Suggestions for this pot
- Thread starter DaveV
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rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Um, well, what have you got? 
I'm all for buying good pots, but you're going at this in reverse. Pots are frames, basically. You don't buy a frame and ask what painting would work with the frame. You by a painting and look for a frame that complements it.
Release yourself from the thought that this pot must be filled immediately. It doesn't have to be. Put it aside. Enjoy it as the work of art that it is for now. Sara Raynor is a skilled artisan. Her work is definitely art though.
Down the road, you may find you have acquired or made a semicascade or cascade tree that can use it. This could take years.
Over the years, I've purchased a lot of pots without trees in mind. I have a half dozen or so displayed on shelves in my den as simple artwork. Good pots like this one can actually appreciate in value over time, unlike bonsai which tend to depreciate Also, the pot ain't gonna die on you and you can't make a fatal pruning mistake with it--unless you're a real clutz
I'm all for buying good pots, but you're going at this in reverse. Pots are frames, basically. You don't buy a frame and ask what painting would work with the frame. You by a painting and look for a frame that complements it.Release yourself from the thought that this pot must be filled immediately. It doesn't have to be. Put it aside. Enjoy it as the work of art that it is for now. Sara Raynor is a skilled artisan. Her work is definitely art though.
Down the road, you may find you have acquired or made a semicascade or cascade tree that can use it. This could take years.
Over the years, I've purchased a lot of pots without trees in mind. I have a half dozen or so displayed on shelves in my den as simple artwork. Good pots like this one can actually appreciate in value over time, unlike bonsai which tend to depreciate
Also, the pot ain't gonna die on you and you can't make a fatal pruning mistake with it--unless you're a real clutz 
grouper52
Masterpiece
Um, well, what have you got?
I think this another one of those constraining rules that stifle creativity in bonsai. The Sistine Chapel's ceiling was the frame, the creative project was to fill that frame. Why not?
I offer as an example a pot my wife saw and liked on eBay - We got it, and it was my assignment to create something nice to compliment it. An inexpensive JBP and a few rocks, and two years down the road it is shaping up into a nice combined creation, IMO. Why not?
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rockm
Spuds Moyogi
"I think this another one of those constraining rules that stifle creativity in bonsai. The Sistine Chapel's ceiling was the frame, the creative project was to fill that frame. Why not?"
HA! The Sistine chapel wasn't a frame. It was a canvas. A tree is similarly the canvas. You fill the canvas with work, not the frame...
The thought that patience is "stifling" is kind of stifling in itself. Patience constrains, sure, but restraint and self control aren't bad things. The desire to instantly fill the pot, just because its nice (not to mention expensive) is something to be resisted. Simply plunking any old tree into it that's "close" to what the pot suggests would ultimately produce a composition that makes the tree and pot look silly.
Why wait? Go out and find a tree that fits the pot. Sure, go ahead, not a problem. However, finding one that ACTUALLY fits is really the issue. That search can take days (if you've got access to great material), or it can take years. The issue isn't filling the pot. It's filling it with something worthwhile.
HA! The Sistine chapel wasn't a frame. It was a canvas. A tree is similarly the canvas. You fill the canvas with work, not the frame...
The thought that patience is "stifling" is kind of stifling in itself. Patience constrains, sure, but restraint and self control aren't bad things. The desire to instantly fill the pot, just because its nice (not to mention expensive) is something to be resisted. Simply plunking any old tree into it that's "close" to what the pot suggests would ultimately produce a composition that makes the tree and pot look silly.
Why wait? Go out and find a tree that fits the pot. Sure, go ahead, not a problem. However, finding one that ACTUALLY fits is really the issue. That search can take days (if you've got access to great material), or it can take years. The issue isn't filling the pot. It's filling it with something worthwhile.
Yes indeed, the pot is a nice one. Without going into too great of detail, there was a semi cascade pine in the pot that did not make it through the winter (I feel bad about it and I just don't know why, all the others did fine). The pot was probably oversized for the tree and I wanted some new ideas. It is a rather large pot, a style that I have not seen or used much before. I was just looking for some ideas. I was thinking of a very thick trunked tree.
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
The heavier you go with the trunk, the more masculine and formal the tree will (generally) be if it is an upright. This is a feminine (albeit heavy) pot. You will probably be happiest with a heavy pine semi-cascade - a cascade softens what would otherwise be a heavy design in an upright. Hope I am making sense
grouper52
Masterpiece
Yawn. ("The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.") How about another yawn? Or some snoring?
treebeard55
Chumono
Grouper, I like what you and your wife together came up with.
As for which-comes-first, I agree that usually it's better to get a pot to match a tree. But I must add that, one, a pot like this can be enjoyed on its own; and, two, I haven't always followed that guideline myself!
So my suggestion: look around for something with which this pot will work. I wouldn't hurry; as has been pointed out, the pot ain't going nowhere! With that glaze, it might be the perfect home for a ponderosa.
As for which-comes-first, I agree that usually it's better to get a pot to match a tree. But I must add that, one, a pot like this can be enjoyed on its own; and, two, I haven't always followed that guideline myself!
So my suggestion: look around for something with which this pot will work. I wouldn't hurry; as has been pointed out, the pot ain't going nowhere! With that glaze, it might be the perfect home for a ponderosa.
sfhellwig
Mame
While the depth of the pot typically makes us think cascade or semi-cascade, it could be a nice home for a fruiting tree. Not that I am advocating a fruiting tree but I am having trouble envisioning a nice maple or pine. However this is based on my limited viewing of trees. I typically only see fruiting or cascading plants in that shape of vessel.
Attila Soos
Omono
A large wisteria in bloom. It can have lavender or white flowers. It should be a slanting trunk, with some cascading branches.
But the trunk must be heavy. If the diameter of the pot is 13 inches, the trunk should be at least 5-6 inches, right above the nebari.
But the trunk must be heavy. If the diameter of the pot is 13 inches, the trunk should be at least 5-6 inches, right above the nebari.
sfhellwig
Mame
Not sure where to look for that kind of stock unless you can find it in a yard to dig. You won't likely find it in a nursery for a price you would want to pay. You could have a good chance of that with wisteria though. Last month our garden club toured a local garden with two giant wisteria vines splitting the trellis they were growing up. The main trunks were bigger than my calves. I asked if she put it there and how old it was. Her reply, "six years." That's what I'm talking about.
That's what I'm talking about.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
A magnolia? You mean a Southern Magnolia--magnolia grandiflora? Good luck. Eight to 12" leaves that don't reduce and blossoms almost as big as a human head (blooms don't reduce at all on bonsai) make for a very awkward bonsai, IF you can find one with a 5-6 " trunk at a nursery for under $400 (or collect one from a swamp if one's handy).
Asiatic magnolia species are a better possibility--magnolia stellata in particular, but they're not cheap, at least for one with a substantial trunk--unless you know someone who wants an old landscape plant removed...
Asiatic magnolia species are a better possibility--magnolia stellata in particular, but they're not cheap, at least for one with a substantial trunk--unless you know someone who wants an old landscape plant removed...
Attila Soos
Omono
Yes, Magnolia kobus var. Stellata, or even a Camellia would be also good. But individuals with large trunks are extremely rare and expensive.
As it was said earlier, wisteria is your best bet, if you can dig out a big trunk from somewhere.
As it was said earlier, wisteria is your best bet, if you can dig out a big trunk from somewhere.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Wisteria can be found for free almost anywhere in teh Southern US. It is literally all over the place. Some of the naturalized plants can have fantastic trunks. You locate colonies (and they NEVER grow alone in the woods) in the spring in early April. A mass of lavender racemes among mostly barebranched hardwoods can be seen for miles. A mass bigger than an acre usually means there's a BIG one in there somewhere.
Wisteria are laughably easy to collect.The bigger ones survive better than the smaller ones...
Wisteria are laughably easy to collect.The bigger ones survive better than the smaller ones...
Grape vine, I'll give you one of the damn things with a 6" trunk that's growing on my neighbor's side of the fence, we could dig it sometime when he's on vacation. My dad told me, you could lay one on a concrete driveway and cover it with a rock and it would grow.
keep it green,
Harry
keep it green,
Harry
I have three Ann Magnolias that I got from Bill Valavanis. They are pretty small, however. They make very nice purple flowers that seem to last much longer than other varieties. I have them in 2 gallon pots right now. I might use one of these. Harry, If I take you up on this grape vine, can you provide the concrete and rock ???.
Dave V.
Dave V.
