For the past few years, I’ve been refining a Yaupon holly with an eye toward showing it at an upcoming Bay Island Bonsai exhibit. It’s now one of my better candidates for our upcoming 15th anniversary exhibit. Yaupon holly – front Right side The work at this stage involves letting new shoots run for a […]
Yaupon Holly
Refining a yaupon holly
I brought my yaupon holly to a recent Bay Island Bonsai workshop for a trim. Even in the cool Northern California weather, I have to thin or trim the branches every two to three months. And now, after several years of this treatment, some of the primary branches are beginning to take shape. I started […]
Cutback – Yaupon holly
Maintaining bonsai involves letting trees grow and cutting them back. The greater the vigor of the tree, the greater the need for cutback. Of my small collection, my Yaupon holly gets the most cutback. For the second time this year, the tree made a dramatic change in shape. Before cutback – Fall 2010 After cutback […]
Yaupon holly bonsai
Until recently, I’ve known Yaupon Holly by its less appealing botanical name, Ilex vomitoria. I took it for granted that the tree produced berries that were better left to the birds. Not so – turns out Native Americans made tea known as asi or “black drink” from the Youpon berries that were used in male-only […]