Japanese Flowering Cherry (Prunus Serrulata)

Have 2 little bags of these, the firm I ordered from threw in another one as a freebie:

24 hours in water, followed by 90 days in the fridge. Might wait for the spring before planting these out (at least half of them, don't want to lose the trees).


Such beautiful trees in spring:

And such delicate flowers:

And such Bonsai potential:

Black Locust Tree (Robinia Pseudoacacia)

Now this is an interesting one, haven't been able to find any stunning examples of Bonsai versions of this. Leaf structure is very interesting and the pods/flowers are quite delicate and beautiful.

No stratification required so already planted them out.


A 24 hour soak in hot water, they bloat nicely once they're "ready", probably the most visible change of any of the seeds I've seen so far...


Unfortunately forgot to take any photos once they bloated, got a bit carried away with the plantings and other distractions...

The trees are interesting, though Bonsai photos have been hard to find...

Though the adult versions are much more interesting, maybe something i'll be able to replicate (especially the bark):

Red Maple (Acer Rubrum)

Ahh, the Red Maple. Honestly cannot wait for my first autumn with the leaves changing colour (or color for those of the American persuasion) and tumbling to the ground...

These trees are just stunning, in raft or forest style especially...

Very long stratification though - 120 days! Still, can't wait...

The foliage is just stunning:

And can be made to look so beautiful and natural in Bonsai form, whilst green:

Or red:

Just to re-itterate, I. Cannot. Wait.

Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sepervirens)

Really majestic trunks on these ones, look to me like the perfect opportunity for a forest (though a Silver Birch one is a longer term dream if anyone can recommend somewhere to get seeds... Might try some cuttings over the coming weeks).

Though formal uprights seem to look great with them as well...

Again, just a soak and then in the soil they go, hope something germinates soon...

 

Russian Olive (Elaeagnus Angustifolia)

This was a bit of a punt, given that I'm of Russian origins I decided to order some Russian Olive seeds...

Probably the best looking seeds of the lot, fairly large and nicely patterned. 6 Hour soak then 90 days in the fridge, bring it on!


Resulting tree should be quite interesting with beautiful, and unusual, foliage and interesting fruit if I'm lucky...

Here's hoping...

European Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus)

Some more seeds that don't need any scarification/stratification! Planted these straight out, but 3-4 months to germinate seems a bit long... Hope they get established enough to survive the winter, could always bring them indoors I guess...

Nice chunky seeds too...

Seem to grow quite nicely in informal upright, thats not a decision to make anytime soon in any case.

Chinese Elm (Ulmus Parvifolia)

And wanted to grow the classic from some seeds, got some cousins for my existing tree...

These guys need 2 months in the fridge after soaking for 24-48 hours...

Quite a few seeds here, so if I'm lucky and most of them germinate I would like to grow them in various sizes and styles... A versatile species so should be interesting...

Anyway, they're in the fridge now, first stratification I've attempted... Wish me luck...

Lilacs (Syringa Vulgaris)

I didn't get any seeds for this, but the Wisteria got my thinking about the potential... My parents have a beautifully-scented tree growing in their garden that can afford to lose a branch or two - a perfect specimen for my first try at air-layering... Need to get some moss first though... Pictures I've found of Bonsai look rather appealing...

And..
 

Don't they look great?

White Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria Sinensis Alba)

After a bit of research I'm going to have to think quite deeply about this one... Apparently it doesn't flower for around 10 years after planting, so should be able to get the trunk and branches nicely developed over that time. Thinking of a few interesting, if somewhat unconventional styles for this - Tree around rock (rather than root-over-rock, that could produce some stunning views when flowering...

Nice chunky seeds...

Only needed a 2 hour soak so planted these out quite early yesterday...

The flowers look amazing, but i guess the tree would have to be rather large to allow a heavy bloom...

It will take many years before anything flower-like is seen...

Seed Trays - Mini-Greenhouse

For the planting of the seeds I used a "Windowsill Greenhouse" as shown below. Each has 30 mini-pots so keeping track of where different seeds are planted will be a hell of a lot easier...

The cover will keep in warmth and also allow for watering at longer intervals, since I don't live where the seeds are to germinate... Definitely happy with this solution...

Blue Jacaranda (Jacaranda Mimosifolia)

This one was a great surprise, wasn't expecting the plant to be anywhere near as stunning, was just taken in by the name when ordering without looking at any photos...

The full grown trees look stunning and hopefully, with a lot of patience and a fair bit of luck, I'll be able to achieve a similar result with the Bonsai...

Don't know how well they do as Bonsai, if anyone has any pictures, would be very much appreciated...

The seeds needed a soak overnight, and were planted out yesterday afternoon... Have mini-greenhouse-type things so should keep them quite warm in the day... Hopefully will germinate in 3-4 weeks as stated on the lable but I guess it all depends on the weather...

Wow...

That was a quick turnaround... Soil's already delivered. Looks like a very good mix, fairly porous for good drainage - peat based with pumice... Looking like it will do my first re-potting a lot of good...

Finally Home...

And able to post a few posts... Don't have any way to link up cameras/phones to computers at my parents place so though the plantings were done there, the posts had to wait until now.

So below are the seeds in all their potential glory...

And a bit more zoomed in...

 

 and 

 More detailed plant by plant posts to follow...

The Seeds Arrive...

I honestly didn't expect there to be so many... Guess I got a bit carried away as tends to happen with me. Started the hot/cold soaking (Scarification?) with the lot. Have a couple of seed trays ready along with decent starter soil from the local garden centre, for now just treating them like regular trees...

Fortunately only several of the species require stratification - ranging from 1 to 4 months, so the rest I'll be able to plant tomorrow morning/afternoon (depending on whether its recommended to soak overnight or for 24 hours).

Will keep you updated and will post a more detailed account after everything has been done... Photos-a-plenty...

Another Order...

Still haven't received the rest of the seeds (the others should all be coming together), but decided to order some soil, as I don't yet have the need for large enough quantities to warrant mixing up my own. Green Dragon is the supplier, hopefully it's of good enough quality...

The New Books...

New books were delivered to my parents house yesterday, only had the time to have a flick through quickly...

The Secret Techniques of Bonsai by Masakuni Kawasumi II with Masakuni Kawasumi III is predominantly in black and white which was a bit of a disappointment, but seems to go very deep into most techniques i've heard of an many that I haven't.

The other is Bonsai Secrets by Peter Chan, which seems a bit more accessible, has beautiful illustrations and shows a great variety of old, gorgeous trees...

I'll write a bit more once I've had the chance to read these properly...

First Seeds...

Had my first delivery earlier on today - some Orange Jasmin (Murraya Paniculata). Will try to plant them over the next couple of days, dad was actually quite enthusiastic about project, think he wants to be more involved... He's also an expert Bonsai killer so we can join forces to attempt to wipe out this genetic flaw we seem to posses... And I can actually relax a bit because he's an expert with other plants, almost everything in their house seems to flourish, except Bonsais... so far...

Isn't This Just The Most Beautiful...

Tree? Hidden in the "inspirations" part of the Kaizen Bonsai site I mentioned earlier is this picture... Just stunning... Looks almost like a contorted human.

 

Quite a Site...

Stumbled across Kaizen Bonsai - a great site with some very interesting videos (the above link goes straight there), most of which provide inspiration and show a large variety of techniques. Features Yamadori (trees collected from the wild) quite heavily too... Love it...

On the Sill...

So here's the tree in its new "habitat", south-south-east facing windowsill, seems happy there so far but it's early days yet...

The entire wall is mostly covered in windows and theres plenty of fresh air - unless it gets so hot outside as to be uncomfortable without air conditioning. Will obviously need to turn the tree on occasion to ensure even growth on the front and back side...

Now for some seeds...

I've just ordered some seeds (from seedsense on amazon), a nice variety of coniferous and deciduous trees. 

Think I will be taking my time in planting them out, some might even be saved for next year. I've arranged for some outdoor/indoor space where I can plant and grow these so hopefully will go decently.

From what I've read and heard, it's best to plant the seedlings out once they've developed some strong roots. I'd rather not have them growing in the relatively low quality soil in the area I have access to, but will definitely experiment somewhat. Will try different feeding schedules, different soil compositions, etc... Quite a few of the seeds are in 10 packs and I'll be ordering some more, hopefully will be able to provide some interesting insights.

Another Couple of Books...

Put in another order on Amazon for a couple of books that seemed to review quite well:

Bonsai Secrets: Designing, Growing, and Caring for Your Miniature Masterpieces

and

The Secret Techniques of Bonsai 

Neither is too expensive and look like they'll provide a decent addition to the knowledge that I'm slowly building... Hopefully they'll approach things from different angles.  

Does anyone have other books that they found intersting/insightful?

After a Trim and a Good Nights Rest...

Here's how the tree looks after yesterdays trim, first from the back and then from the front. It currently lives on the windowsill (I have limited outside space at the flat, will see if I can convince my parents to house some of my collection if it grows substantially enough, my Father is a big plant lover so shouldn't be tough), I'll have pictures of that later...

Anyway, heres the tree from behind:

And from the front:

What do you think?

Moss, Gotta Love the Moss...

Again, maybe I'm ignorant as to how difficult it is to lay moss (from what I've read it's not that hard), but I am swayed by a healthy looking layer over the soil of a Chinese Elm. I'm sorry but it just looks so lucious...

Somewhat interesting floating root feature too... I like the thickness of the trunk, wonder if there's an easy way of calculating the age of the tree without "chopping" it down and counting the rings...

The First Book...

So, this is the book:

Bonsai Pocket Encyclopedia by Harry Tomlinson, great little read.

Has the basics on Wiring, Trimming, Cutting, Propagating creating Jins and many other topics. Descriptions and pictures of all the common styles and simple, easy to understand information on over 75 different species, including the Chinese Elm, though the example they show is underwhelming...

Maybe I don't just understand the complexity and intricacies of Root-over-rock...