Maples!

The Bay Area Bonsai Associates (BABA) held their 28th annual show at Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, California, this past weekend. The show included a good number of maples. Some of my favorites belonged to local bonsai enthusiast Jay McDonald.

Jay is active in a number of clubs and has contributed greatly to the local scene. He acquired the maple below some time ago and has done a great job developing the ramification.

Japanese maple

If only there were more big maples around. They are a striking variety in every season and are relatively easy to care for.

From below

Maple roots and moss

All of Jay’s trees featured bright green moss as a top-dressing. He claims a secret source for the stuff – a valuable vein somewhere in Marin County.

I missed the opportunity to get a shot of a second large maple Jay had on display, but I caught his trident maple, again displayed with the great moss.

Trident maple

All told there were plenty of attractive maples at the show, including the following.

Japanese maple

Japanese maple

Japanese maple ‘kiyohime’

I recently learned that Kiyohime is a mythic Japanese character who, once driven to a mighty rage, transforms into a fiery serpent. It didn’t end well for her paramour, the priest Anjin.

I don’t know that the variety is named for her, but I can’t say the name is inappropriate due to its fiery spring colors.