Thoughts on Today's Bonsai Mirai Tree Sale?

Kadebe

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Our tastes are similar. I ended up purchasing Ponderosa #1.

I took a 20+ year hiatus from bonsai after I returned from living in Japan due to family commitments. Now that I have the resources to devote to the practice, I don't have the time. Meaning - I do have the time each day but being in my mid-50s, I don't have a timeline to support long tree development processes and still have time to enjoy the finished trees. I wanted at least one 'specimen' western pine, preferably Ponderosa, to enjoy while I spend the rest of my days developing my own trees that other people will likely be the ones enjoying in their mature state.
+1.. me too :cool:
 

Mayank

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Our tastes are similar. I ended up purchasing Ponderosa #1.

I took a 20+ year hiatus from bonsai after I returned from living in Japan due to family commitments. Now that I have the resources to devote to the practice, I don't have the time. Meaning - I do have the time each day but being in my mid-50s, I don't have a timeline to support long tree development processes and still have time to enjoy the finished trees. I wanted at least one 'specimen' western pine, preferably Ponderosa, to enjoy while I spend the rest of my days developing my own trees that other people will likely be the ones enjoying in their mature state.
Did you get the tree already? Please post pics of it in your yard etc. As many pics as you like, I'd love to see them :)
 

Thomas Mitchell

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Did you get the tree already? Please post pics of it in your yard etc. As many pics as you like, I'd love to see them :)
Unfortunately, no I haven't gotten the tree yet. I am out of town for a while helping a family member going through some healthcare issues. Mirai is boarding the tree for a few months until I can return to Seattle. I'm really looking forward to bring it home and will post photos for sure. There are older photos of the tree on the 'bio' page in the main Mirai tree gallery. Comparing those photos with the sale photos hint at some interesting branch work over the interim.
 

Bonsai Nut

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It takes great effort and expense to build a brand/business and there is nothing wrong with capitalizing on it once the brand is built.

To say nothing of the time and effort to get the necessary skills in the first place. It is easy to see someone after they are successful, and wonder about how easy it all looks... in retrospect. No mention of the decade of schooling and apprenticeship, the personal sacrifice, the risk of failure that you are putting your family through.
 

Tidal Bonsai

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He styled it in the winter, repotted it in the spring and sold it about a year later. When we are talented like Ryan, and have a name like Ryan, we can charge prices like Ryan.

You can find diamonds in old nursery stock, many of my trees were started this way!
 

BobbyLane

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He styled it in the winter, repotted it in the spring and sold it about a year later. When we are talented like Ryan, and have a name like Ryan, we can charge prices like Ryan.

You can find diamonds in old nursery stock, many of my trees were started this way!
But Ryan didnt start out talented, he learnt from someone for the most part and now he is passing his knowledge on to others.
personally i dont think that tree is a real diamond, you could walk into a nursery and find dozens just like it at this time of year. i would even say that if someone posted that tree on here, they might be told to ground layer or take off the air roots. but Ryan seems to like them...

the likes of Walter pall and others didnt just start out being 'talented' you have the wrong mindset if you think you can't reach that level.
 
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Tidal Bonsai

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But Ryan didnt start out talented, he learnt from someone for the most part and now he is passing his knowledge on to others.
personally i dont think that tree is a real diamond, you could walk into a nursery and find dozens just like it at this time of year. i would even say that if someone posted that tree on here, they might be told to ground layer or take off the air roots. but Ryan seems to like them...

the likes of Walter pall and others didnt just start out being 'talented' you have the wrong mindset if you think you can't reach that level.
100% true, I know he spent a lot of $$$, and worked incredibly hard to get where he is. If we all “pay our dues” like he did, we could have a name like Mirai also.

I did not mean that we will never get there, what I meant is if I went to a nursery today, styled a tree and sold it online, it wouldn’t fetch nearly as much because I don’t have a name like Mirai...YET!
 

BobbyLane

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100% true, I know he spent a lot of $$$, and worked incredibly hard to get where he is. If we all “pay our dues” like he did, we could have a name like Mirai also.

I did not mean that we will never get there, what I meant is if I went to a nursery today, styled a tree and sold it online, it wouldn’t fetch nearly as much because I don’t have a name like Mirai...YET!

yeh sure, i wasnt really putting much on the name aspect though. more on that if Ryan can go to a nursery and pick up a tree, style it, transform it into something worthy then others can too. he makes a living out of teaching others how to do it. so more should be doing it, especially the folks who are devout paid subscribers.
 

BobbyLane

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I ended my subscription nearly two years ago now. does anyone have a recent update on the nursery Tilia he worked on and the field grown Field maple?
at the time he picked up two Tilias and did a stream on one. i think the field maple stream came during that period.
 

Tidal Bonsai

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I ended my subscription nearly two years ago now. does anyone have a recent update on the nursery Tilia he worked on and the field grown Field maple?
at the time he picked up two Tilias and did a stream on one. i think the field maple stream came during that period.
@MACH5 owns one of the Tilia, he turned it around and added his own touch. It was fantastic when I saw it in his garden! Don’t know about the other two. I don’t remember any follow up.
 

BobbyLane

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@MACH5 owns one of the Tilia, he turned it around and added his own touch. It was fantastic when I saw it in his garden! Don’t know about the other two. I don’t remember any follow up.
yes Mach's one is another one. there was a nursery vid where he went to nursery and picked up two Linden lumps, one of them he styled it to look like a wild Linden, with thick branches and sub trunks, multiple canopies. i might have to do a temporary sub at some point to see all the updates, i dont see much discussion on old streams.
 

MACH5

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yes Mach's one is another one. there was a nursery vid where he went to nursery and picked up two Linden lumps, one of them he styled it to look like a wild Linden, with thick branches and sub trunks, multiple canopies. i might have to do a temporary sub at some point to see all the updates, i dont see much discussion on old streams.

Bobby, here's the latest work Ryan did on one of those lindens.

Screen Shot 2020-12-12 at 6.11.59 PM.png
 

BobbyLane

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Bobby, here's the latest work Ryan did on one of those lindens.

View attachment 344088

Wow Mach thanks for sharing! if that was the first one its come on quite a bit, as it was still in a nursery container when the first work was done. great potential eh:)
i remember him going into detail on why he wanted to preserve one of the funny shaped thick branches on the left.
 
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MACH5

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Wow Mach thanks for sharing! if that was the first one its come on quite a bit, as it was still in a nursery container when the first work was done. great potential eh:)
i remember him going into detail on why he wanted to preserve one of the funny shaped thick branches on the left.

Yes agreed. With this type of material the last thing one wants to do is tame it too much. So those funky branches have a reason to stay. Much in the same way that Walter keeps them as well.
 
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