By Michael Hagedorn Galileo had more in common with witches than you’d think. He narrowly avoided being tortured and executed by denying thinking thoughts that he really shouldn’t have been thinking in the 17th century, such as the earth revolving around the sun. Those early heretical scientists were a brave lot. I’ve known a few […]
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A good reason to not skip annual maintenance on juniper bonsai
About a year ago, I passed a juniper in my garden that had filled in over the previous growing season. It was a good time to remove the old foliage, so I made a mental note to thin the tree. A full year later, I still hadn’t thinned the foliage. And then I noticed that […]
Spring cutback on Chinese quince
Last December, I decided to take a big step to improve the branch structure on a Chinese quince. I cut off most of the branches. The tree was fairly ramified, but the size and arrangement of the branches didn’t convey the gnarly character that I associate with quince bonsai. The remedy, although severe, is the […]
Kinsai satsuki azalea
‘Kinsai’ is a popular satsuki azalea cultivar. The flowers are red and the petals are narrow. Mostly. There are a few different variations of kinsai (pink flowers, wide petals, etc.), and there can be considerable variation among the flowers on a single tree. You can see this on the specimen below that has started to […]
Spring deciduous work: stewartia
For the last few years, I’ve been working to increase the health and vigor of a stewartia bonsai. As of this year, the tree is strong enough for regular spring maintenance – cutback and leaf pruning. As you can see in the photo below, the tree’s large leaves shade out the interior branches. If I […]