, so hopefully that takes care of it!

Another question: The leaves and stems have some discoloration on them, and I'm not sure if it's something that warrants any worry or not. You can see some black spots on these leaves, and one leaf at the top center looks like it's been munched on a bit: And the hairs on the stems are...

Thanks for the info. The cut and trunk were totally dry this morning. It needed to be watered, so I watered it, and we'll see what it looks like this afternoon. I'll probably seal it up. Thanks for the help!

During the initial prune, I removed a good sized branch that was pointing straight out toward the front. It looks like it's bleeding now: Is this a reason for concern? Should I put something on the wound to seal it? I've read all sorts of mixed opinions on using sealant on cuts like...