The name “Bristlecone Pine” refers to a cluster of slow-growing pines with bristles on their cones. The longest lived of these, the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva, is native to isolated patches in Nevada, Utah, and California. Many of the most ancient cluster in the White Mountain range, east of the Owens Valley and […]
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Limber pine
The Limber pine (Pinus flexilis) knows what it’s like to be second best. Well known for growing alongside more “notable” pines like the Foxtail or Bristlecone, the Limber rarely gets the spotlight. Which is too bad as it’s a remarkable variety. The Limber can eke out a living where only a handful of trees can […]
Foxtail pine
I had the good fortune to walk up Mt. Whitney earlier this month. On the way back down I passed through one of the few stands of Foxtail pines in the world. Foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana subsp. austrina) is a beautiful variety of white or five-needle pine that grows near treeline in the Sierra Nevada […]
Restoring a white pine
For the first time in a long time I did something special – I bought a new tree. I’ve had my eye on this white pine for maybe 8 years. I first saw after it had been purchased by a Bay Island Bonsai member. For a number of years the tree did well until its […]
Summer ritual – decandling black pine
Japanese black pine bonsai entails a set of refining techniques known as decandling. At its most simple, it refers to the process of removing spring growth to encourage summer growth. At its most complex it involves more variables than I can address in a single post. Regardless the approach, the goals remain the same – […]