Some stuff from the Nat. .Arb.

[rockm]

Since the its was in the high 60s over the weekend, took a trip up to the National Arboretum to walk around.

Took some pictures of bonsai-related stuff. All the trees are stored now in a covered pavilion until mid-march or so. the Japanese pavilion is also being completely renovated.

First photo is of an American beech. Great tree given the species is not easy.
Second photo is for you suiseki enthusiasts--its a very old Japanese wood burl. It looks like a critter, I vote tortoise, my wife thought tiger-ish
The next few are the BIG stones that are being cut and leveled to become stands in the new Japanese pavilion. This will look pretty nice once they are installed.
Last one is Ernie Kuo's cali Juniper we talked about in another thread. Didn't realize it was so big. It's got to be almost 4 feet tall and three feet wide.

 

[just.wing.it]

Nice, can't wait for May, gonna make my first trip there.

 

[jomawa]

Yeah, rub it in, live within walking distance of the National Arboretum. Hey, next time ya swing by there, would ya mind taking a few more photos of them bonsai looking plants in the background of that one picture for us west coaters, and the down underers, and euro....???

First photo is of an American beech. Great tree given the species is not easy.

Which coined the phrase "son-of-a-beech"

Second photo is for you suiseki enthusiasts--its a very old Japanese wood burl. It looks like a critter, I vote tortoise, my wife thought tiger-ish

With a rat tail like that, it had to have been around a long time to morph into a tortoise, but hey??? Definately prehistoric critter. And Japanese are now karaoke-ing Burl Ives, what?

The next few are the BIG stones that are being cut and leveled to become stands in the new Japanese pavilion. This will look pretty nice once they are installed.

And they have reserved parking for a rock??? That palce is too far out'a my league, they won't even let me in the gate, even if I could afford air fare.
Anyway, please post more photos of the bonsai looking thingies in the background.

 

[rockm]

Yeah, rub it in, live within walking distance of the National Arboretum. Hey, next time ya swing by there, would ya mind taking a few more photos of them bonsai looking plants in the background of that one picture for us west coaters, and the down underers, and euro....???

Which coined the phrase "son-of-a-beech"

With a rat tail like that, it had to have been around a long time to morph into a tortoise, but hey??? Definately prehistoric critter. And Japanese are now karaoke-ing Burl Ives, what?

And they have reserved parking for a rock??? That palce is too far out'a my league, they won't even let me in the gate, even if I could afford air fare.
Anyway, please post more photos of the bonsai looking thingies in the background.

If you do a search on "national arb" and "Rockm" you can find all kinds of photos I've put in various posts.

Also subscribe to
http://www.treethepeople.com/tag/danny-coffey/

BTW, there is no charge to get in. Admission for all federally-owned museums and exhibits in D.C. are covered by your taxes ;-) Of course, you could get lost in some seriously questionable parts of our fine Capitol City while driving to the arboretum IF you don't know how to get there...

 

[rockm]

More arb stuff from over the last year or two.

 

[rockm]

more

 

[rockm]

more...

 

[rockm]

More

 

[rockm]

last ones

 

[jomawa]

More, more, more...

Wow, thanks for sharing those. It's nice to know this country still has some clout, even though it's just little trees. Thanks again.

 

[carp]

Are the trees donated by Jim Smith still part of the collection? I believe he had donated a Portulacaria afra and also a Bougainvillea glabra.

 

[_#1_]

I really need to find time to take a trip down there.

Someone tried to shoot the last tree?

 

[rockm]

Jim's trees are in the Kaneshiro tropical greenhouse. That building is just off of the main North American pavilion. I'm not that into tropical stuff, so I don't go in that greenhouse much, as it's HOT and usually crowded.

Micro, that thing in the last photo is a carpenter bee. The Arb's bonsai pavillions are infested with them. Also, the tree in that photo is John Naka's very first bonsai--A Montezuma cypress (a Southwestern cousin species of the Bald Cypress) He donated the tree to the collection back in the early 00's I think.
http://www.betterbonsai.com/profiles/montez/montez.html

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/pestmgmt/IPM_2008-04.html
The bees are VERY aggressive, although they can't sting, they fly at you to intimidate. The Arb has had to put up signs telling visitors not to freak out. Since it's a government facility, controlling them is a challenge--the public whines if you kill them ;-). Things aren't as easy as blasting them with Raid.

 

[Steve Kudela]

Jim's trees are in the Kaneshiro tropical greenhouse. That building is just off of the main North American pavilion. I'm not that into tropical stuff, so I don't go in that greenhouse much, as it's HOT and usually crowded.

Micro, that thing in the last photo is a carpenter bee. The Arb's bonsai pavillions are infested with them. Also, the tree in that photo is John Naka's very first bonsai--A Montezuma cypress (a Southwestern cousin species of the Bald Cypress) He donated the tree to the collection back in the early 00's I think.
http://www.betterbonsai.com/profiles/montez/montez.html

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/pestmgmt/IPM_2008-04.html
The bees are VERY aggressive, although they can't sting, they fly at you to intimidate. The Arb has had to put up signs telling visitors not to freak out. Since it's a government facility, controlling them is a challenge--the public whines if you kill them ;-). Things aren't as easy as blasting them with Raid.

They might not sting, but they will bite. Last year, I did a paint and repair job in which the fascia boards were full of them. The lightest bump on the fascia got them riled. It was funny to hear that piece of lumber sing! I just had to go get my customer to come out and hear it, we were all amazed. Anyway, during cleanup, I grabbed that fascia board and one of the things bit me. Not as bad as a guinea wasp, but hurt like heck. In the last several years, there seems to be more and more of them. They will eat right through paint. Don't know what we'll do to slow them down.

 

[carp]

Jim's trees are in the Kaneshiro tropical greenhouse. That building is just off of the main North American pavilion. I'm not that into tropical stuff, so I don't go in that greenhouse much, as it's HOT and usually crowded.

Understood. As the curator of his collection, I would just like to see them being taken care of up there. Sure they are doing well.

 

[rockm]

Understood. As the curator of his collection, I would just like to see them being taken care of up there. Sure they are doing well.

All the trees are doing well. I don't think there have been any big issues with any of the bonsai for a while, even with the rough winters we've had in the last few years.

This is the bougainvillea from several years ago
http://www.usna.usda.gov/PhotoGallery/AnswerGallery/ImageAnswer_040805.html

Stole this shot from a wheelchair adventure site, partial view of the greenhouse interior