‘Chojubai’ Quince—Diminutive Jewels

Michael Hagedorn

This unassuming dwarf quince can steal your heart. There are many who have gone to Japan for the spectacular pines, junipers, and maples, only to discover the quiet but memorable Chojubai. Those ‘many’ included a few friends of mine, and myself. This post is a little longer than most because Chojubai is so little known in the West, and, frankly, I think it deserves better. Also, waiting for you at at the end of this long post is a question…

A well-known root-over-rock Japanese flowering quince ‘Chojubai’. 45 cm high

Fairly typical of the multiple-trunk old Chojubai now seen in Japan. 33 cm high

Chaenomelesjaponica ‘Chojubai’ is a cultivar of the comparatively coarse Japanese flowering quince. Few plants for bonsai can match its contrasting qualities: Idiosyncratic, craggy branching and twigging, with rough older bark, adorned almost contradictorily with glowing ruby flowers. They flower mostly when out of leaf, in winter…

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The trees of Kawa Bonsai’s Joy of Bonsai show, 2016….hopefully it’s not the last…

Great trees at this show.

Adam's Art and Bonsai Blog

This post is late in coming but I think it’s important to share the pics.

This could possibly be the last Joy of Bonsai the the Kawa Bonsai Society of Florida puts on. It’s definitely the last one in its historical venue; the Vp, Louise Leister, had been employed by the Volusia County Agricultural Extension office and was able to secure the building for the show, she is now an independent consultant and doesn’t have that prove large anymore. And considering that the Club is technically in the middle of no where, there is a distinct lack of places for next year’s show (the city the building is located in is called Bunnel, look it up on a map. There are roads but not much else. I don’t think there’s even a McDonald’s in the town…..think about that!). Maybe they’ll find an indoor sports arena like Bill Valavanis did for…

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A 19-Year Journey of a Ficus Microcarpa – From Pre-bonsai to Winning Awards

Bonsai Penjing & More

I purchased this Tiger Bark Ficus microcarpa as a pre-bonsai in 1997, and continued to train it for about 19 years. Over these years, I saw it transformed from an ordinary looking pre-bonsai to one winning a place among the 25 Exceptional Tress Award in the 2013 World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF) Photo Contest. It also won the Best Tropical Category and Best of Show awards in the 2014 Lone Star State Bonsai Convention. I thought I would document its journey; sharing what I learned from working on this tree, the good and the bad, and what would I do in the future to improve it.

Tiger Bark Ficus Selected as one of the 25 Exceptional Trees Award in the 2013 World Bonsai Friendship Federation Photo Contest.

When I was shopping for a pre-bonsai in the nursery, this tree caught my attention because it had a rather big trunk, abut 3 ½” near the base, and it also…

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Shohin Chinese Juniper

Here’s a nice progression of taking a tree from a cookie cutter shape to something a little less contrived.

Bonsai Eejit

I got this little Chinese Juniper in 2010 from a great chap called Bob Snaith.He was clearing out his collection and I got this one at a great price. He supplied me with the first photo below. He’d bought the tree from a chap called Micky Paice who had bought it from Windybank Bonsai back in 1999. Always nice to know the provenance of a tree.

This was it in 2010 as I bought it.

I repotted it and let it sit for a year to gain strength. I then explored the idea of chopping it back to the first branch as I didn’t particularly like the contrived trunk line.

Decision made.

This was it repotted into a smaller pot the following Spring 2012 I think.

It’s been tweaked a few times since then but a few weeks ago I decided to fine wire it and transfer it into a…

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A Shore Pine reworked-

Michael Hagedorn

This pine has been an enjoyable project for some years now. Shore pine is one of our Northwestern USA native conifers, tending to grow not far inland.

Last year we had a terrific hailstorm in June in my small neighborhood (the rest of the city was untouched), which dropped 1/2″ hail on my yard and stripped all the newly growing needles off many pines. The tree regrew buds, but as expected they did not open and grow new needles (like a black pine would). This spring the pine flushed with growth as normal, after being supported for two years with the same old needles.

So, a sigh of relief that this tree has regained its momentum. And yesterday we rewired it. That’s really what I meant to offer here…photos of the reworking…not the hailstorm story…

DSC_0887 My apprentice Bobby Curttright adjusting wire on the Shore Pine. This image gives some idea…

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