Vonsgardens

Will,
"Nothing against collectors, gotta love them, but when you buy your stock 99% styled, you sometimes lose the joy that comes from creating something from nothing. I personally love taking a tree from an auction that someone has giving up on and finding the bonsai within it."

I would go farther than this... if you don't paddle your canoe to the mouth of the river where the pine cone is found floating, then battled with pirhana to save the seeds and then nurture them from germination to their full stature as a 300 year old tree, how can you possibly enjoy the process......

Come on, the hard part of bonsai is the small stuff, trunks- easy, roots (once you know what you are doing) pretty much easy- the details and getting everything right- now that is hard.

You do exaclty what the "collectors" do- you go out and purchase what you can afford- no more, no less. Your budget (as is mine) is perhaps just a bit more constrained.

Some folks are willing to invest more in the time spent by others in the development of material, some would rather invest the time. No right way or wrong way.

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"Wiring is simple; However, it is not easy to do it right" Boon